Kenneth Jeyaretnam issued 10th Pofma order over false statements about hiring of foreign auxiliary police officers

Reform Party leader Kenneth Jeyaretnam has been issued a Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) correction direction over statements he made about the employment of foreign auxiliary police officers (APOs).

The order relates to a March 9 article he published on his website The Ricebowl Singapore as well as Facebook and X posts from the day, and marks the 10th correction order issued to the politician.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in their statement on March 21 that Jeyaretnam made false statements alleging APOs have all the powers of regular police officers, and that foreign APOs are hired by the government and used to keep the incumbent political party in power despite violating the Singapore constitution and "using force in breach of fundamental liberties".

He also claimed that the government prefers hiring foreign APOs and thus sets their salaries at a level that would make the role of an APO less attractive to Singaporeans, said the MHA.

The Minister for Digital Development and Information and Second Minister for Home Affairs, Josephine Teo, instructed the Pofma Office to issue the order to Jeyaretnam.

APOs not hired by government: MHA

The MHA said in their statement that APOs do not have all the powers as regular police officers. In particular, APOs do not have the powers of investigation that police officers have, and the power of arrest of APOs is subject to conditions that are not applicable to police officers.

In addition, it is not the government who hires APOs but the non-governmental auxiliary police forces, with their security services "carefully circumscribed" by the Singapore Police Force.

When it comes to the salaries of APOs, the MHA said that they are independently determined by their employers, and not the government. APOs also do not belong to any union, tripartite alliance or similar organisation that the government is part of and could influence their salaries through.

They also cited statistics from end-January 2025, stating: "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 per cent."

As of March 22, Jeyaretnam has posted the correction notice to his website, Facebook and X account, and also edited his March 9 Facebook post to include the correction notice.

drimac@asiaone.com

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