Not to generalise, but ICA/SPF/AETOS and whatever factions associated with Singapore's Changi Airport should be extremely disappointed with themselves. Having once graced the pinnacle- deemed the best airport in the world- how the mighty have fallen. Known for its excelled and unparalleled efficiency, what transpired served to portray the epitome of inefficiency - a contradiction to the image viewed through the lens offered by this Lion City.
The infamous debacle that occurred several years ago involving a high-profile terrorist escape from a Singapore detention center (after which he was caught months later in JB by Malaysian police) already made the island's security force a laughing stock. But this latest mini fiasco just puts a major dent in the republic's trust in our uniformed personnel.
Sure, they have accounted for the relatively safe and secure environment, and credit should be extended where it's due. But the chaos that ensued in Changi few nights ago cannot go unnoticed. The young Westerner's ghostly screams that reverberated across Terminal 1's baggage claim area caused everyone to awake from their slumber while awaiting for their luggage. After a while, the problem became prominent - a young boy had been trapped in the conveyor belt, and his screams of fear were horrifying enough. What happened next could make any sane person mad to the bone.
Groups of airport personnel rushed over to the scene - SPF, AETOS, ICA, mechanics, engineers, senior officers etc- and promptly did NOTHING. Everyone just stood and watched as the boy continued screaming and his panic-stricken parents attempted to find and calm him down. That it took 2 members of public to run the show while all the airport staff just lingered around said everything. 1 pressed the emergency stop button to halt the belts and subsequently disseminated orders, and another called for an ambulance and checked on the injured boy. How the hell can anyone, let alone a uniformed personnel, say "oh sorry we have no ice here"when asked in an emergency and just stand there and do nothing? For starters you are in a freaking airport. Worst case scenario go to a restaurant or something. Absolutely no sense of urgency - an 8 year old boy could run and grab ice while officers on duty stood gaily and did nothing. Utterly disappointing. And instead of helping these Western tourists in need, you bitch about their incompetency at parenting? Seriously? Singaporeans complain (sometimes rightly) that foreigners are invading their country and taking their jobs, but on this account, can we blame them seeing that our local officers can't even get a simple job done? With all due respect, this incident could be deemed as small scale, and yet all the officers on duty had no clue whatsoever how to handle it or take control of the situation. And they are the ones who are supposed to defend the island in the occurrence of a larger scale crisis, say, a terrorist attack? Probably no place to berate these officials, but its just a concern. That they cannot handle a minor emergency, and as highlighted by MS's escape, a nationwide crisis, is a cause for concern. We can only hope that they buck up and be as efficient as Singapore deems itself to be to the rest of the world.
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