Can Explain Full Details on the phone but cannot in writing

Dear Mr Chan and all,

Attached is a photo of my attire that day. I have worn this same pair of
pants to Parliament House twice before this incident and wasn't stopped
even though the Chinese senior Parliament officer (I don't have his name...
yet) was present.

Just because my casual long pants has two white stripes on the sides, it is
called track pants. Whereas the Japanese visitor in his golf sports attire
(his pants has two red stripes down the sides) was called smart casual
wear. I should put on expensive branded sports wear the next time, it's
unthinkable a Singapore citizen is discriminated in her own country.

If I'm not allowed to choose my seat, why wasn't I told? The Malay police
officer lied to me.  He said there were no seats even when I asked, 'Are
you sure? What about the other side?' I saw that the box keeping the ICs of
the visitors was quite empty. And sure enough, when I changed into the new
pair of pants I bought and went in, more than half the gallery seats were
empty. Why pick on me?

A police officer lied to me. Don't skip this issue, address this. What
disciplinary action will you take against this police officer. On such a
small matter, he can lie, I cannot imagine what he is capable of.

Thank you for taking such a long time to reply my feedback.

Jayne Goh

*****************ooOoo*****************

Dear Ms Jayne,
 I give you my assurance that we are not trying to skip or hide this
issue. Would it be possible for me to contact you so that I can you to
explain to you  the full details.

**************** ooOoo *****************

Dear Mr Chan,
It is more appropriate for you to reply in writing. I was intimidated by
another civil servant from another ministry when he called 'to explain'.
In order to avoid misunderstanding, please reply by email.

Thanks.

Regards,
Jayne Goh

*******************ooOoo********************

Dear Ms Goh,
 We have noted your feedback and the appropriate remedial action will
be taken.

Warmest regards.

***************** ooOoo *******************

What!?

Chan Kim Hock can explain 'the full details' if I gave him my contact
number, but he won't in writing.

My questions weren't answered.  Chan Kim Hock didn't do his job.
It's civil servants like him who make the ordinary citizens pissed
off with our Government.

No mention of policeman who lied

Message Classification: Restricted

Dear Ms Goh,

I refer to your email dated Tuesday 22 April 2008 regarding your
visit to Parliament House on Monday, 21 April 2008.

2 Please let me explain some of the issues that you raised.

3 We do have strict attire protocol for visitors attending Parliament
sitting to ensure that the stature and dignity of Parliament are upheld.
Sports attire is generally discouraged though casual smart attire is
acceptable. Our officers would exercise his/her discretion in this
matter.

4 Similarly, we do have a seating protocol for visitors in the
Strangers’ Gallery where visitors are not allowed to choose their seats for
security reasons.

5 We apologise for the conveniences this has caused you.

6 We have reviewed our procedures to improve our service standards. We
thank you for your valuable feedback, which will really help us to improve
our service to the public, and hope you will continue to visit Parliament
House.

Chan Kim Hock
Director of Security
Parliament House
Tel : 63326689
Monday, May 05, 2008 11:56:05 AM

cc Kasim RAI; Ong Boon Chye; Jumiyah MOHAMED

***************** ooOoo *******************

Note :
1. Sports attire is generally discouraged but not banned. I was denied
entry for that but the Japanese man who was in sports attire was given access.
Double standard was applied.

There are CCTVs in Parliament House. It can view all the visitors that day
and see for themselves the Japanese man who was in sports attire.

2. officers would exercise his/her discretion in this
matter - here I take it to mean they do things according to if they
like your face or not, or whether my sports attire is branded. They are the
authority, whatever they say is the law. Ordinary citizens have to take it,
like it or not.

A Singapore citizen is denied entry for wearing what the officer called
'sports attire' whereas a Japanese visitor who was in golf attire
was welcomed.

The most important part of my email : Policeman who
lied was not mentioned at all.

Email sent - 22nd April 2008
23rd April 2008 - email from Parliament Secretariat that they are looking
into the matter.
5th May 2008 - Director of Security Chan Kim Hock replied.
Time taken - 2 weeks

When a policeman lies.......

I almost could not sit in the Parliament session on 21st May afternoon to listen to DPM and Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng's presentation of the Committee of Inquiry Findings on Mas Selamat's Escape. Because I requested to "sit in the public gallery facing PM Lee Hsien Loong".

A young Chinese policeman shook his hands at his Malay colleague when he heard my request. The Malay policeman then told me, "The public gallery is full."

I was stunned because I noticed that the the box holding Identity Cards was half empty. I asked him, "Are you sure? The whole gallery? What about the other side?"

He replied,"All full."

When I started to protest, a senior Malay Parliament staff stepped forward and said,"May I look at your attire, Mdm? ...... Sorry, you cannot go in because you are not properly dressed. You are wearing track pants."

I argued that I had entered Parliament twice in this same pair of track pants but he brushed that aside as "probably they overlooked". He curtly said, "You can go check it up". Then they ignored me. They just brushed me aside and served the next visitor.

Undaunted, I went to Peninsula Plaza to buy a pair of long pants, changed into them and went back to Parliament again. I was given a pass. When I entered the public gallery, I discovered that it was quite empty.

A Japanese visitor (seat K22) who was sitting on my left, wore a golf T-shirt and a pair of golf pants with red lines running down the sides. Isn't that sports attire?

I'm annoyed that the Malay policeman lied to me. If I wasn't allowed to pick and choose my seat, he could have told me so. If it is due to security reasons, he could have been frank with me. I made time to attend that particular Parliament session but was denied entry for no apparent reason. This again is civil servant mentality at work.

It suxs when a civil servant with a little authority behaved badly.

10) What is the acceptable dress code? Visitors are requested to dress modestly and not to come in shorts, jeans, round-neck T-shirts or slippers. (It didn't mention no sports attire.)

I sent an email to Parliament Secretariat on 22/4/08, the Chief Security Officer gave a ridiculous reply.

Another email was sent to Singapore Police Force.