A FEW years after the Sept 11 attack on the Twin Towers in New York, I was visiting the United States and had to go through many inconveniences at Immigration checkpoints and Customs clearance. These included physical checks of all check-in and carry-on luggage, body searches and intense questioning by stern Customs officers.

But when I returned to the US recently, the change was apparent from the moment I stepped out of the plane and made my way to the Immigration checkpoint at Orlando International Airport in Florida.

Of course, the tight security measures were still in place, but this time, officers from the US Homeland and Security department were on hand to guide and direct passengers to ensure a smoother clearance. Perhaps they were present because of the surge in passenger traffic during the festive period.

The significant difference was that the officers were pleasant and offered friendly greetings to passengers.

'If you are visiting, enjoy your stay', was the greeting if one was a foreigner. To their countrymen, the greeting was, 'if you are an American citizen returning home, welcome home'.

At the Minneapolis-St Paul Airport in Minnesota, American citizens were greeted with, 'if you are a resident of St Paul, welcome back'.

In contrast, when I landed at Changi Airport, I was greeted by grim immigration officers as they stood at the automatic clearance booth guiding returning Singaporean passengers.

They did not utter a word and offered no smile. To be sure, it was 4am and these officers were on the graveyard shift.

Still, a plain, 'good morning' would have not been asking for too much.

It would be nice if one day, when returning home from an overseas trip, I am greeted with a smile and two simple words, 'welcome home'.

Christopher Teo


This forum letter was first published in The Straits Times on Dec 24, 2008.

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