Debated in Parliament on 5 Nov 2025.
Mr Edward Chia Bing Hui asked the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs whether stricter border control measures can be implemented to verify if individuals entering Singapore with large media equipment are doing so for holiday or work purposes, in order to curb illegal creative freelancing activities.
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) clears about 650,000 travellers daily across all the checkpoints.
ICA's primary role is to check that visitors have valid travel documents and are not otherwise debarred from entering Singapore. ICA also conducts further checks, based on risk assessments, to identify travellers who may pose risks related to, for example, terrorism, trafficking in contraband, the commission of criminal offences, and so on. If ICA knows or has reason to believe that any travellers intend to work in Singapore illegally, they will be refused entry.
Actual cases of illegal freelancing work in Singapore are dealt with by the Ministry of Manpower. Persons who engage in such work will be repatriated and debarred from returning to Singapore.
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