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The JB Sentral-Woodlands Shuttle Service (Shuttle Tebrau) from 1 July 2015
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28 January 2016
FROM 1 JUNE 2016, IT WILL TAKE EVEN LONGER TO GET THROUGH SINGAPORE IMMIGRATION.
It will be slower whether by land, sea or air.
Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Desmond Lee, “Border control is therefore our first line of defence to prevent an attack from taking place in Singapore.”
Checkpoints to verify fingerprints from June http://ebx.sh/23uxGGM
SINGAPORE – From June, all travellers arriving in Singapore by land, air or sea will have their fingerprints taken at checkpoints, as the Republic tightens its defences against terrorists.
The fingerprint records will be used to verify the identity of each traveller before he is allowed to enter Singapore, said Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Desmond Lee in Parliament yesterday.
The move will also allow travellers to use automated clearance lanes or self-service kiosks when they depart.
Other measures to tackle the heightened terror threat include more surveillance cameras in Housing Board estates and public areas by this year, and carrying out more patrols along the coastline.
For now, only those opting to use automated immigration clearance lanes are required to scan thumbprints using biometric technology.
All travellers arriving at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal are also being fingerprinted, as part of the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority’s (ICA’s) pilot BioScreen project.
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Expect heavier traffic during the year-end school and festive holidays, with about 430,000 travellers using the checkpoints daily.
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24 December 2015
Travellers turn to trains to beat checkpoint jams
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Tickets for Shuttle Tebrau selling fast, as are those for buses and flights to Malaysia for year-end holidays
Train, coach and flight tickets to Malaysia are selling fast as many make plans to head north for their Christmas and New Year holidays.
Amid reports of heavy jams on the Causeway this holiday season, the Shuttle Tebrau train – which runs between Woodlands checkpoint and JB Sentral, with the journey taking just five minutes – has been particularly popular. Many services today and tomorrow are sold out.
Malaysian rail operator Keretapi Tanah Melayu launched the service in July, with seven daily trips from both stops. Each can carry about 320 passengers.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/travellers-turn-to-trains-to-beat-checkpoint-jams
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22 December 2015
Causeway jams so bad, S’porean stays in JB hotel instead of coming home
S’porean tells of woes facing commuters as tighter security checks cause congestion
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By SITI NUR AISHA OMAR
Singaporean Jaclyn Lim, a director of a company based in Johor Bahru (JB), was so afraid of being caught up in the Causeway jam that she stayed in a JB hotel twice this month.
For Madam Lim who has driven nearly 15 years from Singapore to JB to get to work, the hotel stays of about RM260 (S$85) each night was worth it.
Said Madam Lim, who is in her 50s: ”When I went on the Internet to check the traffic condition at the Causeway, there was a jam because the holiday season has already started. I decided to just stay in a hotel so that I don’t have to rush to work the next day.”
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21 December 2015
Heightened security during holiday season necessary, says ICA
Holdups are also due to a “very volatile and very dynamic situation” at land checkpoints, says Commander at Tuas Checkpoint Chua Sze How.
- Posted 21 Dec 2015 12:54
…there were 3,500 cases of foreigners attempting to enter Singapore without appropriate travel documents in the same period this year, despite having already passed the Malaysian checkpoints.
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SINGAPORE: The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) is stepping up security checks during the holiday season, it said at a media briefing on Monday (Dec 21).
“Our top priority is to ensure the safety and security of Singaporeans,” AC Alan Koo, Commander at Woodlands Checkpoint said.
ICA said that between January and October this year, it caught 622 cases of Singaporeans attempting to exit the country without the appropriate travel documents. Examples of such cases include those traveling with passports that do not belong to them, expired or invalid travel documents, or no travel documents at all. There were 690 of such cases for the whole of last year.
In addition, there were 3,500 cases of foreigners attempting to enter Singapore without appropriate travel documents in the same period this year, despite having already passed the Malaysian checkpoints. This surpasses the 3,400 cases recorded for the whole of last year.
Mr Koo said ICA takes such cases very seriously to ensure there is no “malicious intent”, as terrorists may make use of false identities to enter the country. ICA said it checks every car entering Singapore for potential risks.
He added that it was important to investigate any security risk, drawing parallels between the tactics used by smugglers carrying contraband goods and terrorists carrying explosives, and as there are many similarities in the modus operandi of the two groups relating to their concealment of goods or explosives within vehicles or clothing, it was crucial not to take any risk lightly.
Mr Koo also said that there were significant risks detected during the December peak period.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/heightened-security/2366126.html?cid=twtcna
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Security checks, lack of lane discipline led to Causeway jams: ICA http://bit.ly/1Ij3gjJ
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Causeway jam: Wait on Singapore side is under 3 hours, ICA records show http://bit.ly/1PjouiB
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Ab Aziz said a gateless gantry system synchronised with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tracker system will be installed at Immigration checks to further decrease the congestion on the Causeway.
“The new scanning system can be utilised by VEP-registered vehicles travelling between the two countries, as we will allocate special lanes for it.
“The vehicles will be scanned within seconds and they will not have to pass through manual Customs checks, which will help to ease traffic flow,” he said, adding that the system would be introduced soon.
It was reported by The Star that traffic in Johor Baru came to a standstill on Thursday morning as close to 120,000 vehicles headed into Singapore through the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex (CIQ) in view of the holiday season.
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20 December 2015
ICA sends back 3 Malaysians who evaded immigration checks to avoid congestion at Malaysian Customs
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SINGAPORE – Three Malaysian men, who were heading to Singapore through the Johor Baru Customs near Tuas, had to be escorted back on Saturday (Dec 19).
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said their Malaysian counterpart had requested for its assistance to stop a car at the Tuas Second Link checkpoint. The car drove past an unmanned immigration counter there, failing to clear proper immigration checks.
According to ICA, the three men are work permit holders in Singapore.
Preliminary investigations showed that they had wanted to avoid the congestion at the Malaysian Customs, ICA added.
https://wordpress.com/post/weehingthong.wordpress.com/67253
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Causeway traffic eases for pedestrians but not vehicles http://bit.ly/1YoF6LB
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19 December 2015
Causeway traffic eases for pedestrians but not vehicles
The traffic situation at the Causeway around 6pm yesterday. People walking into Singapore via the Woodlands Checkpoint last night told The Straits Times that they did not experience long waiting times, clearing Customs in half an hour, unlike on Thursday morning, where the process took at least two hours for both pedestrians and motorists.PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI FOR THE STRAITS TIMES
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Pedestrian traffic across the Causeway appeared to have returned to normal last night after massive road jams on Thursday forced hundreds to cross into Singapore on foot.
The situation did not improve for vehicles, however, which remained trapped in a massive gridlock.
People walking into Singapore via the Woodlands Checkpoint last night told The Straits Times they did not experience long waiting times, clearing Customs in half an hour, unlike Thursday morning where the process took at least two hours for both pedestrians and motorists.
It is understood that turnstiles used to manage travellers on foot had been removed at the Woodlands Checkpoint, which could have eased the situation.
Singaporeans travelling to Malaysia using the Causeway and Second Link have been warned to expect delays due to heightened security measures put in place since the Paris terror attacks last month.
Singapore’s Berita Harian reported earlier this month that security checks are now being conducted before the passport counter, adding to the delays.
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18 December 2015
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Malaysiakini
Help our workers crossing into S’pore, pleads DAP
Johor DAP has urged Malaysia and Singapore to conduct a joint ministerial emergency meeting to discuss the plight of thousands of Malaysian workers who are forced to wait for many hours to cross the border.
They claim this is because the Singapore authorities have tightened the control at the checkpoints, causing a standstill at the Johor-Singapore causeway.
“Malaysian workers in Singapore are still Malaysians that deserve our utmost attention.
“Their plight must not be ignored by the federal and Johor governments or the Singapore government,” DAP Kluang MP and Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong and four state assemblypersons said in a joint press statement.
The four are Cheo Yee How (Pengkalan Rinting), Liow Cai Tung (Johor Jaya), Chen Kah Eng (Stulang) and Chew Peck Choo (Yong Peng).
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/323871
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Harian Metro Johor #johorbahru Polis percaya peningkatan jumlah kenderaan kerana cuti sekolah & Krismas http://hmtro.com/1Pab8Ds
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Causeway sees long queues for commuters on foot
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Snaking queues formed not only on vehicle lanes but also pedestrian lanes on the Causeway yesterday morning, as people fed up with traffic jams took to crossing on foot instead.
There was congestion as hundreds of commuters from Malaysia decided to walk to the Woodlands Checkpoint to enter Singapore.
The jams, which began at about 5am, were due to stepped-up security at checkpoints into Singapore after the terrorist attacks in Paris, as well as increased traffic due to the Christmas season, reported Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao.
Pedestrians from Malaysia had to wait for more than an hour to enter Singapore, said Shin Min Daily News. Some gave up and turned back, while others joked about swimming across, said the Chinese papers. Police manpower was increased on both sides of the Causeway, and traffic eased at about 8am. Traffic was reportedly smooth at the Tuas Checkpoint.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/causeway-sees-long-queues-for-commuters-on-foot
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Star
18 December 2015
Huge traffic snarl hits Causeway
At a standstill: Vehicles caught in a massive traffic jam at the Causeway all the way to Johor Baru.
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JOHOR BARU: Traffic in Johor Baru came to a standstill yesterday morning as close to 120,000 vehicles – triple the usual traffic – headed into Singapore via the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex (CIQ) in view of the holiday season.
Those working in the city (Johor Baru) were also caught in a massive jam as some motorists made illegal U-turns in a desperate attempt to escape congestion on the Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) leading to the CIQ near the Permas exit here.
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Johor Traffic Police Chief Supt Baharudin Mat Taib said the police had increased the number of officers to monitor traffic flow around the CIQ.
He said a check with Singapore authorities revealed that two motorcycles lanes were closed yesterday, causing more congestion that affected Johor Baru.
Meanwhile, the Johor Immigration Department denied claims that the new immigration system had contributed to the congestion.
Department director Rohaizi Bahari confirmed that both Malaysia and Singapore immigration authorities did not make changes to their systems recently.
He confirmed that the huge volume of traffic from Johor contributed to the congestion.
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既然是自己選擇的路，多辛苦都要走下去！
http://www.chinapress.com.my/?p=528050
#印象柔佛
採訪手記：謝心昉
根據網絡，最易惹怒越堤者的一句話，莫過于“你就好咯，匯率1對3，這麼好賺”，而最容易惹怒本地工作者的一句話，則是“你以為新元很好賺？每天都塞車，自己來試看看啊”，其實，不管在哪裡工作，大家都是為了生活、為了養家，無需比較誰更辛苦。
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weehingthong 