From crime shows to safeguarding S’pore, this ICA Group Leader talks why she decided to pursue a career in security

When she was younger, Cayce Tay spent her days fascinated by crime shows on TV.

“I was fascinated by the investigations and problem solving, by how they maintained law and order,” she said.

“So, I wanted to give it a try, and see whether I could also contribute to the security in Singapore.”

After graduating from polytechnic with a diploma in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Tay decided to take the next step towards her childhood dream.

She joined the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and has been there ever since.

Tay recalled a recent incident in which her young niece asked about her job.

“I explained simply that I work at the checkpoint to help keep Singapore safe. She thought for a moment and asked, ‘So you catch bad guys?’”

“I said, ‘That’s part of it. We also help protect Singapore by checking both people and goods coming into our country.’”

This made her reflect on the dual nature of her job, Tay explained.

“Yes, we enforce rules and maintain security at our borders…but we also ensure families can reunite, workers can enter to earn a living, and visitors can experience our country.”

Introvert and homebody

Tay is a self-professed homebody by nature, who prefers a quiet evening at home to a rowdy night out.

To me, it seems at odds with her role as a Group Leader at Woodlands Checkpoint — which, during peak periods, can easily become one of the most crowded places in Singapore.

She acknowledges that she has at times had to deal with “extremely chaotic crowds”, helping to manage human congestion and flaring tempers alike.

On one occasion, she had to de-escalate a dispute at the bus concourse.

“Two members of the public were verbally quarrelling…they were in the queue for the bus. And the guy was not happy that the lady was cutting the queue,” she said.

There had been bus delays, a massive jam, and people were getting “impatient and frustrated” after hours of waiting.

Tay assessed the situation and acted promptly to request for reinforcements, recognising that help would be needed to concurrently manage the huge crowds of commuters and the ongoing dispute.

She then stepped in to mediate the situation between the two commuters, listening to both sides of the story and defusing the tension between them.

Both commuters eventually “settled peacefully”, she said.

But not every situation is as nerve-wracking.

Another time, also at the bus concourse, she came across a family with three children.

Two of the children were in a pram, and the parents were struggling to navigate it through the queue and the railings.

“They couldn’t move into the queue…so they tried to push the pram on the road where the bus is moving, which is a bit dangerous,” Tay said.

“So we had to think on our feet and come up with another solution.”

Ultimately, Tay and her teammates managed to arrange for priority boarding for the family, for which they were “really thankful”.

“ICA is not a typical office job. Every day is different…each shift presents a new challenge,” she said.

“Like any demanding job, there are tough days. But what keeps me going is knowing that every challenge is an opportunity to learn and grow.”

Learning and growth

And there has been no shortage of such opportunities for growth.

In around 2013, Tay applied for ICA’s Degree Scholarship programme.

At that time, she’d already been out of school for a few years, which caused her to be “a bit nervous”.

While she succeeded in her scholarship application, she did not manage to get into the course of her choice.

It was only several years later, around the Covid-19 pandemic, that she decided to give going back to school a second shot.

“[At that time] it was already 10 years since my first application. So I wasn’t sure if I could really get into studying…and with the changes in technology, I also wasn’t sure if I could adapt,” she admitted.

“But I wanted to give it a try.”

This time, Tay was accepted. She enrolled in the Singapore University of Social Sciences’s Bachelor in Public Safety and Security in 2021.

Despite her initial misgivings, she found it “a very good experience”, and successfully graduated with a degree in 2024.

It also allowed her to return to ICA with an entirely new job scope that was both more challenging and more rewarding.

“I’m glad I took the plunge to go and study,” she said.

Causeway jams

Having worked in ICA for 15 years, I thought Tay was the perfect person to answer a question I’ve been nursing for a while.

“Why always got jam between Singapore and JB?” I asked.

“Because people are always travelling,” she explained. It’s worse in times of high human traffic, like on public holidays and weekends.

On some occasions, she volunteers to operate counters at the checkpoint — something which Group Leaders typically do during peak periods.

But even when more people are deployed, it’s not necessarily a solution; for a variety of reasons, Causeway jams can persist despite the ICA staff’s best efforts.

There’s good news however: The new QR code clearance system could help speed things up.

This is especially for those travelling in a group, as they can clear immigration with just one group QR code.

“It’s really fast,” Tay enthused, recalling that it took “less than a minute” to clear a car through immigration.

“So a tip for those travelling to JB: Use QR code. It’s definitely faster.”

This branded article is brought to you by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

Top image from ICA.