'I saw elderly folks crying': Singaporean advises skipping island after 4-hour wait at Batam Centre Ferry Terminal

There was no joy and good fortune for travellers at Batam Centre Ferry Terminal during the Chinese New Year holidays.

One Singaporean recounted to AsiaOne about the "total chaos and nightmare" while clearing customs on Monday (Feb 12), the third day of Chinese New Year. 

Lim Keng Guan, 60, was in Batam on a three-day vacation with his family of four. He had arrived on the first day of Chinese New Year. 

"People were standing shoulder to shoulder while breathing down each other's back," the retiree said.

"I saw elderly folks crying and young children caught up in this human crush. It reminded me of the Itaewon tragedy."

Several immigration officers were on duty at the ferry terminal, Lim said.

But he added that there were too few of them and were hardly enough to control the "mob".

Lim said: "There were no rules, no organisation and control by the officers. People were cutting queues.

"I had to look for the trail of the snaking queue and hope it was the right one to clear customs."

While Lim was stuck in the queue for four hours from 2.30pm to 6.30pm before managing to board a ferry to HarbourFront Ferry Terminal, he had no regrets travelling overseas during a public holiday.

"In hindsight, we should have flown to Bangkok or nearby destinations where shops are open at the airport," he said.

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@poweragt1/video/7334919449901862146[/embed]

Lim's TikTok video about his experience in Batam has since garnered over 67,000 views.

In the comments, several netizens said that there are other options to depart from Batam.

"Just go to the other ferry terminal at Harbour Bay. It's less crowded," one of them said.

Other netizens said that Lim should have just stayed home during the Chinese New Year holidays.

"You should know when to go and not to go," one said. "Plan your trip well.'

Another described it as a "lesson for all", adding that travellers who headed to Johor Bahru also faced long waiting times to clear customs.

Batam police said that there were 26,000 travellers - mostly Singaporeans and Malaysians - over the Chinese New Year weekend from Friday to Sunday. 

"This is the largest number of Singaporeans returning home as they celebrated Chinese New Year here," they said, adding that there was an issue with the automatic gate at immigration which has since been resolved.

Batam immigration officials said that police officers were at the terminal to control the crowds, with 16 additional ferry trips to deal with the surge in passengers.

ALSO READ: All clear: Smooth traffic flow at land checkpoints on morning of CNY eve

chingshijie@asiaone.com