• The Singapore-Malaysia vaccinated travel lane was announced on Nov 8
• Flights between Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport under the scheme will start on Nov 29
• Singaporeans in Malaysia have already started making plans with their families to visit each other
• Some Malaysians in Singapore whose homes are in Johor Baru are still hoping for the land border to reopen 

SINGAPORE — Singaporeans and Malaysians on both sides of the border, many of whom have not seen family members for almost two years, said they cannot wait to see their loved ones again, after a vaccinated travel lane (VTL) was announced on Monday (Nov 8), allowing air travel between the two countries.

For some, who have lost loved ones since the Malaysian-Singapore border was closed in March last year, the announcement did not come in time, while others have given birth to children who have yet to meet their grandparents.

However, some Malaysians who used to commute between Johor Baru and Singapore for work before the pandemic, but who now live here, hope that the land border can also be progressively opened as it would make it easier and less costly for them to see their families.

In a joint statement, Singapore and Malaysia on Monday said the two countries will launch the travel agreement between Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport from Nov 29.

This means that vaccinated travellers from each country travelling by air will be allowed to cross the border without the need for quarantine, but will be subject to Covid-19 tests.

WAITING FOR LAND BORDER TO REOPEN

Malaysians in Singapore who spoke to TODAY said they hope that there will be a progressive reopening of the land border, so that they have a less costly alternative to see their loved ones.

For Malaysian Lim Kok Leong, the announcement of the travel lane came too late, as he had already crossed to Johor from Woodlands Checkpoint over the past weekend to finally see his wife and five-year-old daughter after more than 600 days in Singapore.

The 43-year-old biomedical engineer has to spend seven days in a quarantine facility there before he can see his family again.

Despite making his move only a matter of days before the announcement of the travel lane, Mr Lim said he would likely not have used the travel lane anyway.

He said that the scheme serves to help only “a minority” of people who can afford to take a flight and pay for the cost of the Covid-19 tests.

While full details have yet to be provided, the total cost of testing during the process under the travel lane could amount to hundreds of dollars. For instance, an on-arrival PCR test in Singapore is S$160.

Mr Lim added that the flights can ferry only several hundred people a day. In comparison, more than 415,000 people entered and exited Singapore from Johor via the Causeway and Tuas Second Link daily before the pandemic.

“If the travel lane is to control the number of people entering by using flights, the same can be achieved by limiting the numbers crossing (the land checkpoints),” he said.

He suggested a process where vaccinated people are allowed to cross the land border on an appointment basis, so as to avoid overcrowding.

As of Wednesday, Mr Lim has already served four days of his quarantine and is three days away from seeing his family. However, he has yet to process his feelings.

“In the first year (of the pandemic), I missed them a lot, but now the pain is no longer there and I just feel numb,” he said.

Agreeing with Mr Lim, Ms Nafisah Alahu, a Malaysian still stuck in Singapore, said that she is not yet comfortable with the idea of spending several hundred dollars for the flight tickets and Covid-19 tests.

She said this despite missing her family in Malaysia, including her two children, aged five and eight, whom she has not seen since March last year. Her mother is taking care of them while she and her husband work in Singapore.

This is because the 30-year-old, who works in a hair salon here and earns about S$2,000 a month, still needs to send a portion of her income back to her family in Malaysia.

“My family encouraged me to come back, but when I saw our financial situation, I had to really think about it again,” she said.

She added that it does not make sense to travel to Kuala Lumpur just to take a bus down to Johor, when the state can be seen from across the Strait of Johor.

“It’s a bit troublesome, it’s like U-turn back,” she said.

On top of that, she had lost hope over the past year that the border would reopen soon, and so had used most of her leave days. She has only four leave days remaining this year, which she said are not enough for a meaningful visit.

Like Mr Lim, she also hopes that the land border will progressively reopen, so that she can significantly cut the costs of visiting her family. She said that unless it happens soon, she will wait until next year’s Hari Raya Puasa in May to visit her family.

“If by then, the land border doesn’t open, then I will take the flight,” she said.

PLANS TO REUNITE WITH FAMILY MEMBERS

For business owner Rizal Mohamad, who has been living in Malaysia since 2014, the news of the travel lane agreement was met with excitement from his family on both sides of the border.

The 38-year-old Singaporean, who lives in Kuala Lumpur with his wife, has not seen his parents, grandfather and siblings for almost two years.

When his family in Singapore first heard the news, they decided they would make the trip to Malaysia as they felt “cooped up” in Singapore and could treat the occasion as a holiday as well.

His parents have already started making plans and looked at flights, while his siblings are still planning when to take leave.

“When they come down to Malaysia I will take them around good local spots to eat and spend time together catching up,” he said.

Mr Rizal added that he has an eight-month-old nephew whom he has not seen in the flesh due to the pandemic.

“It’s almost two years since I met them physically, to talk, to bond… It's more about that than anything else,” he said.

For Nurul Atiqah Md Suhaimi, the news of the VTL meant that her parents in Singapore can finally travel to Malaysia to see her one-year-old son, who was born last October.

“They immediately started discussing when they should start coming here, where they want to stay and for how long,” said the 33-year-old Singaporean, who runs a construction company in Malaysia with her husband and lives in Kajang, Selangor, a 20- to 30-minute drive from Kuala Lumpur.

While her family is making plans to fly over, she is also thinking of where to take them — among the places she has shortlisted are the beach at Sepang, Malacca and Penang.

“My dad already listed out the places he usually goes to when he’s here,” said Ms Atiqah. “But we have not seen each other for two years, and he just wants to spend time with the grandson he’s never met.”