IRIS RECOGNITION SYSTEM

Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the reason for developing and testing an iris recognition system, since Singapore already has the Immigration Automated Clearance System (IACS) which is working effectively; (b) how much does it cost to develop each system; and (c) what will happen to the newly setup IACS.

The Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Wong Kan Seng): Mr Speaker, Sir, Mr Steve Chia asked why the Singapore Immigration and Registration is developing and testing an iris recognition system when the Immigration Automated Clearance System (IACS) is working effectively.

Let me begin by explaining what the IACS is about. The IACS is an automated immigration clearance system that leverages on biometric technology to identify the travellers. The fingerprint of the traveller is stored in a smart card and then used to match the actual live fingerprint presented by the traveller during immigration clearance. ICAS not only does away with the need for an immigration officer to man each clearance counter, it also enhances security.

The IACS is not a new system, as Mr Steve Chia seems to suggest. It was first implemented at Changi Airport in 1997. It was extended to Tuas and Woodlands Checkpoints in 1998 and 1999 respectively for bus travellers. The cost of implementing the ICAS is $13 million. We have not implemented the ICAS for motorcyclists after a trial in 1999, because the total clearance time could not meet our operational requirement.

Sir, biometrics technology is a fast evolving field. International research has shown that iris recognition, which works by scanning and matching the human iris pattern, has a very high level of accuracy and is faster compared to fingerprint matching. Hence, SIR decided to conduct an iris recognition trial for about 3,000 motorcyclists on a voluntary basis at the land checkpoints from June to December last year to test the feasibility of implementing it on a full scale for the motorcycle lanes.

This will not only reduce manpower, but more importantly, it will also enhance the level of security without increasing the clearance time. The trials at the Woodlands and Tuas Checkpoints cost about $300,000 each. SIR is now evaluating the results of the trial which seem to be quite encouraging.

Singapore is not the only country that is exploring the latest biometrics technology to enhance security. Under the current security situation, countries such as the United States, Australia, Japan are also on the lookout for advanced biometrics technology for deployment at their checkpoints.

Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong: Sir, why was there not much thought given to the IACS system when it was set up? Is it because the Ministry has been given too much money, so they spend on this, and then later they find that another system ---

Mr Speaker: Mr Chia, just ask your question. No speeches.

Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong: The question is: why is there not much thought given? And is there a new system coming forth in a few years' time to replace the iris system again? Are we spending too much money on this?

Mr Wong Kan Seng: If Mr Steve Chia had listened to my answer clearly, he would have known that I said that such biometric technology evolves and is fast changing. At that time in 1997, fingerprint recognition seemed to be the better alternative, iris technology was still quite new. And now we have a new one too called facial recognition. All these systems change all the time. When we decided to do the IACS in 1997, we decided that it was a good system to be implemented in both the land and airport checkpoints, and it served our purpose. There is no waste of money.