SafeEntry Officer Listed down 13 Issues He Face With Patrons; Post Got Over 2K Shares

To some, SafeEntry is nothing short of an utter inconvenience.

Safe and a necessary safety protocol, yes. But still, an utter inconvenience.

After all, there’s just something about checking in and out every few minutes when all you want is to indulge in some free-spirited window shopping.

Long story short; it gets on your nerves after a while.

And yet, this also brings us to the other side of the equation.

See, we’ve heard all about the dissent from this side – the ones who have to exhibit their check-in pages with the utmost dissatisfaction.

But what about the other side – the ones who have to verify your authenticity while tolerating your annoyance, which you’ve conveniently forgotten to filter?

Well, as it turns out…

It could well lead to a unique rendition of 13 Reasons Why, which we shall explore further in the following piece.

SafeEntry Officer Listed down 13 Issues He Face With Patrons; Post Got Over 1.9K Shares

Just two days ago, Facebook user Jonathan Ooi uploaded a rather thought-provoking post on the social media site.

Lengthy in nature and humorous in all its grievance, the post entailed all of a SafeEntry officer’s concerns and complaints, with most of them revolving around one single notion:

“If you want to show your SafeEntry pass, then do it properly.”

The grievances are conveyed through thirteen key points:

1. Some patrons hold the phone in an upside-down or horizontal manner, making it hard for SafeEntry officers to check the details. Auto-rotation may also not be disabled in some cases.
2. Some of the words are either too small to read, or too large to decipher as a whole.
3. Installation of a privacy screen protector, which requires users to hold the phone at an exact 90 degrees to view the content.
4. Showing the SafeEntry pass from “1,873,749,715,386,286” km away and expecting the officer to interpret it. Not to be taken literally.
5. Flashing (the pass) for a fraction of a second and expecting the officer to verify the details instantly. Also, some users tend to shake their phones while doing so, which comes across as an unnecessary (and IMO, rude) gesture. In addition, larger groups would walk separately and “get pissed” when officers stop them to “double confirm the count”.
6. Some patrons end up blocking the barcode with their finger.
7. Dimmed screens that require “night vision eyes” to interpret.
8. Locked phone screens.
9. Patrons attempting to “smoke” their way in.
10. Patrons with earbuds in. “When you can’t hear us and we raise our voices, don’t kpkb and say that we are rude,” said Ooi. “Please la, ownself check ownself first.”
11. Failure to show the SafeEntry pass or scan ID cards at every checkpoint/re-entry.
12. Flashing screenshots of SafeEntry, which is non-permissible.
13. Pop-ups on iPhone screens. Apparently, a pop-up will appear on the screens of iPhone users whenever their Wi-Fi’s off and they’re near a hotspot.

He also added the following points:

• Some fail to remember their identity cards at the check-in area, despite it being eight months since the implementation of SafeEntry.
• Some try to avoid the handheld thermometer guns, due to a false belief that the device would cause irreparable brain damage (wait, did people really believe that?!).
• Some have hurled insults and curses at him. “All I asked was a simple “have you checked in yet?” or a “please show me your SafeEntry pass”,” said Ooi. “Only to be hurled at with expletives.”

However, the user also clarified that it’s not all bad. For instance, some mall shoppers have also endeavoured to buy drinks and snacks for the officer, as a form of thank-you.

Overall, however, it appears to be pretty bad on their side.

Viral

Despite being uploaded just two days ago, the post has already garnered over 900 likes & reactions, as well as over 1.9K shares.

Netizens have also proved forthcoming with their responses, with some empathising with Ooi’s perspective.

Though as it turns out, not everyone was a fan of Ooi’s ‘rage-induced’ style.

Nevertheless, it appears that Ooi has clearly achieved what he set out to do.

Whether the situation will improve from henceforth, however, remains to be seen.

You can view his post here:

TraceTogether Tokens

A while back, a new device known as the TraceTogether Token was unveiled to the public.

Lest you’re unaware of what a TraceTogether Token is, it’s as its name implies:

A device that functions the same way as the TraceTogether app on your phone.

Catered to those without phones (or possess old ones without app usage), the techie permits the exchanging and logging of Bluetooth signals between nearby devices.

And though it’s listed as an optional item, it has certainly become hot amongst the Singaporean crowd.

After the TraceTogether token was unveiled to the public, snaking long queues could be seen forming outside several collection centres.

Over 400K tokens have been retrieved to date.

And it appears that the results have been pretty promising too.

According to a report by Sin Ming News Daily on 26 Oct 2020, using the TraceTogether token for Safe Entry is faster and more convenient than the current mode of SafeEntry that we’re using.

The Chinese paper reported that the process only takes 3 seconds.

Unlike your NRIC, the TraceTogether token is designed to hang easily from somewhere on your body.

This means that you don’t have to waste precious seconds digging out your wallet to search for your identity card, possibly holding up the line.

You also do not have to stand around and try to scan the QR code with your mobile phone anymore.

It has not just made easier on the public’s side; people who are manning the TraceTogether stations also said it has made their job easier.

Let’s hope that the trend continues in the long run, because when we’re in Phase 3, more places would require TraceTogether to enter.

Though we can’t help but fear a future wherein people start hanging their tokens from hard-to-find places.

As the saying goes:

“People simply love to make life hard for themselves.”

Featured Image: kandl stock / Shutterstock.com (Image is for illustration purpose only)