I AM a Singaporean who frequently travels to Batam and Malaysia on social and business trips.

On Wednesday, I reached Harbour Front from Batam at about 4pm.

There was an Indonesian man in front of me, waiting to clear immigration.

As he walked through the metal detector, the beeper went off. An officer shouted at the poor man to empty his pockets and walk through the detector again.

I think the man did not understand English, so the officer shouted at him again to walk back while pointing at the spot he was supposed to go to.

Even as the man was waiting for instructions, the officer shouted at him again, asking him to walk through the detector.

This is not the first time I've seen such behaviour.The situation is quite similar at the Woodlands Checkpoint where a lot of motorists and visitors encounter such unfriendly behaviour.

The immigration checkpoint is the first point of contact tourists have with Singapore.

Such behaviour by immigration officers would definitely project a bad image not only of themselves, but also of the country.

Visitors who don't come here often may think Singaporeans are rude and arrogant.

I understand that immigration officers have to be alert at all times, but is it too much to ask to be on alert but courteous at the same time?

Please do not treat visitors like criminals.

- Md Asri Bin Haji Jamahri

This forum letter was first published in The New Paper.