Time to reopen Malaysia-Singapore border

In a joint statement, the prime ministers of both countries said the decision followed the significant progress in vaccinating their citizens and in managing the Covid-19 pandemic.

They agreed that it was timely to progressively resume cross-border travel between both countries in a safe manner.

Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Lee Hsien Loong said they recognised that Covid-19 had disrupted people-to-people connections between both sides and had separated families for many months.

Under the VTL, fully-vaccinated travellers will be able to travel between Singapore and Malaysia and be subjected to Covid-19 tests in lieu of serving quarantine or a stay-at-home notice.

The joint border has been closed since March 18, 2020.

Ismail Sabri and Lee, who spoke on the phone yesterday, said they also looked forward to restoring travel across land links between both countries in the near future.

They were happy to note the good progress in the ongoing detailed discussions for a similar vaccinated travel scheme to reopen travel across the Causeway and Second Link, taking into account the public health situation in Johor and Singapore.

Ismail Sabri said the VTL was another important milestone in the longstanding Malaysia-Singapore cooperation.

“The VTL will allow travel as our two countries gradually reopen our borders responsibly by balancing the need to recover our economies while ensuring the safety and health of our peoples from Covid-19.

“I look forward to effective implementation of this travel scheme, adding to those we already have developed previously to facilitate the movement of people and goods between Malaysia and Singapore,” he added.

Lee said Singapore and Malaysia enjoyed deep, warm and multi-faceted relations and was very happy that both countries were finally able to restart cross-border travel through the VTL.

“This will help revive our economies, restore our people-to-people ties, and strengthen our bilateral relationship,” he added.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said the announcement is welcome news for Malaysians, especially for those involved in the air travel industry, including cabin crews and airport employees.

“Hopefully the SOP, including mandatory quarantines and home quarantines, can be relaxed as there has been great progress made by both countries in terms of managing the Covid-19 pandemic and vaccination efforts,” he posted on Facebook.

Johor Baru Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Low Kueck Shin said the body hoped that the Johor-Singapore road links will reopen soon as local businesses were still reeling from a lack of visitors.

“For land travel, perhaps both governments can limit the numbers by only allowing essential travellers, to better control the situation,” he said.

Malaysia Budget Hotels Association Johor chapter chairman Jarod Chia said the VTL gave a glimmer of hope to the state’s hospitality industry, especially in the Johor Baru city area.

“While interstate travel has enabled domestic tourists to visit tourism hotspots like Langkawi, Melaka and other parts of Johor like Mersing and Desaru, the Johor Baru area is still not doing well.”

By MOHD FARHAAN SHAH and YEE XIANG YUN