Since 2006, the Singapore passport number has been delinked from the National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) number.

While many continue to lament this cumbersome change, this feature actually prevents the use of stolen or fake passports from gaining entry to Singapore.

And this is the backstory to how it came about.

Ulemek and the stolen passport

In 2003, an assassin, Milorad Ulemek, plotted to and then eventually did kill then-Serbian President Zoran Djindjic.

Using a stolen Croatian passport, Ulemek was able to get through 26 European border crossings, including Singapore's.

He was able to do so as there was no existing international database of stolen or fake passports that could have exposed Ulemek's passport as stolen.

Global effort: Interpol database

This 2003 incident caused great alarm all over the world.

As part of the global effort to curb passport abuse, Interpol created the world’s only database of stolen and lost passports.

In Singapore, police and immigration officers had to be trained on how to use the Interpol’s databases to trace stolen passports.

Problem for Singapore

Given that the our passport number was identical to the NRIC number back then, being part of this database would become problematic.

If a Singaporean had his or her passport stolen, the replacement passport would carry the same number as the stolen one, and he or she might risk being detained or arrested while travelling abroad.

New passport numbers for Singaporeans

The solution for Singapore was to redesign the identification number system for our passports.

Initially, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) considered affixing a control string to the NRIC number.

However, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) specifies that passport numbers be limited to a maximum of nine alphanumeric characters. The NRIC number already has nine characters.

Hence, the best option was a unique number.

With this new system, citizens would not be wrongly detained or arrested if their old passport was stolen.

This also meant that Singaporeans will get a new passport number every time they change, replace or renew their passport with the ICA.

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Guarding against fake passports

Since our independence, the Singapore passport has necessarily evolved in response to threats such as terrorism.

Stringent passport screening measures have been implemented, and different security features are constantly being added.

For instance, in the latest slew of upgrades in 2017, a surface transformation design in the shape of the national flower has been added.

Top photo composite image from Visit Singapore & Wikipedia

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