QUEUE BEGAN TO FORM PAST LUNCHTIME

When CNA returned to the information centre at about 1.40pm, a queue had formed outside the office. There were about 25 people inside, and another 15 queuing outside.

One driver, who only wanted to be known as Steven, told CNA that he took half-day leave from work to get his queries settled. He got to know about the location of the information centre following the publication of this article.

The 42-year-old mechanical designer said that he arrived at about 1.30pm and got a queue number about 10 minutes later.

“I was at home when I saw the news and decided to come down. I had to come today, otherwise, it would be crowded later on.”

According to Mr Steven, his RFID tag was pending activation after he submitted a photo of his car on Jun 29 online, and he had come down to the information centre to check on its status.

“I did not expect so many people today because it’s only the first day.”

As of 2.15pm, more people had joined the queue, which has since snaked down the corridor of the industrial building.

Another driver, Mr Jummaat Abdul Karim, told CNA that he had planned on driving to the TCSens office in Johor Bahru on Aug 21, but came down after his sister sent him the link to CNA’s report.

The 71-year-old semi-retiree said he has obtained approval for the VEP, showing CNA the application document.

“But my application needs my current address but I’m unable to update my address through the system (online).

“I thought by coming here I could find out what I need to do,” said Mr Jummaat, who waited in the queue for about 30 minutes and had driven from Sengkang.

“But the bottomline is, they also don’t know whether they can help you or not.”

At about 2.20pm, staff members told drivers that they were no longer issuing queue numbers for the day. The drivers were then asked to leave their email address and car plate number, CNA observed. 

Mr Tan Lee Tong, 68, left his email address and his vehicle number. He arrived at about 2.20pm and was unable to get a queue number.

“I came down to get more information and I understand this place is for enquiries only,” said the retiree.

Mr Tan’s current RFID tag is about to expire on Oct 28. He had terminated the email address which he had used to register his RFID.

“(I’m) not sure if I’m coming down again, so I’m going home … “ he told CNA.