What not to do when presenting your SafeEntry pass, according to an exasperated temperature screener

It's been more than half a year since the SafeEntry digital check-in system was implemented, and by now everyone should be familiar with the drill. 'Should' being the keyword.

Despite consisting of only three steps — scanning the QR code using your mobile phone, entering your details and flashing the SafeEntry pass to a temperature screener — checking in has proven to be a challenge for some, much to the chagrin of one temperature screener.

His experience with such encounters left him so exasperated that he penned a strongly worded Facebook post yesterday (Nov 19) on what not to do when presenting your SafeEntry pass. 

"If you want to show your SafeEntry pass then do it properly," he vented. "Don't ai mai ai mai like as if you're doing some top-secret business on your phone."

The list includes some basic things such as not holding the phone upside down or sideways — particularly if you've got auto-rotate enabled, not showing a locked (and hence, black) screen, not showing your device from a distance away and not flashing it to the screener for a fraction of a second.

Other slightly more complicated things include not blocking your NRIC's bar code ("barcode scanners are not x-ray machines leh" he quipped) and taking note of the bar code's orientation.

After all, both barcodes and barcode scanners are horizontal.

"If you expect us to scan a horizontal barcode vertically and expect it to work, then I nothing to say but you champion [sic]," he said. "Elderly I understand la, but wow, apparently common sense ain't so common in the younger folks nowadays.

He also mentioned not attempting to cheat your way through the entry, whether by showing a screenshot or trying to explain why you're not checking-in at all.

And, well. The list goes on.

Clearly, several other temperature screeners shared the same frustrations.

According to him, there was still plenty more bad behaviour he had yet to include in his post, which has since gone viral with over a thousand shares on Facebook.

He added: "If you really feel that SafeEntry is a chore or a waste of time, then please, remain at home."

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rainercheung@asiaone.com