Man claims to vote for PAP to get security guard salary, S$3,530 by 2028, night shifts “very relaxing and can sleep”

Singapore — A Facebook user claims on the SG Opposition page that a man told him he will continue voting for the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) so that he can secure a “relaxing and can sleep” job as a security guard working the night shift.

In this “iron rice bowl” job, he said, he can be assured of earning at least $3,500 a month by 2028.

It was announced in November 2021 that the entry-level pay for security guards would rise by an average of 6.6 per cent annually from 2022 to 2028.

The changes mean that by 2023, the legally-mandated minimum pay for a security officer will be $1,650 a month.

This followed the latest review of the private security wage model which all private security agencies are required to follow in order to be licensed.

This means that the gross salary for the lowest-rank security officer will go up from the current minimum of S$2,193 to S$3,530 in 2028; and the range for a senior security officer from S$3,109 to S$4,430 over the same period.

In the Facebook post, the netizen says that the wannabe security guard who identifies as a PAP supporter said he would keep voting for the incumbents “because of this”.

The man said that he would do so because he “just needs to spend $150 to attend 3 security guard course to get his security license. Than (sic) he have (sic) a iron rice bowl job with a salary of $3.5k by 2028”. A search online found the cost of security officer courses ranging from S$207 to S$217.

But here’s the rub: The man referred to supposedly wants to be a security guard because “night shift security guard very relaxing and can sleep”. Is he for real?

Netizens who commented on the post ranged from super-serious to those who joked that security guards were set to be replaced by robots. Some of them observed that by the time 2028 rolls around, inflation would also have ensured that a pay scale that looks tempting now may not seem so attractive.