Looking for APOs Must: • be fit • have degree • speak English

Foreign recruitment agencies from new source countries set strict criteria for auxiliary police officer jobs in Singapore

- Rohini Mohan India Correspondent, Yip Wai Yee Taiwan Correspondent, Aw Cheng Wei China Correspondent and Mara Cepeda Philippines Correspondent

BENGALURU/TAIPEI/CHONGQING/MANILA - For the 30-something Sri Lankan, his job as an auxiliary police officer (APO) at Singapore's Changi Airport is the "best chance" to provide for his family, which is struggling to make ends meet during Sri Lanka's economic downturn.

However, it is not just about the salary, he told The Sunday Times, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

He was thrilled about having "grown in skill, communication and discipline" in just a few months in Singapore.

"Although I work in a new country amid new cultures, my employers treat me well, and I have never faced any discrimination from Singaporeans," he said.

The Sri Lankan constable is one of the recent foreign recruits in Singapore's auxiliary police force, which has been hiring from countries such as Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Myanmar, China and India since January 2024, in addition to the older sources of Malaysia and Taiwan.

APOs are security police hired by private companies called auxiliary police forces (APFs) to supplement police work. They are deployed at private and public premises, typically for crowd control, protection of major installations, security screenings or traffic regulation. Some of them may be armed, but they do not investigate crimes.

In 2024, Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs expanded the list of countries and territories from which the APFs can hire officers, because of Singapore's shrinking workforce and the growing need for security services.

Since 2017, Singapore has been recruiting APOs from Taiwan and Malaysia. As at November 2023, Malaysians and Taiwanese made up approximately 32 per cent of all APOs, with the remaining 68 per cent Singaporean.

Speaking during the parliamentary debate on the Ministry of Home Affairs' budget on March 4, Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo said APOs have also been recruited from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, the Philippines, India and China.