S'poreans head to Johor on expanded land VTL to reunite with families

Ms Piang Lee San last week waited for about eight hours online to get bus tickets to Johor for her family yesterday, the first day of an expanded land Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme between Singapore and Malaysia.

The family of five were among the Singaporeans who made the journey yesterday. Ms Piang, 40, a housewife, and her husband, Mr Pang Yee Hau, 42, were making a surprise visit to Mr Pang's parents in Melaka, in what would be their first reunion since the Covid-19 pandemic started.

She is a Singapore citizen, while her husband is Malaysian.

Under the expanded land VTL scheme, vaccinated Singapore citizens can now enter Malaysia via the Causeway without serving quarantine. The same arrangement goes for vaccinated Malaysians entering Singapore via the Causeway.

Previously, only citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders of the country they are entering could travel via the land VTL.

According to the two bus operators under the VTL scheme, Transtar and Causeway Link, they are now allowed to sell 50 per cent more tickets in line with the expanded scheme. This means that up to 4,320 people can travel between Singapore and Johor daily without having to quarantine.

When The Straits Times visited the Transtar bus station at Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange and the Causeway Link station in Queen Street yesterday morning, long queues for the VTL buses were observed at both places.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said that 679 persons were cleared for the land VTL arrival and 961 for VTL departure as at 3pm yesterday.

Transtar Travel managing director Elson Yap said that about 80 to 90 per cent of the passengers going into Johor are non-Singaporeans. Singaporeans who have bought tickets to enter are mostly those who have family members there.

He said all additional tickets released last Friday for travel into Johor have been sold out. But only 20 per cent of the additional return tickets for yesterday have been sold, likely due to people not returning to Singapore yet.

Singaporean travellers who spoke to The Straits Times said they were entering Malaysia to visit their family members there.

Mr Awaluddin Masnor, 51, a papermaker, said he was happy to be able to visit his family in Johor for the first time since November last year. His wife and four children are Malaysians, and live there.

"I had actually bought a VTL flight ticket to Kuala Lumpur today, but I realised that travelling by the land VTL will be cheaper than the costs of the Covid-19 swab tests required for air travel."

Ms Tan Hui Lin, 44, is excited to see her parents in Yong Peng, Johor, after being apart for over a year. The process engineer said: "I think expanding the VTL is good for everyone... One air VTL ticket is around $400 to $500. The land VTL is much cheaper than the air VTL so more people can afford to go back."

Another traveller, a teacher who wanted to be known only as Ms Sivaneswary, 40, said she is returning to Selangor to visit family. She was with her husband, also 40, and their daughter, nine.

She was initially concerned about the trip, given the severe flooding situation that is affecting parts of Malaysia. "I was worried, but we've spoken to our family members living there and they said the area is safe and unaffected."

Another Singaporean family travelling to Malaysia to visit relatives was that of Mr Kohr Boon Hong, 48, who was accompanied by his wife Lee Chooi Ting, 48, son Jayden, 16, and daughter Gladys, 22.

"We're very excited to go back. We've waited a long time, so we took the very first chance to travel to Malaysia again," said the auditor, who last visited his relatives in December 2019. "We're planning to go to a restaurant to have a reunion dinner with our family there."

---

Details of the expanded S'pore-Malaysia land VTL

Vaccinated Singaporeans are now able to enter Johor via the Causeway for all forms of travel, including leisure travel. This comes after an expanded land vaccinated travel lane (VTL) between the two countries kicked in yesterday. Here are some details:

Maximum number of land VTL travellers daily: 4,320

Designated bus operators:

•Transtar Travel operates 48 services between Woodlands and Larkin Sentral daily.

•Causeway Link operates 52 services between Queen Street and Larkin Sentral daily.

•To enter Singapore, travellers must show a negative pre-departure polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test or antigen rapid test (ART) taken within two days of departure. Travellers will also have to take an on-arrival ART, and test themselves daily from day two to seven after arrival. The tests on day three and day seven have to be supervised at a testing centre.

•To enter Malaysia, travellers must test negative in an ART or PCR test two days before departure. Travellers will also have to undergo an ART on arrival, and then test themselves on the second, fourth and sixth day after arrival. They will have to undergo a professionally administered ART on the third and fifth day after arriving.