Andrew Loh wrote an article, ‘More foreigners to be police officers’ in the Online Citizen. His article highlighted the growing number of foreigners employed in the SPF and the Auxiliary Police as well as the unarmed security officers. In the latter, out of 60,000 unarmed security officers, 35,000 are foreigners. When asked in Parliament, Chee Hean did not exactly reveal the number of foreigners in the Police Force but confirmed that foreigners have been recruited since 1970.
The hiring of foreigners, ie PRs, as police officers is like a natural thing in this non nation city state. According to Police Operations Director Lau Peet Meng as quoted in Today paper, “diversity within the force is good to keep up with changes in society…We need, to some extent, some sensitivity to understand our foreign population,” he said. “The danger is if it’s (purely Singaporean), you will lose touch with the people you’re policing.”
What this city state is doing is Uniquely Singapore as no other Asean state will do the same, to recruit foreigners into their police force so happily and so comfortable with their presence. In Malaysia, they are even paranoid in having too many of the non bumiputra citizens joining the police force for political and security reasons. In our global city, no nation concept, free open border, free immigration policies, there is absolutely nothing to worry about with foreigners in the police force. We even have foreigners turning new citizens sitting in Parliament. But that is only a natural development when anyone living in this island, citizen or not, has a share of this place.
Nothing untowards will happen to this global city state even if the foreigners were to become the majority in the island and take over this island. And it is only natural, with their greater presence to have greater representation in all aspects of life and economic activities in the city, including representation in the police, the military and political office. It is meritocracy regardless of race or nationality. Only a non nation state will subscribe to such thinking.
As long as the citizens are comfortable with the ever growing presence of foreigners in this non nation city state and do not get agitate for losing their special position and rights as citizens, then everything is ok. By the time 6.9m is a reality, foreigners can be everywhere, employed in all ministries, a natural thing to come.
What was the intent of Andrew Loh to write his article on the growing presence of more foreigners in the Police Force? What is his message or concern? Personally I would be furious if a foreigner in uniform were to check on me just because he didn’t like my face. I am a NS man, pledged to defend and die for this nation, or has it become a non nation? Why should I be searched or questioned by a foreigner in my country when I was trained to protect and fight to prevent foreigners from taking over this country?
You tell me lah.
Chua Chin Leng AKA RedBean
*The writer blogs at http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.com/