the unfortunate encounter with immigration officials in batam center

last july 1, my mother, aunt, sister and i went on a one-day tour to batam. since my mother and my aunt have seen most of the places-to-see here, my sister and i thought that it might be a good idea to hop on a ferry and bring the oldies to that accessible neighboring island called batam. the tour was arranged in singapore so we didn't had to worry about anything except hopping on that ferry and looking for our tour guide at the port.

our ferry left harbourfront at 9am so we reached batam center at around 10am (9am indonesian time). the immigration queue wasnt very long and there were about five officers (if i wasnt mistaken) manning their desks. it was a snake queue, so there was just one line and the person in front of the line will be assigned to the next available officer.

first in line was my sister, followed by my aunt, my mother and i. my sister was cleared quite fast. then it was my aunt's turn. she went to the same officer whom my sister went to. i noticed that the immigration officer was asking her questions but i didnt mind it because well, they do really ask questions. afterwards, the officer began looking around so my sister (who was already at the other side of the queue) and i (who was still at the snake queue) motioned that i was with her. the immigration officer motioned me with a "stop" hand gesture so i thought, "ok, maybe it's nothing serious". then my mother was directed to the next immigration officer. and me to the next.

the officer assigned to me asked how long i will stay in batam. i answered one day. she asked me if im working in singapore and i said yes. she demanded to see my pass so i showed it to her. after checking it, she returned it to me. then she scanned my passport and browsed through the pages. after that, she asked me again if i had a working visa or IC in singapore and i responded that i do and that i showed it to her just a few seconds ago. only then did she stamped my passport.

on my way out, i didn't see my sister at the spot where she was waiting a few minutes ago so i assumed that maybe, the oldies had been cleared and they're already waiting for me outside. so i passed through customs and went outside.

i easily spotted the guide who was holding a bond paper with my sister's (and other tourists')name on it so i approached her and told her that my companions are still with the immigration so we might have to wait a few minutes for them. she seemed pretty cool about it and i assumed that she might have encountered a lot of similar situations so waiting will not be an issue.but 5, 10, 15 minutes passed and my companions were still not cleared.

there were also another girl and another guy outside who were waiting for their companions. another 5-10 minutes passed and still, i couldnt see my companions from the gate so i chatted with the tour guide. she told me that these cases usually happen especially if the officers suspect that a particular tourist has the tendency to overstay. in some cases, the officers just simply want bribe. she said that usually, they ask sgd50 in return for a stamp. of course they don't say it directly but the practice is, handlers of groups would just insert the money in the passport.

overstaying in batam is not in our plan. and i think, it is pretty clear that two senior citizens will not have plans of overstaying in batam either. and it is not their first time to travel out of the country, their passports could prove that. so i was pretty confident that they will be released soon. at this point though, paranoia was starting to enter my mind and the story of chng reyes and her experience with immigration officers in bali
is playing in my mind.

a few minutes later, i saw my sister coming out of the gate, escorted by a man in orange shirt (apparently he is from the company where we booked our tour but i dont know what his business is being at the immigration room). my sister told me that my mom and my aunt were being held because the immigration officials are suspecting that they will overstay in singapore. what the heck! are they working on behalf of the singapore ica? the last time i checked, i thought we were entering indonesia so i was surprised that they are also problematizing with the issues that their counterparts in singapore are concerned with.

my mom and aunt arrived in singapore on june 10 and was cleared by the singapore ica without any question. they came to singapore to attend my commencement ceremony on july 9 and also to have a month-long holiday. i dont think they have to explain for that. my aunt is leaving 2 days after graduation so her return flight was booked on jul 11. my mom is using her trip pass which is essentially an open ticket hence she can use it anytime she wishes to. the immigration officers pointed at these as evidences that they might overstay. for what reason? for work? they are two senior citizens who are way past their working age. they are just in singapore and batam for vacation.

my sister clarified that we are in indonesia for a one-day tour which has been paid beforehand. when they asked her why are we going on just a one-day tour, she told them that both of us are working during weekdays so we only have a limited amount of time to show my mom and my aunt around. she told them that we do not need a 15 or 30-day pass because we have no plans of staying. we just need a one-day pass, if that's what they want to give. but they said no. when she asked them what could be done to resolve the situation (i assume other immigration officials would require a proof of financial capability, hotel/tour bookings, or any valid document just to prove that we will not extend our stay in indonesia), they could not provide any. hence, the situation is at a stalemate.

and it didn't help that they were not the most courteous lot there is. my sister said that the room was like that of a movie scene: the airconditioned room reeked of cigarette smoke and one officer was even smoking even with the "no smoking sign" on his back. they were sitting lazily and their shirts were not buttoned properly. these may be trivial details, but one could detect that professionalism may not really be their strongest point.

the tour guide was saying that maybe, they just need bribe. my sister agreed that it is pretty obvious, they just want bribe. but we do not want to give in. why would we bribe them?

my sister went back to the holding room, still escorted by the guy in orange shirt. i wanted to go too but i wasnt allowed. so i waited outside, hoping that those immigration officers would at least show some respect to two women senior citizens and finally clear them. but still, a few minutes after, my sister came out without my mom and my aunt. and with the immigration officers still not giving a resolution to the situation.

we could have opted for a port-to-port situation. they could have just sent us back to singapore if they wanted to. but on the otehr hand, we thought that it might reflect badly on my mom and my aunt's travel documents/history. they would have a history of being denied entry by a country. and we don't want to let those immigration officers to ruin our day! so my sister thought of just printing a new flight itinerary for them. but the nearest intenet shop will not open for the next 75 minutes! so what's the most viable option? yes, despite our utmost resistance to that despicable idea, we opted to bribe them. we were fuming mad because we dont want to do it yet it's the only feasible option that we have and worse, because do not want to comply with the game those corrupt immigration officials are playing but practicality says we have to!

so we gave the guy in orange shirt sgd50 and my sister went back with him to the holding room. after the incident, my sister recounted that she didn't dare go near them anymore because she didnt want to give the bribe personally and she didnt want to look at those faces. and it was really obvious that the money is what they just wanted because when the guy entered the room, my sister heard the passports being stamped in an instant. and shortly after, my mother and my auntie were released from the holding room.

we went on with the trip. we joined the group for the city tour, we had lunch, had a massage, shopped a little, and came back to singapore. we tried not to let that unfortunate incident bother our short trip. but the fact remains that such unfortunate encounter with those corrupt immigration officials tainted our experience of batam.

when philippine airlines announced the launch of its flight to bali, me and my friends were eager to go on a trip to that place this october. despite the slight paranoia brought by chng reyes' article, we still wanted to see the island and swim on its shores. but after my family's personal encounter with the immigration officials in batam, my interest in bali sank.

i guess for now, i'll scrap indonesia in my list first.