Singapore—A man complained about the difficulties he encountered due to the long Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) queues at Changi airport in a lengthy Facebook post on Tuesday (Oct 26).
Mr Jen Shek Voon wrote that he returned from London on Oct 25, but “Having weathered a 14.5 Hour journey from a VTL flight departing from LHR T2 yesterday morning , it was horrific to see the long VTL queues at the ICA areas.”
He called it a “Third World Staging Area” and wrote that “even buffaloes in rice padi field get better treatment.”
Ouch.
He went on to complain that the lines moved very slowly as checks were performed, that forms needed to be submitted, that his photo was taken, mask down, five times and once with his fingerprints
“If this is the current status of VTL flights, which commenced since September 19 with travellers from Negara Brunei Darrusalam and Germany, then heaven help us when the VTL floodgates open,” he moaned.
But the worst was yet to come, as he was then made to “to walk out from the air conditioning area to a temporary tent staging area to key in the QR code and make your payment before your swab. And everyone is dressed in PE kits which is why it’s costing S$160 per swab.”
“I bet my last S$50 note that travellers shall be avoiding our Changi airports like the black plagues,” he added.
Mr Jen compared this to his flight to the UK, when he only had to submit, remotely, a travel locator form.
“This system was proactive and notified you of all the information they require and they are linked to the authorised testing outlet…and all one has to endure is the queue time 45-30 minutes.”
While in Singapore, he alleged that “we are destroying all our physical infrastructure with a tyranny of a SG.Gov run amok acting like the control freaks that they have become after letting in the Delta Variant and showing off their medical tyranny in shutting the stable doors after the horses have bolted!”
As it turns out, at least some of his pains would have been avoided if he had done his homework regarding what to do pre-flight, as some netizens told him.
One woman wrote that her daughter, a minor, was able to “breeze through” the process.
Others wrote that the ICA says in its website that failure to perform required preflight activities would result in delays.
Some reminded him that travel during a pandemic is still a privilege that’s still denied many othrs.
Others called him out for saying the worst part was walking to an un-airconditioned tent for his swab test.
/TISG
Travellers from India, Bangladesh, other Asian countries allowed to enter SG from Wednesday onward