Why we should give more money to our civil servants
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I got this in the email, thought this might be an interesting read.
This mail was (according to the email I received) sent to Foo Sek Min at CAAS and CC'ed to Lee Hsien Loong, Wong Kan Seng, Lim Swee Say, Raymond Lim, Angela Lam, Peter Ho, etc.
Content of email follows:
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Dear Mr. Foo,
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 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 -
bomb is a very very very sensitive word.......
imagine, you was to explain to your children in a plane, guess what will happen to you
ignorant woman -
Look at our civil service standards, how come become like that?
police not taking action even though civilians were beaten up http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=246396 The case where the police man took a gun and pointed at the weaping family as the dying man had his organs forcefully removed
http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=236745 The "stomp" post where a man sees Traffic Police parking their bikes at double yellow lines illegally and having breakfast while on their job -
eh..email not over yet.. u all diam diam first..
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
then wad? -
Thats why we should increase civil servant and minister's salary mah..
For good quality service! -
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 -
CAAS officers... cisco officers... wad to expect... haizz...
shameless...
but...
This mail was (according to the email I received) sent to Foo Sek Min at CAAS and CC'ed to Lee Hsien Loong, Wong Kan Seng, Lim Swee Say, Raymond Lim, Angela Lam, Peter Ho, etc.
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i still want to point out that, you should not have mention the word - bomb,right infront of a security officer, and furthermore, you mention twice, for goodness sake, you could have use words, like dangerous item, why do that fellow has to use the bomb, he verbal insult you, thats his mistake, and its escalate to such a grave matter, you asked for his name, indirectly you are challenging his authority, even i will feel insulted
that person who wrote the email is at fault first
think about this way, if you explain to your children, in a properly manner, use words like dangerous item
if you are boarding a plane, and the air stewardess happen to hear what you said, what do you think, will happen to you, and furthermore, you mention, right in front of a security officer........ twice.........
Ever since, 9/11 incident, bomb is a very sensitive words, and i am sure that person who wrote that email, should have known that
how about this, do you why there are no dustbin around mrt station, is because of the bombing of madrid railway station, thats why, government pass a regulation that no dustbin are allowed near a mrt station
in the case of that person who wrote that email, you suay lor, and ignorant, could have been more tactful
i offer no comparison for that person, she totally blur -
Totally disgusted...
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You are in the wrong.Originally posted by allentyb:i still want to point out that, you should not have mention the word - bomb,right infront of a security officer, and furthermore, you mention twice, for goodness sake, you could have use words, like dangerous item, why do that fellow has to use the bomb, he verbal insult you, thats his mistake, and its escalate to such a grave matter, you asked for his name, indirectly you are challenging his authority, even i will feel insulted
that person who wrote the email is at fault first
think about this way, if you explain to your children, in a properly manner, use words like dangerous item
if you are boarding a plane, and the air stewardess happen to hear what you said, what do you think, will happen to you, and furthermore, you mention, right in front of a security officer........ twice.........
Ever since, 9/11 incident, bomb is a very sensitive words, and i am sure that person who wrote that email, should have known that
how about this, do you why there are no dustbin around mrt station, is because of the bombing of madrid railway station, thats why, government pass a regulation that no dustbin are allowed near a mrt station
in the case of that person who wrote that email, you suay lor, and ignorant, could have been more tactful
i offer no comparison for that person, she totally blur
Even though its a sensitive word, the officers must use their discretion. Obviously the woman meant no harm in explaining the daughter about bombs.
Its not as if she went berserk and keep shouting the word BOMB!
The words were used between a mother and a child. The officers should learn how to treat people with respect.
If she really was in the wrong, why wasnt she charged then? -
how about this, if you are located at a united state airport or israel airport and mention the word, bomb!
and see what will happen lor -
Put up notices,stating "Dear passengers,pls do not use the word BOMB or you can be arrested,the officer will not hesitate to have you arrest if you use the words "BOMB" twice".
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The point is, we are not.Originally posted by allentyb:how about this, if you are located at a united state airport or israel airport and mention the word, bomb!
and see what will happen lor
Like I said, discretion is needed here.
Here a mother is explaining to a child about the security procedures. She is not telling about making bombs or hiding it.
If that is the case, they should censor the word bomb in every magazine, books, movies and games in the airports!!
Please lar, have common sense. -
Let me guess.. FBI will come, interpol will track and trace your background.. etc...Originally posted by allentyb:how about this, if you are located at a united state airport or israel airport and mention the word, bomb!
and see what will happen lor -
dude.....Originally posted by mhcampboy:You are in the wrong.
Even though its a sensitive word, the officers must use their discretion. Obviously the woman meant no harm in explaining the daughter about bombs.
Its not as if she went berserk and keep shouting the word BOMB!
The words were used between a mother and a child. The officers should learn how to treat people with respect.
If she really was in the wrong, why wasnt she charged then?
don't have to mention, right infront of the mental detector, she mention, she suay lor, and the security officer heard it, and furthermore, why do you want to mention twice, and bomb is a very sensitive word, she could have use other words, like dangerous item, she is tactless,
if she keep insisting on her way, then she will get herself detained and arrested by the police
any tom, dick or harry knows that bomb is a very sensitive word,
again, ever since the 9/11 incident, precaution has been install
if that situation, and i mention that word, i would immediately profusely apologise that its my fault and you know why i do that, because i don't want to let this issue affect my journey, -
you don't even mention that word- BOMB, at least not infront of a metal detector, please lah, some of the regulation is c o c ked up, and i know, for example, why the heck, i can't bring my own god damn lighter onboard, seriously, she should have exercise more common sense, if you mention that word - BOMB and happen there is a police who is patrolling that area, see what will happenOriginally posted by mhcampboy:The point is, we are not.
Like I said, discretion is needed here.
Here a mother is explaining to a child about the security procedures. She is not telling about making bombs or hiding it.
If that is the case, they should censor the word bomb in every magazine, books, movies and games in the airports!!
Please lar, have common sense. -
For pete sakes, she is not shouting or tormenting ppl with the word bomb!!Originally posted by allentyb:you don't even mention that word- BOMB, at least not infront of a metal detector, please lah, some of the regulation is c o c ked up, and i know, for example, why the heck, i can't bring my own god damn lighter onboard, seriously, she should have exercise more common sense, if you mention that word - BOMB and happen there is a police who is patrolling that area, see what will happen
Obviously the officers there are having attitude problems. Like i said, if i overhear someone mentioning the word bomb, and i see a lady talking to a little child... wad? they are terrorist? -
x2Originally posted by mhcampboy:The point is, we are not.
Like I said, discretion is needed here.
Here a mother is explaining to a child about the security procedures. She is not telling about making bombs or hiding it.
If that is the case, they should censor the word bomb in every magazine, books, movies and games in the airports!!
Please lar, have common sense.
Kiang tio ho, Mai gek kiang
It's good to be smart, But don't act smart ok?
thats at the allen clone dude -
http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_retrieve.pl?actno=REVED-124&doctitle=HIJACKING%20OF%20AIRCRAFT%20AND%20PROTECTION%20OF%20AIRCRAFT%20AND%20INTERNATIONAL%20AIRPORTS%20ACT%0a&date=latest&method=part&sl=1Originally posted by mhcampboy:For pete sakes, she is not shouting or tormenting ppl with the word bomb!!
Obviously the officers there are having attitude problems. Like i said, if i overhear someone mentioning the word bomb, and i see a lady talking to a little child... wad? they are terrorist?
she argue, and instead, should have just immediately apologise
and why did she have to mention that word, in the first place
this is an airport, you know, and again, she is tactless, and ignorant
and between, BOMB, is consider as a threat already, you don't have to shout and people will understand,
she could have jolly well, tell her daughter that, sweetie, later i explain to you,
why right infront of the mental detector, like i said, she is tactless, and she got screen check by the officer, is the right thing to do, and no arguement on that
she is suay, simple as that -
Dun start to show me wad links all...Originally posted by allentyb:http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_retrieve.pl?actno=REVED-124&doctitle=HIJACKING%20OF%20AIRCRAFT%20AND%20PROTECTION%20OF%20AIRCRAFT%20AND%20INTERNATIONAL%20AIRPORTS%20ACT%0a&date=latest&method=part&sl=1
she argue, and instead, should have just immediately apologise
and why did she have to mention that word, in the first place
this is an airport, you know, and again, she is tactless, and ignorant
and between, BOMB, is consider as a threat already, you don't have to shout and people will understand,
she could have jolly well, tell her daughter that, sweetie, later i explain to you,
why right infront of the mental detector, like i said, she is tactless, and she got screen check by the officer, is the right thing to do, and no arguement on that
she is suay, simple as that
The conversation was between a mother and child.
Lets say im in the airport toilet. And im talking to my friend abt the latest game which has the latest bomb! a police is shitting. so wad? i can get caught too?
Pls lar.. common sense prevail here! Attitude from the officers is totally not needed here.
She even explain why she used the word bomb! -
Do you campy understand that, she don't need to use that word, bomb, she could have use other word like dangerous item such as pen knife or whatever
in this case, she is tactless and ignorant
next time, campy, when a security officer, ask you to take off your boots, and you jokingly tell him, you scare, i will carry a bomb, ah?
and see what will happen to you
in her case, she is wrong, she shouldn't have even mention that word -
this is stupidity at its best. the insentivity and arrogance of the uniformed thinking they are king when in uniform.
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now i am talking about the seriousness of the word - BOMBOriginally posted by mhcampboy:Dun start to show me wad links all...
The conversation was between a mother and child.
Lets say im in the airport toilet. And im talking to my friend abt the latest game which has the latest bomb! a police is shitting. so wad? i can get caught too?
Pls lar.. common sense prevail here! Attitude from the officers is totally not needed here.
She even explain why she used the word bomb!
which part, do you not understand?
and please lah, she argue and ask for the officer name, indirectly challenging his authority, will you be pissed off, she could have jolly well, APOLOGISE RIGHT! and tell him that i am very sorry that i mention that word, there are full of rude people in this world, and furthermore, BOMB IS ALREADY A SENSITIVE WORD, YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE MENTION AT ALL, AT LEAST NOT INFRONT OF A SECURITY OFFICER!!!!! which part, do you not understand,
is it so hard to just apologise right away, then move on, and carry on with your own damn business, and now the matter escalate to this matter!