ST 3/3/2007: Salary review for Home Team officers

ST 3/3/2007: Salary review for Home Team officers
Ken Kwek

AS SECURITY is paramount to Singapore's survival, recruiting the right people for law enforcement jobs is critical.

A salary review is now on to make jobs in the Home Team more attractive and retain capable officers, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng said yesterday.

It is not easy to find the right people for these jobs.

Recruitment efforts were stepped up last year but only 10 per cent of applicants met the criteria for the junior officers and 15 per cent for senior officers. Fresh recruits need to clear security checks and meet 'demanding' physical, intellectual and psychological requirements.

Compounding the problem was the higher number of resignations last year.

Mr Wong observed that the work was tough on police officers and their families as many often had to forgo annual leave due to 'exigencies of service'. Immigration officers also regularly worked overtime.

He was responding to queries from Non-Constituency MP Sylvia Lim and Mr Christopher De Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC). Both raised concerns that resource constraints on the police may lead to compromises in public security.

Ms Lim also felt the outsourcing of traffic warden duties led to 'overzealous' issuing of fines by private agencies. She also cited a recent letter in The Straits Times Forum page on the time it took for the police to attend to a corpse found in the sea off East Coast Park.

Askin' the same question as the Worker Party lady? You in collusion, homeboy?