Singaporeans may be permitted to enter Malaysia without COVID-19 restrictions, but this will be a reciprocal arrangement: Putrajaya
20 June, 2020
Singaporeans may be permitted to enter Malaysia with no need to undergo COVID-19 screening and home quarantine, but there must be a reciprocal set up for Malaysians, said Putrajaya on Friday (Jun 19).
Speaking throughout a press meeting on COVID-19 procedures, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob stated that the Malaysian federal government has decided to allow residents from both Singapore and Brunei to go to freely provided the same overall flexibility is prolonged to Malaysians entering both countries.
Mr Ismail Sabri, who's as well defence minister, said this was because both Singapore and Brunei are categorised as green zones by the Malaysian Overall health Ministry.
“We have agreed to allow Singapore residents that live in Singapore or Brunei citizens who stay in Brunei to come into our country. Hence, we are checking our region to Singapore residents and Brunei residents to come in with no need for acceptance from our immigration section or to undergo COVID-19 screening tests or residence quarantine,” he said.
Even so, he noted that was on the problem that Malaysians would as well be afforded the same privileges.
“The loosening of the border restrictions should be reciprocated and both these countries must allow our citizens to enter without restrictions, as we've allowed,” said Mr Ismail Sabri.
For the case of Singapore, he stressed that the decision is dependent on the outcome of discussions between your foreign ministries of both sides.
“This is being negotiated by our foreign ministry with Singapore’s foreign ministry. They remain discussing … If they agree to our ideas, we will consent to relax the restrictions and wide open our borders. So we have to wait and observe how the discussions pan out,” the minister added.
"SINGAPORE PREPARED TO USE MALAYSIA": MFA
In a statement issued early on Saturday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) explained Singapore "has read media reports relating to Malaysia’s decision to lift the quarantine requirement of certain groups of travellers from Singapore".
"Singapore is ready to function with Malaysia to address the desires of cross-border travellers, including short-term organization and official travellers, and Singaporeans and Malaysians who had been previously commuting between both countries."
Such bilateral arrangements would have to include mutually agreed public health protocols so as to safeguard citizens of both countries, the MFA spokesperson said.
"Both countries will demand some period to work out the details in the gradual easing of border restrictions to ensure a well balanced recovery from the COVID-19 situation."
In another press conference on Friday, the Malaysian health ministry's director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said that Singapore was one of the six countries Malaysia was in negotiations with to facilitate the activity of citizens across their borders.
He noted that the majority of the COVID-19 cases found in Singapore comprised foreign employees and that the proposed arrangement with Malaysia would sole involve Singapore citizens.
"(The set up with Singapore and various other countries) is doable but we must explore ... The discussions are ongoing. If it's reciprocal, we can put into practice," stated Dr Noor Hisham.
Earlier this month, Singapore’s National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said that actions, safeguards and precautions must be put in place before travel can resume between Singapore and Malaysia.
Mr Wong, who co-chairs the COVID-19 multi-ministry process force, said that before such travel around can resume, testing may need to be carried out, a good quarantine period may need to be imposed, or perhaps a mixture of both measures.
He added that the volume of travel at the area checkpoints would not come to be as high as before COVID-19 hit both countries.
“We are discussing resumption of travel, but in a controlled approach and in a secure method for both sides. That's in our mutual fascination,” he said.
Malaysia's movement control purchase (MCO) has been in place since Mar 18, restricting household and international travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is nowadays in the recovery phase of the MCO, that may last until Aug 31.
Similarly, Singapore implemented a circuit breaker period from Apr 7 to Jun 1, which tightened border controls. It really is currently in Phase 2 of post-circuit breaker reopening.
To break the chain of infection, both governments mandated a 14-evening quarantine for people entering the countries. These methods made it unattainable for Malaysians, who are in Johor but do the job in Singapore, to visit across the strait.
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