TR EMERITUS

I refer to CNA online's report that Singapore will be recruiting more Auxiliary Police Officers (APOs) from countries such as Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, China and the Philippines. In the past, our foreign APOs came largely from Malaysia and in recent times, Taiwan too.

The demand for manpower across the whole spectrum of the Singapore economy will inevitably increase in the face of a growing economy and a super pathetic native Singaporean birth rate.

It does not take a PhD person to confidently conclude that it is all down to the pap government's utter incompetence and failure at effectively tackling our falling birth rates over the past many, many years despite knowing how to pay themselves very, very high political salaries.

Few thoughts came to my mind as I compose this commentary.

Firstly, the government explained that it is unable to get enough Singaporeans to become APOs. I ask why? Is it because of image problem, ie, APOs having to work in uniform issue, long working hours or salary issue or what?

Have the pap government looked deeper and more seriously into tackling them?

I ask loudly why are they so reluctant to revise Singaporean APOs' salary level until it is attractive enough to entice Singaporeans to take up the job but they are so able and willing to pay themselves such super lucrative political salaries? Havent they heard or not believe in 重赏之下必有勇夫？

The size and depth of the Singapore's economy and our financial resources of today have changed beyond recognition from where we first started our nationhood journey in 1965.

Whether it is tackling our Total Fertility Rates over the decades, paying Singaporean APOs attractively or paying our national service men decently, I conclude that the pap government is a financially very able but very unwilling to do more for others but not for itself government.

Next, cut through the fog, I consider APOs are just 'Commercial Police' except licensed to carry firearms and not much different from security guards from the average commercial security agencies.

Unlike our Singapore Police Force, their loyalty is only to their employers and the Singapore dollars that they earn but not to Singapore.

My gut instinct tells me that it is highly undesirable to have more and more of such people and especially from such diverse places like Myanmar and Sri Lanka who do not share any similar background, ethos and affinity with us here and if we must beef up our APO strength, why can't we step up our recruitment efforts among the Malaysians whom we were once together as a country and still share plenty of similarities, familiarities and kinship?

Simon Lim

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