I get to protect people: Foreign auxiliary police officer on why he came to Singapore

Applicants also have to be university graduates and cannot have a criminal record.

- Claudia Tan

The 23-year-old Sri Lankan is stationed inside Changi Prison Complex's Cluster A, where he conducts security checks on vehicles entering the area. He has been working here since November 2024.

Mr Panagoda is one of the foreign APOs hired from new source countries — China, India, Myanmar, the Philippines and Sri Lanka — to beef up Singapore's security sector.

On March 4, during the debate on the Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) budget, Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo said the ministry would hire more foreigners to fill certain roles that Singaporeans might not be keen on.

She said there had been an increasing demand for security services, with the auxiliary police forces (APFs) facing challenges in sustaining an adequate pool of APOs. She said birth rates were declining and the competition for talent was very tough.

Singapore has been hiring Malaysian APOs since the 1970s, and Taiwanese APOs since 2017.

Mrs Teo added that it has been challenging recruiting and retaining APOs.

During an interview at Changi Prison on April 3, Mr Panagoda said he became an APO because of his interest in law enforcement and security.

His family relocated to Singapore in 2013 when his father wanted to start a freight forwarding company. They returned to Sri Lanka in 2024.

After completing his diploma in business administration, Mr Panagoda applied to become an APO in 2024 after seeing an online advertisement.

He said: "I had the option to work at my father's company, but I chose to become an APO because I wanted to work in security."