Singapore is considering hiring auxiliary police officers (APOs) from India, China, the Philippines and Myanmar, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam told parliament on Wednesday.

The city-state is looking to expand the jurisdictions from which it recruits APOs as the number from Taiwan has fallen in recent few years. As a result, the Home Affairs ministry has been considering expanding the jurisdictions where auxiliary police officers (APOs) can be recruited from. These potentially include Asian ones such as China, India, the Philippines and Myanmar, according to a Channel News Asia report.

“We need to allow the Auxiliary Police Forces to recruit foreign APOs, to meet the increasing demand for security services,” the Today newspaper also quoted the minister as saying. “(The Auxiliary Police Forces) face challenges in sustaining an adequate pool of APOs, given the shrinking local workforce, requirements such as physical fitness, and the job options Singaporeans have.”

He was responding to a parliamentary question from Sylvia Lim, a Member of Parliament and Chairman of the opposition Workers’ Party.

The minister was asked whether Singapore is still hiring APOs from Taiwan, having done so since 2017.

Shanmugam said that the Auxiliary Police Forces will continue to hire Taiwanese APOs even though their numbers have continued to fall despite the generally positive working experience with them. “It has been a challenge to recruit and keep them,” he added.

As of November 2023, Singaporean APOs made up about 68 per cent of the total population of these officers and the remaining 32 per cent are Malaysians and Taiwanese. This drop-off in Taiwanese APOs is attributed to the demanding nature of public-facing security work and improved job opportunities and prospects in Taiwan.

On the risk of letting non-Singaporeans carry firearms, Shanmugam said, “The misuse of firearms by APOs is extremely rare and is not more prevalent among non-Singaporeans.” The Ministry of Home Affairs manages this risk through security screening, training, and supervising APOs, he added. “We are also careful and more restrictive where we deploy non-Singaporean APOs.”