About half a million people from both countries made daily trips across the land borders between Singapore and Johor before the borders closed in March last year. Since then, many families have been separated. Can you imagine not being able to see your family for such a long period of time? For children to be separated from their parents? 😔
Over the past one-and-a-half years, Madam Farrah Diyana has missed out key moments with her family including her children’s birthdays and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. While she still sees her two young sons every day, she does so through the screen on her phone, instead of in person.
On 8 November, Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) was announced to the joy of many, many in Singapore and Malaysia. ❤️ This means the restart of quarantine-free air travel between the two countries! It will be launched on Nov 29. Malaysians in Singapore welcomed the chance to return home and reunite with their families, without having to serve long quarantine periods, or risk losing their jobs. This, after almost two years of being separated from their loved ones in Malaysia! Bookings for flights between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur have spiked, even though details such as the designated Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) flights are yet to be announced.
Six designated VTL flights daily
There will be six designated VTL flights daily between Changi Airport and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Talks on restarting quarantine-free travel via the Causeway and the Second Link are ongoing as well! Malaysian High Commissioner to Singapore, Datuk Azfar Mohamad Mustafar said the relevant agencies in Malaysia and Singapore were ironing out related issues such as health, testing regimes and cross-border processes.
Singaporean PR Ms Rachel Quek, 26, was excited to hear about the VTL. She married her Singaporean husband in June and they wanted to postpone our wedding banquet until the borders are open. The VTL got the couple thinking about whether the two families can get together to celebrate the big event 😊
However, she also expressed concern that prices for flight tickets would be expensive. Like many others, she hoped the land checkpoints will reopen soon to provide a more affordable option for Malaysians to return home.
PM Lee recently shared that both countries have made good progress in vaccinating and managing the pandemic. With the vaccination rates at healthy levels for both countries, hope that more families will be reunited in the near future! ❤️❤️
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