Daily Lessons from Life 26 January 2014 - Traffic queues at Woodlands Checkpoint ahead of Lunar New Year

"Traffic queues at Woodlands Checkpoint ahead of Lunar New Year - CNA 26 January 2014

SINGAPORE: It is the weekend right before the Lunar New Year and traffic flow on the Causeway was smooth on Saturday, but the usual vehicle queues formed up at Woodlands Checkpoint by evening.
Drivers Channel NewsAsia spoke to said traffic toward Singapore seemed to be heavier and slower, which could be due to increased border security after a Malaysian woman recently entered Singapore without clearing immigration.
At 3pm on Saturday, the number of cars moving from Johor to Singapore started to build up, while traffic heading to the Malaysian side remained generally smooth.

However, by 4pm, traffic cameras showed vehicles lining the roads leading to the checkpoint on the Singapore side.
Causeway traffic is expected to be especially heavy just before, and during the Lunar New Year holiday.
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) of Singapore issued an advisory on Thursday urging travelers to car-pool or take public transport."

It was incredible that the Malaysian woman teacher with a 'history of mental illness' was able to sneak into Singapore after giving the ICA officers the slip, and then 'sneaked' into the MFA compound 2 days later where she was arrested!

Lessons for me are:

1. the series of 'mis-steps' or 'slippages' provide no comfort in the work of our ICA officers and the SPF (Singapore Police Force). This after the much criticized 'performance' during the Little India riot in December 2013;

2. the DPM Teo rightly expressed his dissatisfaction with the breaches at the Woodland ICA check-point and urged the services to investigate what exactly transpired and how the loopholes, if any, can be rectified as the next slippage may not be so benign! It shattered most to think what could had been if the Malaysian woman teacher with a history of mental illness were a terrorist with destructive intention!;

3. there were some motorists who wrote to the newspapers complaining of the 'stricter' ICA checks at the Woodland check-point as a result of this 'slippage'. It reminded me of the scene when the then terrorist No. 1 Mas Selamat's escape from a high security detention center a few years ago. Long waits at the ICA check-point were the normal. Millions of productivity were LOST. I hope this time round the SAME thing is NOT going to happen!

May those who HAVE to travel to Malaysia for the coming Chinese New Year festival have a smooth and quick passage through the ICA check-points.