Customs officers recognised for their efforts and dedication in award ceremony

SINGAPORE – He took the challenge and upskilled himself in a data-driven world. The Singapore Customs supervisor then took what he learnt and led his team to analyse data from the Customs@SG web application and Customs declaration kiosks (CDKs) to identify possible tax evasion.

For sharing his knowledge with fellow officers and pushing for data-driven operations, Higher Superintendent Customs Thanabalan Iyyamalai was one of 11 Customs officers awarded the World Customs Organisation Certificate of Merit.

They were presented with the awards on Jan 24, in conjunction with International Customs Day, which falls on Jan 26 each year. Customs awards were also given to over 200 officers for their excellent work in 15 categories.

At the ceremony held at the Customs Operations Command in Bulim Drive, Mr Tan Hung Hooi, director-general of Singapore Customs, highlighted the pivotal role of Customs in nation-building.

He said Singapore Customs has not only supported the nation’s economic stability since its inception, but has also helped the country cement its status as a trusted global trading hub.

And it has done this by embracing innovation and collaboration to stay ahead of challenges.

“From our early days of revenue collection to our current role in securing supply chains and enabling trade, Singapore Customs has continuously evolved to meet the needs of a dynamic global landscape,” he said.

Mr Tan also took the opportunity to announce Singapore Customs’ refreshed brand identity for 2025, along with its new logo, which has a pair of golden fronds enclosing and supporting the State Arms, the caduceus and the keys. The words “Singapore Customs” are inscribed on a red ribbon below the fronds.

Said Mr Tan: “Under our refreshed vision and mission, we reaffirm our roles as guardians of revenue, enablers of trade, and trusted partners in Singapore’s economic growth.

“They highlight the dual responsibility we hold dear, as succinctly captured by our tag line ‘Ensuring revenue. Enabling trade’.”

Today, making customs declarations and cashless payments for duties and goods and services taxes (GST) has been made simpler, benefiting travellers, as well as Mr Thanabalan, who can spot trends by looking at data.

In 2024, he attended a five-month Data Champions Bootcamp by Gov Tech Digital Academy, where he was taught machine learning, data wrangling and data visualisation. Together with his team, Mr Thanabalan, 43, who is a team leader at the land checkpoints and operations branch, scrutinises data from the Customs@SG web application and CDKs.

“When we do data trends, we can see the items or goods travellers have brought in and how they’ve made their customs declarations. Some travellers try to misuse the GST relief.”

For example, work permit holders are not entitled to GST relief. Travellers are also not entitled to duty-free concession for liquor when they have spent less than 48 hours outside Singapore or have arrived from Malaysia.

At the awards ceremony, another group of officers was presented the Customs Transformation Award: “Fully Cashless Payment at Air, Land, and Sea Checkpoints”.

Three of them, and their teams, were behind the conceptualising and rolling out of the CDKs, where travellers can make cashless duty and GST payments on arrival.

One of the trio, Higher Superintendent Customs Noel Lim, 33, from the air checkpoints branch, said his team faced challenges in their task, as face-to-face meetings with vendors were not possible due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The landlords of the various checkpoints (such as Changi Airport Group and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority) had questions about the kiosks’ visibility and how the kiosks would affect passenger flow,” said Mr Lim. “We had to convince them the locations we had (earlier) agreed on were the best for everybody.”

A pilot trial at a sea checkpoint in January 2023 helped the Customs team understand the language challenges faced by some travellers, said Higher Superintendent Customs Siti Nurhalizah Noordin from the land checkpoints and operations branch.

As a result, the CDKs were tweaked to include other languages besides English. Ground officers also verbally highlighted the availability of the machines to arriving passengers, and publicity materials were put up.

Said Ms Nurhalizah, 26: “We’re honoured to have our efforts recognised, and we look forward to bringing about all these positive changes in transforming our future checkpoints.” 

Singapore Customs said it has rolled out 12 CDKs at the land checkpoints and six CDKs at the sea checkpoints. More CDKs will be rolled out at the air checkpoints in the second half of 2025.

A Singapore Customs spokesman said 77 per cent of travellers are now using the self-service modes (Customs@SG web application and CDKs) to make customs declarations and tax payments for their goods.

In the first 10 months of 2024, 13,099 travellers were caught across air, land and sea checkpoints for not declaring dutiable and taxable goods brought into Singapore, said Singapore Customs. The total composition sum, or penalty, imposed was close to $3.5 million.

In the same period in 2023, 7,193 travellers were caught and the total composition sum imposed was $2.3 million.