Malaysia Considering to Fully Reopen the Border with Singapore

The Malaysia’s Ministry of Health is considering the possibility of reopening the Malaysia-Singapore border for daily commuters.

During a press release on Friday, the Health Minister Adham Baba has said that the period of recovery movement control order (RMCO) will be an important period in the upcoming 4 months for the country, as it will determine whether it is possible to completely reopen the border with Singapore or not.

During this time, a more systematic approach will be adopted in areas such as border control, social distancing and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), to minimize the risk and spread of COVID-19.

Dr. Adham emphasized that the Ministry of Health will use the data and will follow the required regulations to prevent claims that they have not done their best to control the disease and have not taken care of people’s well-being.

He added that the ministry is also considering doubling the number of swab tests conducted under the Periodic Commuting Arrangement (PCA) and Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) schemes. Currently, 400 swab tests are carried out per day under the RGL scheme and 2,000 swab tests under the PCA scheme.

Both plans took effect last month. According to the PCA scheme, it allows Malaysia and Singapore permanent residents or citizens holding long-term immigration passes for work and business purposes to enter into other country for work.

On the other hand, RGL scheme allows Malaysia and Singapore permanent residents or citizens to conduct short-term travel for up to 14 days for essential business and official purposes. Last month, 325 people travelled to and from Singapore under RGL and 8,270 people under PCA.

The plan to reopen the border was carried out under pressure from the people, and public lives have been affected by the closure of the border. On Sept 3, Malaysia Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin expressed the hope that Malaysia and Singapore would finalize the daily commuting arrangements for workers between the two countries as soon as possible.

In regard to COVID-19 transmission in Malaysia, the country has reported a total number of 9,868 confirmed cases which are under treatment and 128 deaths caused by the virus. However, 9,189 patients who tested positive to COVID-19 have completely recovered from the virus, as of Saturday (Sept 12).