Mr Arthur Tay, Chairman,
Mr Teo Joo Leng, General Manager,
Friends, colleagues.
1. It is with great delight that I join you here this morning.
2. The last time I came here it was in my personal capacity. I am delighted to be here at such a meaningful activity. This is going to bring a lot of convenience for the residents here. I was just thinking to myself that interestingly, my portfolio seems to be quite suited for this occasion. Home Affairs from a security standpoint and also for National Development because ONE°15 is very important to us, landmark for Singapore. I was just informed that the address ONE°15, the name of it is really synonymous with Singapore. It is extremely meaningful. Thank you very much for having me here this morning.
3. With this new facility you have, in the past, if vessels are arriving in or leaving Singapore, the ICA had had to conduct the immigration clearance at the checkpoint onshore or designated places out at sea. Joo Leng was just telling that this used to be done at Sister’s Island, also known as anchorages. You have to actually wait for ICA officers to arrive, to go onboard the vessels for clearance. Does not sound like the most effective way of doing thigs. That has included smaller vessels, such as yachts, that intend to berth at ONE°15. You will first have to sail to the anchorages for clearance before calling at the marina.
4. Our Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has since gazetted ONE°15 as an immigration facility where ICA will provide on-site immigration clearance and passengers on-board smaller vessels can now choose to clear immigration directly at ONE°15 and no longer need to first travel to the anchorage. This of course provides greater convenience for the users of the marina at Sentosa Cove. Being part of an immigration facility, what this means also, is that ONE°15 will have to enhance its security features, measures, such as fences, CCTVs and access control gates. I note out that all these things will be well ironed out by the management team here, at One Degree 15. We have to have these measures because they are needed to prevent people from entering Singapore illegally without going through the proper clearance.
5. Even though Singapore is very safe by many standards, we also have to constantly stay vigilant against various security threats that we may find ourselves in. We are in a region that is very dynamic, but it is also very seamless and we can have all kinds of people come in and out of Singapore through various channels and links. At the MHA, I get daily reports about people trying to come here either by swimming, by boats, all sort of avenues. It goes to show that Singapore is an attractive destination, but it also goes to show that we have to safeguard ourselves against potential security threats. We also look at self-radicalised individuals online, so on and so forth, but I think that may not be key priority for our residents here at ONE°15.
6. But I think it goes to show that there are many real threats that Singapore faces, and collectively as a community, we will have to see how we can work together to enhance the security of Singapore. If and when you detect any suspicious activity in the marina, such as unlawfully entry of persons or attempted smuggling, please report them to the Police or the marina operator immediately. With the immigration service provided at ONE°15, I have no doubt that it will become an even more attractive choice for the boating community, and I congratulate you on the launch of your immigration facility.
7. Thank you very much.
