ICYMI: Netizens pour scorn on ‘waste of money” TraceTogether gantry at hawker centre

Singapore — A photo of a standalone automated check-in gantry deployed at Hong Lim Market & Food Centre is being panned by netizens as a waste of resources.

A netizen who goes by the name of Bob Sim grumbled in a post to Facebook group Voice Your Grievances that the gantry was “redundant” and “gimmicky”.

The photo he shares of the automated gantry at the entrance shows a gate-like system that opens when a  TraceTogether token is scanned or a smartphone is used to scan the SafeEntry QR code displayed. Next to the gantry sits a member of staff who helps with check-ins.

The gantry itself is positioned in a passageway with plenty of room around it such that people can bypass the gantry and fsimply walk in.

Netizens commented on the “wasted” resources which did not prevent people from getting through unsupervised areas without checking in.

The automated-gantry initiative to manage visitor access with automatic contact-tracing was first rolled out last May at more than 30 places around the island, including malls, offices, schools and places of worship.