Singaporeans recently took to social media to express their frustration at being stuck in massive traffic jams, while going back and forth from Malaysia.

One man who wrote a forum letter to Today complained there were only "one or two" officers checking cars at the security booths, and blamed the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) for not opening up more booths to meet with the demand.

Addressing this concern, Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam said that this was due to ICA constantly re-deploying officers to plug gaps, according to changes in demand.

Officers constantly re-deployed

Speaking to reporters at Woodlands Checkpoint on Dec. 27, he said that about 400,000 people crossing over from Singapore to Malaysia, and vice-versa, every day.

During the year-end period, ICA sees an increase of an additional 10 percent in traffic, or 40,000 more people.

"When Arrival is at greatest demand, we redeploy officers from Departure, some, for Arrival. When Departure demand is highest, we redeploy. We are shifting constantly, trying to plug the gap. So, you will see some counters closed, because the officers have been redeployed," said Shanmugam.

He added that some commuters may have a mistaken impression from the closed counters, and said that every officer was working hard to meet with the increased traffic flow.

Shanmugam said: "The fact that the counters are closed doesn't mean that the officers are sitting around somewhere doing nothing. All are fully deployed, just that they're working their guts out. It's a very tough environment."

Not enough manpower

According to Shanmugam, the Home Team is facing a shortage of manpower.

He said: "The starting point is that we don't have enough manpower. It's a problem not just for ICA, it's a problem all over. Industry in Singapore, other branches of government, we just don't have enough manpower."

He added: "So we have to do the best we can with the available manpower. So technology has been used to a considerable extent, but you still need the officers."

In order to join the ICA as a Home Affairs Services (ICA) Direct-Entry Inspector or Direct-Entry Sergeant, Singapore citizenship is required.

To cope with the increased demand, the ICA has cut back and allowed a maximum of 10 percent of officers to go on leave during this period, in order to maintain 90 percent manning at its checkpoints.

Last week alone, about 500 officers had to do overtime work, which Shanmugam said represented a "significant" double-digit percentage of ICA's workforce.

Security not compromised

Despite the surge in crossings and the greater demands on ICA officers, Shanmugam said that the ICA remains on "high alert".

"We take security very seriously. Year-end is, of course, one of those times where you have to be very careful. People might choose those times to do bad things. Our officers have to be vigilant right through the year," he said.

While security breaches can occur at any time, the likelihood of a breach "spikes up" at certain times.

However, the ICA has a clear drill on its security procedures, and checks everyone who comes into Singapore.

Shanmugam said of the Home Team's efforts: "When the rest of Singapore down tools, ICA steps up tremendously. In fact, the whole of the Home Team, because we want to make sure that everything is okay."

Related stories:

Top image by Andrew Wong