>>> >My name is Sandra Tan. It is
>>> >with great disappointment and distress that I am
filing a
>>> >complaint to you with regards to my
situation.
>>> >
>>> >My family (including myself, my husband, my
>>> >daughter, and my son) planned a Darwin holiday
for
>>> >the March school vacation period and was supposed
to
>>> >depart on 09 March. Unfortunately, we were put in
a
>>> >situation by the security officers at the
departure terminal,
>>> >that was way beyond our control and we were not
able
>>> >to make our trip. The following is an
account
>>> >of what had happened : -
>>> >
>>> >I entered the Immigration gantry at about
7.15pm
>>> >with my daughter (Belle Lee , 13 yrs old) to have
our
>>> >passport scanned and our hand carry luggage
>>> >checked whilst my husband ( Lee Ming Chong)
stayed
>>> >behind with my son ( Caius Lee, 8 yrs old) at the
ticketing
>>> >counter to sort out my son's visa. After having
mine and
>>> >my Belle's passport scanned, we proceed to the
security
>>> >gantry to have our hand luggage and our
bodies
>>> >scanned. Belle passed the security gantry
first,
>>> >whilst I followed right behind her. A lady
officer
>>> >asked me to remove my boots for scanning, and I
did
>>> >as told immediately and put my boots inside
the
>>> >basket provided, for it to be scanned together
with
>>> >my hand luggage. I then proceed to the metal
>>> >detector of which I cleared without the
gantry
>>> >beeping or detecting any metal objects. I was then
asked
>>> >to collect my luggage and my boots. In the
mean
>>> >time, Belle was throwing away a sweet
wrapper
>>> >and retuning to me and saw me putting on my
boots.
>>> >Belle then asked casually "Mummy, why do you have
to
>>> >remove your shoes?"
>>> >Whilst putting on my boots, I replied her and
said
>>> >that "they (the security officers) are afraid that
we
>>> >might keep bombs in our shoes (which is why
I
>>> >need to take it off to have it scanned)"
>>> >
>>> >Immediately, a security officer standing at
the
>>> >conveyor belt ( Stephen S Naidira) who was
standing
>>> >in front of me said with a very rude tone
"repeat
>>> >what you just said". I clarified with him what
he
>>> >meant - is it for me to repeat what I had told
my
>>> >daughter? He said loudly again, to repeat what
I
>>> >had just said. So I did exactly what he told me.
I
>>> >said to him that "my daughter asked me why I
>>> >need to take off my shoes, and I told her that
you
>>> >guys (the security officers) are afraid that we
will
>>> >keep bombs in our shoes." He immediately
asked
>>> >me to stand aside and said that he had to
>>> >report it to his superior that I said the
word
>>> >"bomb" twice. Then an Indian lady
(Sivamalar)
>>> >at the customs started hurling at me and my
>>> >daughter and said that I said the word
"bomb"
>>> >twice and it is against the law and I can be
>>> >sent to jail and they are calling the police.
She
>>> >(Sivamalar) was so loud and rude and she
>>> >shoved us to the side, and refused to listen to
my
>>> >explanation. In fact, she got so aggressive
that
>>> >another officer Ricky Lim (I guess it's her
supervisor)
>>> >had to come forward to stop her from further
>>> >attacking me and my daughter verbally, and
>>> >specifically asked Sivamalar to "shut up". I
told
>>> >Ricky Lim that I would like to know the names of
his
>>> >staff because their attitude and rudeness
were
>>> >simply beyond any acceptable level.
Immediately
>>> >Sivamalar got so angry and aggressive that she
started
>>> >charging at Ricky Lim and hurled "What?!
What?!
>>> >What?! She (she meant me) said the word "Bomb"
twice,
>>> >so what is wrong with arresting her (which is me)
and
>>> >we were told that if we heard the word twice, we
will
>>> >arrest!!" At that time, Stephen S Naidira came to
me again to
>>> >intimidate me further by asking me to repeat what
I said
>>> >earlier to my daughter again. I refused to
>>> >repeat again then because I believe he was
>>> >deliberately asking me to repeat so that he can
count the
>>> >number of times that I mentioned the word
"bomb".
>>> >I also believe that that the officers were
deliberately
>>> >provoking me by being rude and intimidating, in
the
>>> >hope that I will retaliate in kind, thereby making
their
>>> >unreasonable actions justifiable.
>>> >
>>> >Despite my anger and the fact that my daughter
was
>>> >scared to tears by the situation, I knew I had to
keep
>>> >my cool. I sat aside with my daughter taking
down
>>> >names of the personnel involved on my mobile
phone.
>>> >
>>> >I was told to wait for another officer of a higher
rank to
>>> >decide on the matter, and I was still hoping
whoever
>>> >the higher ranked officer that was coming
will
>>> >have the logical thinking to acknowledge that what
I
>>> >had said to my daughter was a simple,
harmless
>>> >private conversation taken completely
out-of-context.
>>> >
>>> >At about 7.30pm, the Sergeant-in-charge, Amran
Buang
>>> >came. After I explained the full context of the
incident to him,
>>> >he refused to make a decision and decided to
escalate it
>>> >further to the Auxilary Police and State Police.
He said
>>> >that the word "bomb" is very sensitive and I
should
>>> >not have mentioned it twice. I explained to him
that
>>> >I did not know saying the word "bomb" is against
the
>>> >law, and I further explained that I did not say
the word
>>> >"bomb" in a threatening context to the officer,
the word
>>> >"bomb" was taken completely out of context as
part
>>> >of an answer to my daughter's question. Despite
my
>>> >explanation, he said he cannot make the decision
and
>>> >my case has to be escalated to higher
authorities.
>>> >
>>> >Meanwhile, at about 7.40pm , my son's visa
cleared
>>> >and my husband and my son came in through
the
>>> >customs. After knowing what had happened, my
>>> >husband tried to talk to Sergeant Amran
Buang,
>>> >further explaining to him that we are just a
family
>>> >going on holiday and what I have said to my
daughter
>>> >had been taken out of context. Again, no one
was
>>> >bothered to listen. And again, we were told to
wait
>>> >for another officer with an even higher ranking.
With
>>> >time ticking away and at 7.55pm with no sign of
the
>>> >higher authorities appearing, we knew then our
hope
>>> >of boarding our flight had diminished.
>>> >
>>> >Whilst waiting, Stephen S Naidira (the
security
>>> >officer) gathered with a few security officers at
the side,
>>> >including Sivamalar to discuss how they should
present
>>> >their statement to the police when they arrive
later to make
>>> >sure that they are adequately covered, and that
they
>>> >are just following the rule and doing what they
were told
>>> >to do. They said by insisting that they are taking
actions
>>> >"by-the-book", they would be ok.
>>> >
>>> >I hope by now you have a clear picture of
the
>>> >situation. My kids were both crying then, with
more
>>> >and more policemen arriving which scared the
living
>>> >daylights of them, and with no hope to continue
our
>>> >holiday plans. I believe every action inside the
terminal
>>> >is recorded and I would insist that your review
the
>>> >CCTV recordings on that night to know that I am
only
>>> >stating the truth without exaggeration. You can
also
>>> >see that during the entire episode, I was not at
any
>>> >point defiant or rude or refused any further check
by
>>> >the officers, despite the infuriating situation
that me
>>> >and my family were put through.
>>> >
>>> >I know it is important to stay vigilant to
protect
>>> >Singapore . I have young children, I know
how
>>> >important it is, which is why I complied
without
>>> >complaining when I had to remove my boots
for
>>> >scanning. However, here is an obvious case of
the
>>> >security officers trying to get away with
their
>>> >rudeness and aggressiveness by taking things
way
>>> >beyond what was necessary,
>>> >in the name of following the security protocol.
They
>>> >were really angry when I asked for their names
from
>>> >Mr. Ricky Lim , and they knew very well then
>>> >that they can abuse their power to make things
very
>>> >difficult for me and my family.
>>> >
>>> >At around 8.05pm , we were informed by the
Tiger
>>> >Airways personnel that the plane will have to
depart
>>> >and they will off-load our luggage from the
>>> >plane. At around 8.10 p.m., the State Police
and
>>> >other policemen arrived to take our
statement.
>>> >
>>> >In the entire episode, the State Police and
the
>>> >SWISS PORT personnel were the only ones who
>>> >conducted themselves professionally and offered
us
>>> >consolation and meaningful advice. They have also
at
>>> >some stages expressed their personal views that
they
>>> >acknowledged this incident was gravely
mis-handled
>>> >on the part of the security officers. The State
Police
>>> >further confirmed that there is no case against
us,
>>> >and they would just need to complete the
paperwork.
>>> >
>>> >The Budget Terminal manager came to meet me and
said
>>> >that whilst he empathized with our situation, it
is an airport
>>> >security protocol and frankly, it's "just too bad"
that this
>>> >
>>> >happened to us.
>>> >
>>> >My statement and my daughter's statement
only
>>> >completed at about 10.45p.m.
>>> >The counter service staff, Ms Nur Aisah Bte
Ali
>>> >Hassan was very helpful and advised us on
our
>>> >next steps. She was kind enough to ask us to
return the
>>> >next day to change the traveling dates and
advised
>>> >the additional charges involved.
>>> >
>>> >I am not given a report for this case, but my
case
>>> >number with the State Police is
P/20070309/0015.
>>> >
>>> >I was already told by the State Police that
the
>>> >case is closed without further action.
>>> >
>>> >For the ordeal that my family had been put
through,
>>> >I would want an official reply from CAAS and all
relevant
>>> >authorities addressing the following : -
>>> >
>>> >Whether the security officers were trained to
handle
>>> >passengers with such bad attitude and rudeness and
if such
>>> >actions by them are condoned by authorities. I
would insist
>>> >you to refer to the CCTV recordings during
>>> >the period of the incident.
>>> >
>>> >What actions would be taken by CAAS and all
relevant
>>> >authorities with reference to both the security
officers, Mr. Stephen
>>> >S Naidira ad Ms. Sivamalar, for their unruly
behavior and attitude?
>>> >Surely, characters as such do not belong to a
national airport that
>>> >aspired to be a world class traveling hub.
>>> >
>>> >What actions would be taken by CAAS and all
relevant
>>> >authorities with reference to Sergeant Amran Buang
, who
>>> >had the authority to end this episode promptly,
but instead
>>> >decided to prolong our ordeal for no justifiable
cause? Is
>>> >it a protocol that even after establishing the
facts that we, as
>>> >a family poses no security threat, there is still
a need
>>> >to escalate the matter to the authority and have
the
>>> >State Police and other policemen carry out a
full
>>> >investigations only to end up in vain? Why is
it
>>> >that even at level of Sergeant, whom I reckon
is
>>> >better educated, experienced, and able to
make
>>> >logical sense of the whole situation, refuse
>>> >to make a simple decision and end our ordeal
>>> >quickly? Is this a Singapore civil service
practice
>>> >where decision making is pushed and shoved from
one
>>> >level to another no matter how obvious what
the
>>> >final decision should be from the very
beginning?
>>> >
>>> >Whether all the officers concern are
properly
>>> >trained and competent to handle such
situation.
>>> >
>>> >Besides hardware ( i.e. the protocol book), are
they
>>> >taught to apply the software ( i.e . common
senses)?
>>> >Is it really a protocol that as long as the word
"bomb"
>>> >is mentioned twice by a person (once being
>>> >asked to repeat by the officer) ??then no
matter
>>> >what context, tone, situation and profile of
the
>>> >person who said it, it would not be taken
into
>>> >consideration? What if my daughter instead of
asking
>>> >me a simple question about my shoes, decided to
say:
>>> >"mummy, according to news report, there are
>>> >speculations that the recent Indonesian air
crash
>>> >may be attributed to a bomb inside the plane."
Would
>>> >your security officer would come up to her and
ask
>>> >her to repeat one more time, and she would be
put
>>> >under arrest? Your staff kept telling me that
saying
>>> >the word "bomb" in the airport is illegal and I
can
>>> >go to jail. They quoted newspaper examples of
how
>>> >people have gone to jail because of that. I
think
>>> >your staffs need to be trained to understand
and
>>> >differentiate situations and circumstances. As
far
>>> >as I knew, the people that went to jail had
VERBALLY
>>> >THREATENED staff members in the aviation service
or
>>> >had DELIBERATELY caused public alarm using
sensitive
>>> >words. My case was clearly none of the above.
Even
>>> >if, I am saying if, indeed its illegal to
mention
>>> >the word "bomb" in the airport no matter
what
>>> >context, the person involved need to be warned
ahead
>>> >of time. You cannot arrest a person for
committing
>>> >something illegal when the person has no idea that
the
>>> >word is illegal in the first place. Your staff
could have
>>> >given me a verbal warning to say that such
sensitive
>>> >words should be refrained in the airport and I
would
>>> >have walk away remembering the warning. But
instead,
>>> >they decide to let the matter escalate
further.
>>> >
>>> >Who is to compensate for the expenses that
are
>>> >already incurred and forfeited for this trip, and
our
>>> >emotional stress and duress during the entire
episode?
>>>
>>> >The total cost incurred, including air
tickets,
>>> >accommodation, and land tours amount to
about
>>> >$4,200. We had to put up with hours of
humiliation
>>> >with more than twenty policemen and
officials
>>> >surrounding us, questioning us, checking our
luggage
>>> >through and through.
>>> >We had put up with never-ending questioning
from
>>> >different departments, and best of all,
repeated
>>> >checks on my same pair of boots. My kids
were
>>> >terrified, puzzled, disappointed and exhausted
from
>>> >this entire ordeal. My husband and I are left with
one
>>> >week of applied leave and no vacation and holiday
to
>>> >look forward to.
>>> >
>>> >I would like to state that not everyone that we
came
>>> >across in this episode had been unpleasant. I wish
to
>>> >take this opportunity to express my gratitude for
the
>>> >empathy shown by the State Police and the SWISS
PORT
>>> >personnel.
>>> >
>>> >I will be waiting for your reply. Please let me
know
>>> >when to expect it in email. In the mean time, I
may
>>> >seek legal advice for my rights and entitlement in
this
>>> >incident.
>>> >
>>> >Yours sincerely
>>> >
>>> >Sandra Tan Hong Lian
