Eh this is nothing new since the biometrics portion has been part of the process for a few years. The only new part is that now you can skip the passport. The terrifying portion had already arrived many years ago unfortunately.
I really dislike this argument. Just because it's "their country, their rules" doesn't not make it an issue? Especially when it comes to privacy concerns. Privacy concerns are universal. There are a plethora of serious issues that are not defended by "national sovereignty". If that was the case we should just turn a blind eye to North Korea, right?
At the moment it sounds optional, so that’s a plus.
Also:
The previous average clearance time for each traveller was 25 seconds, said ICA.
So, 15s saved per person. Which is handy, but 25 seconds fits squarely in the “blazing fast” category anyway.
Bet the people will spend more than 15s per person dealing with the ramifications of their biometric data getting leaked and used against them later though.