SINGAPORE: In the coming days, there will be tighter security measures for travellers to Singapore, including those using the land borders from Johor Bahru. This will most likely cause delays for travellers coming from Malaysia.
“Travellers should expect delays at the checkpoints due to enhanced checks and factor in additional time for immigration clearance,” announced Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) earlier this week.
ICA explained in its announcement over Facebook that the tighter measures for travellers at land, air, and sea checkpoints align with the region’s heightened security situation. They are in effect from Sept 9 to 14.
Pope Francis is arriving in Singapore on Wednesday. He is coming from Timor Leste for the final leg of his Asia Pacific tour and is staying at the city-state until Friday (Sept 13).
The suspects were said to have posted threatening images and messages online and even reportedly said they would commit terrorist acts at Pope Francis’ activities in Jakarta. Indonesian authorities arrested them in West Sumatra, Bangka Belitung, and Jakarta.
The leader of the Roman Catholic Church, who turns 88 years old in December and has been suffering from poor health, arrived in Indonesia on Sept 4. Aside from Singapore and Timor-Leste, he also had a scheduled stop in Papua New Guinea on his gruelling 12-day tour.
The trip, which Pope Francis called an “apostolic journey,” was initially scheduled for 2020 but postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The mass he celebrated in Timor-Leste on Tuesday (Sept 10) made the news after nearly half of the country’s 1.3 million inhabitants showed up. Timor-Leste is one of the most Catholic nations in the world, with 96 per cent of its population professing to be believers.
Pope Francis in Singapore
Singapore is the last stop in Pope Francis’ tour and is only the second time a Pope has visited Singapore. In 1986, the late John Paul II made a five-hour stopover in the city-state.
An AP report says Pope Francis “is expected to bring his message of unity and hope to one of the world’s richest nations.”
Among Singapore’s multi-faith, multicultural society are Buddhists (31 per cent), Christians (19 per cent), and Muslims (15 per cent), according to a population census from 2020. It also said that about a fifth of Singapore’s population has no religious convictions. /TISG
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