Recently, amendments to the Immigration Act and Passport Act were successfully amended in the Dewan Rakyat to allow the government to introduce the Advanced Passenger Screening System (APSS) system which allows the government to check the identity of visitors from abroad coming to Malaysia 72 hours before they land in the country.
The APSS system is not a new system. It has been utilized by many countries across the country such as Singapore, Japan and China to speed up the process through checks at immigration counters in a transparent and secure manner. This system can also help immigration to detain and question individuals more efficiently if necessary.
Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said that the use of the APSS system will help in curbing the issue of abuse of power among Immigration Department officers and reduce the need for interaction between visitors and officers.
In the meantime, visitor data contained in the Immigration Department's database will be protected under the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) and the Official Secrets Act (OSA) and will not be distributed and used by other departments other than the Immigration Department without permission.
