Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Harrassing the wrong people

Monday, August 10, 2009

Harrassing the wrong people

On my return from Batam, I had to go through security check at Harbour Front. My bag had to be screened. The mobile phone has to be placed in a separate tray.

On passing through the metal detector, there was a beep. So, I had to be screened. I had to empty the wallet, keys, pen from my pockets. Many questions were asked. I only had two hands, so it was quite difficult to be holding the passport, wallet, keys and other items.

After being passed as "not carrying weapons", I collected my luggage and left. Ten minutes later, I realised that my mobile phone was missing. I had to go back to recover it.

I hope that our security officers realise that a traveller has only two hands, and that they had to take care of many things. It is not necessary to give so much hassle to the travellers, who are returning home.

The security officers are only carrying out their duty, as written by the top leaders. The top leaders (i.e. government minters and civil servants) are given VIP treatment, so they do not have to go through the hassle that lesser mortals had to endure.

I know that it is important to have security measures to ensure that terrorist do not smuggle weapons into Singapore. Are we harrassing the wrong people in the process?

In most other countries, the security officers exercise their discretion and do not follow the rules by the book. If someone (like me) does not look like a terrorist, they do not subject this person to the same detailed check.

But, in Singapore, everything goes by the book and is implemented blindly. It requires our top leaders to experience the inconvenience personally, before they change the rules. And the top leaders are trapped in their ivory towers, surrounded by security guards, and receive ground reports from underlings who only convey what they wish to hear. (Sigh). This is Singapore!

Tan Kin Lian

17 comments:

Anonymous said...: It is even more of an irony when those screening you look more like terrorists themselves. This is indeed Singapore!; August 10, 2009 4:58 AM
Jamie Tan said...: I disagree. I'm a frequent traveller and also also understand the frustration as I'm subjected to these security checks as well. But I think that the officers need to do their job to ensure safety as much as possible. They should not judge books by their cover and subject travellers to their perception of whether they do or do not look like terrorist. Whether one looks like a terrorist alot is based on stereotyping or biaseness. I think everyone should be subjected to the same treatment.; August 10, 2009 8:06 AM
Anonymous said...: Did you notice Gukars were carrying rifles (presumably loaded) and with live rounds slinged over their shoulder patrolling the Marina area yesterday and last Saturday? Why are our Home Ministry deploying foreigners to screen the locals? Why didn't our very own army personnel carry out this duty and responsibility of protecting our own people? Are there more to it than meets the eyes?; August 10, 2009 8:49 AM
Sobri said...: I would agree with Jamie Tan. To check some while allowing others through without hassle, would open the officers to all kinds of complaints of discrimination. Would Malays - Muslims be more thoroughly checked, because of JI? How about Pakistanis, Indians and Tamil Sri Lankans? Perhaps a better system would be to have a better tray for one to empty all the contents of one's pocket. After the screening, allow one to go to a proper area with the tray, where one can take the contents in a less hurried manner.; August 10, 2009 9:50 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...: I think that the security officers should exercise discretion and common sense for people returning from a trip (and not taking a trip where the risk of hijack or bomb attack is real).

They should also allow families and children (regardless of race, language or religion) to pass through with less hassle.

It is time for Singaporeans to use our discretion, rather than to act blindly according to instructions passed down from the ivory tower.; August 10, 2009 11:07 AM
Anonymous said...: The stringent check is necessary. How do they judge who is terroist-like? Can't a family be a group of terrorist?

Using discretion will lead to confusion and possibly a lapse in security.; August 10, 2009 11:44 AM
Anonymous said...: Hi, KL
Please ignore these people. Being Sgporeans, they can only focus on one thing at a time. They are to kiasu and worried about terrorist, H1N1 and nothing else.

After all these fears, they are too stressed and do not have time to think about anything else.; August 10, 2009 12:26 PM
John Ong said...: Hi KL

Its sad to hear these comments coming out from you. For convenience, should security be forsaken?

Anyone, with evil intentions, who came in through that door could bring in things which could hurt your loved ones. Do you wish to compromise that?

If we think it another way, if we can sacrifice 5 mins of our time to prevent these things hurting our loved ones, would you be glad to do it?

If we had watched the spiderman part 1 movie, spiderman saw a man who robbed his boss ,knowingly he's a convict, spiderman released the man, and this same man killed his father. I think the guards in the checkpoints do not wish these to happen to themselves as well.

It is always better to be safe than sorry, Be focused is better than be unfocused and Have inconveniece than lose conveniency; August 10, 2009 1:23 PM
Russell Miller said...: Guess it has been a while since you traveled to the USA. Yeu "ain't seen nothin" as they say. Take your shoes and jacket off ... and belt ... hold your trousers up ... let see your boarding pass, take out your lap top ..... Singapore is a breeze.; August 10, 2009 1:36 PM
Anonymous said...: In the military camps, those without cars have to go through a metal detector. Those big shots (higher ranks) simply drive through the main gate with a breeze.

Why is there a discrimination on security matters?; August 10, 2009 1:39 PM
Tan Kin Lian said...: Hi Russell
I was in USA earlier this year. I recall having to go through security check before boarding a ship or plane, but not when I returned home.

Singapore security requires you to take out the laptop and the mobilephone and put them in separate trays. They learn from USA, but I think that it is being overdone.; August 10, 2009 1:49 PM
Tan Kin Lian said...: Hi John Ong
This remark "Its sad to hear these comments coming out from you" is unnecessary and should be avoided. Yo can express your views without passing judgement on other people.; August 10, 2009 2:50 PM
symmetrix said...: The issue on the table is "security" versus "pax inconvenience". It is true that to enforce security some level of inconvenience must be endured by pax. It is debatable how much inconvenience should a pax "suffer".

Here is a suggestion for ICA to consider. The challenge for ICA (and I do not see this being done) is to set service standards at every entry and exit point in S'pore. It may be a simple statement like:-

"All pax who entered a queue will be cleared in a max of 15 minutes."

This should be the kind of standard at all checkpoints especially the causeway and Tuas. If ICA need to engage more staff during peak periods (and conversely less staff during off-peak periods) so be it. If the service standard is not met, ICA could offer a discount voucher of some sort. It is a small token to show that ICA has failed to deliver on its target service level. This will prop up ICA to excel in its service.

I quote two examples of how this can be done:-

1. In the past, a fast food restaurant in S'pore (can't remember which one) had a stopwatch on the cashier's counter. The challenge was that if the order was not delivered in 1 min, the next order from the customer will be provided FOC.

2. In the US, some supermarkets have a sign that says "If you see more than 3 customers in the queue ahead of you, you can request the Supervisor to open another cahier counter"

These are some examples of how we can improve our service standards.; August 10, 2009 7:16 PM
A Singaporean said...: I recall McDonald's used a hourglass as a service standard some years ago, but only during off-peak hours. They stopped doing this, and then a lot of elderly people starts being employed.

If I recall correctly, both Singapore Pools and Singapore Post used to have some statement of "we aim to...", but these seemed to have disappeared as well.

Problem is, the population is growing by so much and the services cannot cope with such demand. So they just dropped those service commitments, and we see long queues everywhere. Even a weekday 3 pm in a FairPrice outlet.; August 11, 2009 1:10 AM
Solomon said...: You have to agree that it is a real hassle to go through checkpoint these days. To be frank, i refrain from travelling to US after seeing what people have gone through at their embassy and custom. Maybe that is the reason why there is no terrorist attack in US after 9-11.I hope a new technology can help us to identify threat quickly.; August 11, 2009 10:54 AM
Anonymous said...: I worked as a security guard in a certain Embassy. The diplomats and high ranking defence attaches will display their passes as they enter the embassy. The locals do not - and when we politely ask them to display their passes, they will rebuked you this : "You dont know me? I work here so long!". this clearly showed the diffences of perception by our locals.; August 12, 2009 12:48 PM
Anonymous said...: I am a frequent traveler to Bangkok. The screen procedure for international tourist is the same as you encountered PLUS one more step - remove belt and scan it. If it is a Tiger flight, the security is unusually tight then Air Asia! I feel safe although I was stop to carry a 150ml liquid shampoo.

Two weeks ago, I went to Bangkok through JB Int'l Aiport. On returning, the security was interested to check my mango I carry. I am highly concern for the loose security there.; August 20, 2009 10:34 PM