Parliament: Interesting replies not reported in the media? (part 4)

March 27, 2014

I refer to the recent Parliamentary proceedings on 17 February, reported in Hansard.

Replies not reported in media?

I found some interesting replies to questions that I do not remember reading in the media.

17 February, 2014

STRENGTH OF AUXILIARY POLICE FORCES

5 Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the current total strength of the auxiliary police forces; and (b) what proportion of the total strength (in percentages and in absolute numbers) comprise Singapore citizens, permanent residents (PR) and non-PR Malaysians respectively.

Mr Teo Chee Hean: The current total strength of the auxiliary police forces is about 6000 officers. The majority of the officers are Singaporeans, while the others are Malaysians. The employment of Malaysians into the auxiliary police forces started in the 1970s and we have continued with this practice till today.

Vague reply?

The reply in my view is kind of vague. For example, does “the majority of the officers are Singaporeans” mean that it could be as little as 51% are Singaporeans?

As to “while the others are Malaysians” – does it mean that as many as 49% may be Malaysians? Are these Malaysians or Malaysian PRs?

How many new citizens and PRs?

In this connection,  as there were an estimated 451,934 new citizens and new PRs granted from 2007 to 2013 – how many of the Singaporean auxiliary police are new citizens, and how many of the non-citizen auxiliary police are PRs?

Auxiliary police in Little India?

Whenever I go to Little India, it appears that there may be more auxiliary police than police officers in the area.

What is the proportion of auxiliary policy to regular police officers in Little India? Was this question asked in the Little India Commission of Inquiry?

Leong Sze Hian

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About the Author

Leong
Leong Sze Hian has served as the president of 4 professional bodies, honorary consul of 2 countries, an alumnus of Harvard University, authored 4 books, quoted over 1500 times in the media , has been a radio talkshow host, a newspaper daily columnist, Wharton Fellow, SEACeM Fellow, columnist for theonlinecitizen and Malaysiakini, executive producer of Ilo Ilo (40 international awards), Hotel Mumbai (associate producer), invited to speak more than 200 times in about 40 countries, CIFA advisory board member, founding advisor to the Financial Planning Associations of 2 countries. He has 3 Masters, 2 Bachelors degrees and 13 professional  qualifications.