Airport clearance: S'poreans can use all manned counters

Straits Times
24 Mar 2010

WE THANK Ms Pearlyn Koh for her letter, 'Family-friendlier procedures will help' (March 16). The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority empathises with Ms Koh's situation when she and her family arrived on March 9 at Changi Airport Terminal 1's arrival wing.

She shared three concerns that we wish to address.

First, she mentioned that no one told her or her husband that their child was too young to use the automated lane while they were waiting in line.

Our officers at the nearby counter were unable to advise her family to use the manned lanes earlier as they were busy performing their respective clearance and security duties, particularly as it was a peak period.

There is a standee placed next to the automated lanes to draw travellers' attention to those who are eligible to use the lanes and at the same time illustrate the proper use of the system.

Children below the age of six cannot be registered for clearance using the automated gates as their fingerprints have yet to mature.

Second, Ms Koh observed that there was only one counter, among seven, open for Singapore citizens/permanent residents and Apec cardholders.

Singaporeans can use all other counters that are captioned 'All Passports'. On the evening in question, there were 10 counters opened instead of the seven she observed.

Third, it is necessary to allow only one parent to accompany the child at the immigration counter for clearance as the presence of more people during immigration examination would impede the security checks and delay the clearance process, causing inconvenience to other travellers.

Chia Hui Keng (Ms)
Head, Public & Internal Communications Branch
Corporate Communications Division
Immigration & Checkpoints Authority


Airport clearance
'Family-friendlier procedures will help.'

Straits Times
16 Mar 2010

MS PEARLYN KOH: 'There was only one lane for Singaporeans, permanent residents (PRs) and Apec card holders among seven when my husband, my three-year-old and I arrived at Changi Airport Terminal 1 last Tuesday evening. The queues were equally long in all lanes. We queued in the auto-clearance lane, only to be told when our turn came that our child was too young to go in this lane. All this time while we were queuing, we were next to a counter with at least four officers on duty, yet no one told us to queue in another lane until we reached our turn. So we switched to the only Singaporeans/PRs/Apec line. When it was our turn, we were told only two can go at one turn - one parent and one toddler. Parents will understand the challenge of handling a cranky toddler while getting passports ready for clearance. Family-friendlier airport clearance procedures would help.'