Those who could show that they had an appointment were led into the office, where they could sit down and wait for their queue numbers to be called.
A 65-year-old personal driver to a managing director at a manufacturing firm was among those that did not make an appointment, but had come to try his luck.
The driver, who only wanted to be known as Lionel, said that he had already gone to the VEP information centre in Danga Bay to seek clarification on an issue with his application, but returned to Singapore as the queue there was too long.
Currently, drivers who have successfully applied for the VEP tags can collect them at the information centres in Danga Bay or Woodlands, or receive them by post.
He was turned away at the Woodlands centre on Friday.
“They’re not even entertaining us, there’s a lot of frustration,” he said.
He said that he needs the VEP on his company vehicle immediately in October to shuttle his employer to and from Malaysia for meetings.
“If the boss says he needs to go (into Malaysia), then we need to get the VEP, if not we are stuck,” he said.
Likewise, 67-year-old crane operator Yunos Kamis was also turned away for not having an appointment. He said it is the fourth time he has visited the Woodlands office.
He was hoping to at least be able to secure a future appointment, but was not able to do so.
There are QR codes available at the office for motorists to scan and book appointments. When CNA tried to do so, the booking site showed that appointments all the way up to the last available date, Oct 4, were fully booked.
