PHOTO: The Straits Times – BH FILESingaporeans may be allowed to enter Malaysia without the need to undergo COVID-19 screening and home quarantine, but there should be a reciprocal arrangement for Malaysians, said Putrajaya on Friday (Jun 19).
Announcing during a press conference on COVID-19 measures, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that the Malaysian government has agreed to allow citizens from both Singapore and Brunei to visit freely provided the same flexibility is extended to Malaysian locals entering both countries.
Mr Ismail Sabri, said the reason for this is both Singapore and Brunei are categorised as green zones by the Malaysian Health Ministry.
“We have agreed to allow Singapore citizens that live in Singapore or Brunei citizens who live in Brunei to come into our country. Hence, we are opening up our country to Singapore citizens and Brunei citizens to come in without the need for approval from our immigration department or to undergo COVID-19 screening tests or home quarantine,” he said.
However, he noted that this was on the condition that Malaysians would also be afforded the same privileges.
“The loosening of the border restrictions must be reciprocated and both these countries must allow our citizens to enter without restrictions, as we have allowed,” said Mr Ismail Sabri.
For the case of Singapore, he stressed that the decision is dependent on the outcome of discussions between the foreign ministries of both sides.
“This is being negotiated by our foreign ministry with Singapore’s foreign ministry. They are still discussing … If they agree to our suggestions, we will agree to relax the restrictions and open our borders. So we have to wait and see how the discussions pan out,” the minister added.
In other words, we will have to wait for our authorities to give the green light before we can once again head over across the border to kai kai and makan.
