Yesterday (27 Dec) we reported that the People’s Power Party (PPP) had questioned if foreign Auxiliary Police Officers (APO) are paid more and have better benefits than local recruits. (https://theindependent.sg.sg/opposition-party-questions-high-salary-offered-to-certis-recruits-from-taiwan)
The opposition political party highlighted news in the Taiwanese media that Singapore is recruiting APO from Taiwan and giving them a starting basic pay of S$2,700 plus free lodging. The report also said that those that successfully pass out will also be eligible for a bonus payment of S$4,000.
Several readers have reached out commenting on the news. Here are some views.
Mr Tan (TISG reader via private message on Facebook): “The salary offered to locals is indeed lower. Just look at this ad (https://www.indeed.com.sg/cmp/Certis-Cisco/jobs/Security-Officer-5a372c91dbf97748?q=Certis+Cisco). It shows that local APO starting salary may be as low as $2,100 for 6-day-work-week-12-hour-shifts.”
Wong via email: “Have a look at the Certis Cisco website (https://www.certissecurity.com/careersdetail.php?id=R535H530N536). It shows that the pay and benefits for locals are foreigners may not be that much different.
David Chew via comment on article: “A Security Firm offered someone close to me the position of Auxiliary Police Inspector with a basic salary of S$2,600 as a trainee. Of course after 8 weeks of training as a Trainee Inspector, he will become a Probationary Inspector with basic salary of S$3,600 (when his current job is around that salary range). Unlike Auxiliary Police Officer, there will not be any Joining Bonus or Over Time Pay given to him as a Senior Auxiliary Police Officer. Due to various reasons, he did not take up the job.”
AETOS Holdings spokesperson via email: “I would like to request for the photo of AETOS officers to be replaced by a more relevant CERTIS CISCO photo.  I believe that your article’s main focus & headline is on CERTIS Cisco and their recruitment advertisement in Taiwan. By using our photo, the negative impacts of this article would be reflected on our organization and my team would like to prevent that from happening. I would greatly appreciate your kind assistance and consideration to remove our photo.” (TISG’s note: The photo was taken from the article in the Taiwanese media and has since been removed.)