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Response to "Front-line staff fatigued?" (Straits Times, 26 June 2008)
Here's the magnitude of checkpoint security
10 July 2008
Straits Times
English
(c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Eunice Chu (Ms)
Deputy Director, Corporate Communications Division
for Commissioner, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority
WE WOULD like to thank the readers for their letters on the checkpoint security issues arising from the passport mis-clearance incident. It will be useful to set out some of the background and the context when we look at these issues.
Last year, about 143 million travellers went through Singapore's checkpoints. With this sheer volume of travellers amid a heightened security climate, it is always a tremendous challenge for checkpoint officers to ensure thorough security clearance while meeting key performance indicators on speed of clearance.
The millions of travellers want speed and convenience. The security arrangements put in place have to take that into account. Within this framework, security has been stepped up at the checkpoints. That has led to significant results.
Last year, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers uncovered more than 2,280 cases of foreigners attempting to breach our immigration checks through impersonation or use of forged/ tampered travel documents. This is an increase of more than 61 per cent from the year before.
On a daily basis, we also detect an average of five cases of travellers presenting the wrong passports for immigration clearance.
When a mistake happens, we need to account for it squarely. But we also need to be realistic and acknowledge that even as we strive to make no mistake, mistakes will happen, especially in such a high-volume and pressured operating reality.
What we must do is to keep mistakes to the minimum and always try to improve our total border security regime comprising systems, technology and people.
When designing the system, we try to anticipate failure or lapses and work out measures to minimise their occurrence.
In the case of the man who was recently mis-cleared with a wrong passport, the security system and processes were in place. The thumbprint verification by the automated immigration clearance system correctly detected that the man was not the passport holder and, therefore, denied him automated clearance.
The ICA officer, on seeing that the man had problems with automated clearance, conducted a manual face-to- face clearance protocol. After assessing the individual, he made a judgment call that he was a bona fide traveller and cleared him.
The ICA officer's security assessment of the man was not wrong. However, the officer failed to check why the passport was rejected by the automated system.
As a result, he failed to detect that the man could not clear the system because he held the wrong passport.
This was a mistake and the officer will be held responsible for that mistake.
WRONG PASSPORT
Front-line staff fatigued?
26 Jun 2008
Straits Times
English
(c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
I PERFECTLY comprehend Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng when he condemned the latest publicised slip-up of the Home Team, calling it 'appalling'.
But before we hammer the front-line Immigration officers, may I suggest looking into intangibles like work fatigue, work hours, impact of shift work and overwhelming workload because of the peak season, like the recent school holidays.
It is the confluence of all these intangible but nevertheless equally critical factors that causes slip-ups to occur.
For instance, an air-traffic controller will be too mentally fatigued and lose his alertness should he work for too long without adequate rest. Fatal crashes will then occur due to a slowed response-reflex action.
We need to find out whether the airports and entry and exit points have adequate manpower or whether front-line staffing needs boosting. It is not totally the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority worker's fault if he slips up when he has been working at maximum performance plus overtime for days on end without adequate rest.
Lim Boon Hee
'Those using the passports of others should be punished.'
MR JEFFREY LAW: 'Those using the passports of others for whatever reason should be punished. The genuine passport holder should not be spared either. We should avoid a situation whereby a person wanted for criminal offences can leave the country by using another's passport, be it stolen or borrowed. We must treat our passports with pride and a sense of belonging and not take it for granted. A passport that falls into the wrong hands can cause problems to the individual as well as to the community.'
'Do security officers inspect Singaporean passports as thoroughly as foreign ones?'
MS PATRICIA MARIA DE SOUZA: 'A few years ago, my husband's friend flew to Australia. When he landed, he was refused entry as he had used his wife's passport. He was put on the next flight back. Do security officers inspect Singaporean passports as thoroughly as foreign ones?'
'We shouldn't make the same mistakes.'
MR KOH SOON FUEI: 'A year ago, I wrote to this Forum page about an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) mistake that nearly cost my family $5,000. ICA officers let our maid pass through the immigration checkpoint without updating their records. Consequently, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) threatened to forfeit our security bond. ICA replied that they had helped us to resolve the matter with MOM. Now, it has happened again. I agree that we are all human and make mistakes. But we shouldn't make the same mistakes, in which case, action should be taken.'
PASSPORT SLIP-UP AT CHANGI
29 Juln2008
Straits Times
English
(c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Responsibility so far has been laid squarely and conclusively on those 'on the ground', leaving the man at the very top of the security department unscathed.
Yes, leadership responsibility has been explained away with how the lower rungs have not or did not follow operational procedures.
But leadership responsibility does not end with operational procedures. It starts with respect that subordinates have for the leader (or not) and ends with the leader having the moral authority to lead (or not).
Andrew Loh
In such a short span of time, there have been so many security lapses. Putting the blame on human error is the most convenient reason. To a certain extent, we are indeed complacent and over-reliant on the Government to get everything right. There is no foolproof security system, but we should minimise any potential damage through preventive measures.
Chen Jee Keong
10 July 2008
Straits Times
English
(c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Eunice Chu (Ms)
Deputy Director, Corporate Communications Division
for Commissioner, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority
WE WOULD like to thank the readers for their letters on the checkpoint security issues arising from the passport mis-clearance incident. It will be useful to set out some of the background and the context when we look at these issues.
Last year, about 143 million travellers went through Singapore's checkpoints. With this sheer volume of travellers amid a heightened security climate, it is always a tremendous challenge for checkpoint officers to ensure thorough security clearance while meeting key performance indicators on speed of clearance.
The millions of travellers want speed and convenience. The security arrangements put in place have to take that into account. Within this framework, security has been stepped up at the checkpoints. That has led to significant results.
Last year, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers uncovered more than 2,280 cases of foreigners attempting to breach our immigration checks through impersonation or use of forged/ tampered travel documents. This is an increase of more than 61 per cent from the year before.
On a daily basis, we also detect an average of five cases of travellers presenting the wrong passports for immigration clearance.
When a mistake happens, we need to account for it squarely. But we also need to be realistic and acknowledge that even as we strive to make no mistake, mistakes will happen, especially in such a high-volume and pressured operating reality.
What we must do is to keep mistakes to the minimum and always try to improve our total border security regime comprising systems, technology and people.
When designing the system, we try to anticipate failure or lapses and work out measures to minimise their occurrence.
In the case of the man who was recently mis-cleared with a wrong passport, the security system and processes were in place. The thumbprint verification by the automated immigration clearance system correctly detected that the man was not the passport holder and, therefore, denied him automated clearance.
The ICA officer, on seeing that the man had problems with automated clearance, conducted a manual face-to- face clearance protocol. After assessing the individual, he made a judgment call that he was a bona fide traveller and cleared him.
The ICA officer's security assessment of the man was not wrong. However, the officer failed to check why the passport was rejected by the automated system.
As a result, he failed to detect that the man could not clear the system because he held the wrong passport.
This was a mistake and the officer will be held responsible for that mistake.
WRONG PASSPORT
Front-line staff fatigued?
26 Jun 2008
Straits Times
English
(c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
I PERFECTLY comprehend Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng when he condemned the latest publicised slip-up of the Home Team, calling it 'appalling'.
But before we hammer the front-line Immigration officers, may I suggest looking into intangibles like work fatigue, work hours, impact of shift work and overwhelming workload because of the peak season, like the recent school holidays.
It is the confluence of all these intangible but nevertheless equally critical factors that causes slip-ups to occur.
For instance, an air-traffic controller will be too mentally fatigued and lose his alertness should he work for too long without adequate rest. Fatal crashes will then occur due to a slowed response-reflex action.
We need to find out whether the airports and entry and exit points have adequate manpower or whether front-line staffing needs boosting. It is not totally the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority worker's fault if he slips up when he has been working at maximum performance plus overtime for days on end without adequate rest.
Lim Boon Hee
'Those using the passports of others should be punished.'
MR JEFFREY LAW: 'Those using the passports of others for whatever reason should be punished. The genuine passport holder should not be spared either. We should avoid a situation whereby a person wanted for criminal offences can leave the country by using another's passport, be it stolen or borrowed. We must treat our passports with pride and a sense of belonging and not take it for granted. A passport that falls into the wrong hands can cause problems to the individual as well as to the community.'
'Do security officers inspect Singaporean passports as thoroughly as foreign ones?'
MS PATRICIA MARIA DE SOUZA: 'A few years ago, my husband's friend flew to Australia. When he landed, he was refused entry as he had used his wife's passport. He was put on the next flight back. Do security officers inspect Singaporean passports as thoroughly as foreign ones?'
'We shouldn't make the same mistakes.'
MR KOH SOON FUEI: 'A year ago, I wrote to this Forum page about an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) mistake that nearly cost my family $5,000. ICA officers let our maid pass through the immigration checkpoint without updating their records. Consequently, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) threatened to forfeit our security bond. ICA replied that they had helped us to resolve the matter with MOM. Now, it has happened again. I agree that we are all human and make mistakes. But we shouldn't make the same mistakes, in which case, action should be taken.'
PASSPORT SLIP-UP AT CHANGI
29 Juln2008
Straits Times
English
(c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Responsibility so far has been laid squarely and conclusively on those 'on the ground', leaving the man at the very top of the security department unscathed.
Yes, leadership responsibility has been explained away with how the lower rungs have not or did not follow operational procedures.
But leadership responsibility does not end with operational procedures. It starts with respect that subordinates have for the leader (or not) and ends with the leader having the moral authority to lead (or not).
Andrew Loh
In such a short span of time, there have been so many security lapses. Putting the blame on human error is the most convenient reason. To a certain extent, we are indeed complacent and over-reliant on the Government to get everything right. There is no foolproof security system, but we should minimise any potential damage through preventive measures.
Chen Jee Keong