Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Employment Eligibility in Police, Auxiliary Police and Private Security Industry by Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law

Question:

Ms Sylvia Lim: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the Government has changed its policy on restricting eligibility for employment in the police, auxiliary police and private security industry to Singaporeans, permanent residents and Malaysians; (b) if so, which additional source countries have been approved for each of the three sectors respectively, and from which effective dates; and (c) what is the prevailing quota or dependency ratio ceiling set by the Government, if any, for the employment of foreigners to Singaporeans for each sector respectively.

Answer:

1. The Singapore Police Force's current practice has been to recruit Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PRs) as police officers. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) requires the majority of Auxiliary Police Officers (APOs) in the Auxiliary Police Forces (APFs) and security officers in the private security industry to be Singaporeans. The APFs and security companies are also required to adhere to the dependency ratio ceiling set by MOM. For APOs, Malaysia had been the only approved foreign source country.

2. Demand for APOs is growing due to new infrastructure such as Changi Airport Terminal 4 and Tuas Terminal, and heightened security threats. It is estimated that another 600 APOs will be required over the next few years. The APFs have indicated that they will not be able to recruit sufficient suitable Singaporeans to meet this projected demand. In the last five years, despite their best efforts the APFs have only been able to expand the pool of Singaporean APOs by 250 officers.

3. To meet the growing demand, APFs are exploring Taiwan as a possible source for APOs. MHA has decided to allow the APFs to recruit Taiwanese APOs to supplement the current pool of Singaporean and Malaysian APOs.

4. These Taiwanese APOs are required to meet the same training, education and physical fitness criteria as imposed on Singaporean and Malaysian APOs. In addition, the Taiwanese APOs must be able to communicate in English and pass an English proficiency test. Their specific deployment will be determined based on our risk assessment and operational requirements.

5. MHA will assess and review the performance of the Taiwanese APOs after they have been deployed for a period of time.