agreed.
worcer, I've gone through the airport scanners at Changi with pocket knife in the suitcase. No issue. I would hazard that ICA at Woodlands or Tuas should not have any issue either. If they do, then it's due to profiling and ignorance on the part of the officers. I was detained once (almost missed my train, back when KTM was still running trains all the way to Tanjung Pagar, and the ICA would check at Woodlands) because I was carrying a huge knife for camp clearing, but they waived me through after I explained that I'd just come out of the 'backcountry' areas in Malaysia for a camping trip. He just told me not to walk around town with it, and I laughed. I guess being a bit old(er) helps. The Gurkha who was eyeing me was also curious (and a little attentive too) as to what I was carrying.
I'm not sure what the situation is like these days. I have not taken a bus or walked across the causeway to Malaysia for a long time.
Now that being said, we're all big boys/girls in this hobby/passion/interest so caveat emptor
after all, if anything happens, you'll be footing the bill for legal fees and not someone else. Just know what the law says - there's so much discretion in the laws that there cannot be a thorough discourse on its actual application/enforcement.
As a community/interest-group, it is also important that we promote safe and reasonable practices - there's no need to carry big knives or folders in public, there's no reason to ask where to buy prohibited items and I absolutely do not engage in any discussion about weaponry or 'practical tactical' chit chat. We all know it's out there but it does not help if one keep chatting about stuff that rattles sheeples.
A knife is a primarily a tool, and almost everybody uses a knife everyday, especially those who cook
. And depending on the type of knife in question, it should be viewed no differently from a pen or a pan, in a figurative sense.
