Corrections regarding false statements concerning the employment of foreign auxiliary police officers

The Ministry of Home Affairs (“MHA”) is aware of the following publications that contain false statements concerning the employment of foreign auxiliary police officers (“APOs”):

• Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam’s (“Mr Jeyaretnam”) article posted on his website, The Ricebowl Singapore, on 9 March 2025 (“TRS article”),

• Mr Jeyaretnam’s Facebook post of 9 March 2025, and

• Mr Jeyaretnam’s X post of 9 March 2025.

The falsehoods contained in the said publications are:

1. APOs have all the powers of regular police officers.

2. Foreign APOs are employed by the Government and are used to keep the incumbent political party (i.e. the People’s Action Party) in power, even to the extent of violating the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore and using force in breach of fundamental liberties.

3. The Government deliberately sets the salaries of APOs at a level that would make the role of an APO less attractive to Singaporeans so as to achieve its real objective of hiring foreign APOs, which is its preference.

Facts:

Powers of APOs

1. Under section 92(4) of the Police Force Act 2004, the powers of an APO are conferred by the Commissioner of Police. These are set out in Gazette Notification No. 170/2017, titled “Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Auxiliary Police Officers” (“Notification”). 

2. As stated in the Notification, APOs do not have all the powers of regular police officers. In particular, APOs do not have the powers of investigation that police officers have under Part IV of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, and the power of arrest of APOs is subject to conditions that are not applicable to police officers. 

3. The powers conferred on APOs may only be exercised by an APO when the APO is on official duty and in the course of performing the duties of an APO.

Employment & regulation of APOs

4. The Singapore Government does not employ APOs, whether local or foreign. Instead, all APOs are employed by Auxiliary Police Forces (“APFs”), which are not part of the Singapore Government. The list of APFs and their respective employers is published in Gazette Notification No. 398/2025, titled “Auxiliary Police Forces”. 

5. The security services that APFs are permitted to provide are carefully circumscribed by the Singapore Police Force. All APOs are legally obliged to comply with our laws, including the Constitution and those relating to fundamental liberties, in the discharge of their duties. These measures collectively prevent abuse of power by APFs and APOs, and ensure that they serve Singapore’s legitimate security needs.

Salaries of APOs & proportion of foreign APOs

6. The salaries of APOs are independently determined by their respective employers, the APFs, and not the Government. APOs do not belong to any union, fall under any tripartite alliance, or similar organisation, which the Government is part of, and which has an influence on the salaries of APOs.

7. As at end-January 2025, Singaporeans continue to make up the majority of APOs employed. The proportion of APOs from the new foreign sources (i.e., China, India, Myanmar, Philippines, and Sri Lanka) remains very low, at around 3%.

The Government takes a serious view of the deliberate communication of falsehoods. 

The Minister for Digital Development and Information and Second Minister for Home Affairs has instructed the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (“POFMA”) Office to issue a POFMA Correction Direction (“CD”) to Mr Jeyaretnam in relation to his Facebook and X posts and TRS article. The CD requires Mr Jeyaretnam to insert Correction Notices relating to the original posts, with a link to the Government’s clarification. This is the 10^th Correction Direction that has been issued to Mr Jeyaretnam. We advise members of the public not to speculate and/or spread unverified rumours.