Border closure leaves Johor moneychangers suffering

JOHOR BARU: The closure of the Malaysia-Singapore border due to the Covid-19 pandemic has forced some moneychangers here to shutter their businesses for good.

Hussein Ibrahim, Johor Indian Muslim Entrepreneurs Association (Perusim) secretary, said three out of five of its members have shut down several of their foreign exchange branches due to low profit.

“Only two members are still operating all their branches. The rest have shut down one or two of their branches, leaving at least one open to avoid having their licence revoked.

“Moneychangers that are still open are barely getting customers, ” he said, adding that these businesses had started to close down their branches about three months ago.

Checks by The Star at several locations around the city found that many moneychangers, including four located at two major shopping malls, have closed.

A shop assistant at one of the malls, who only wanted to be known as Tan, 27, said one of the outlets had only been closed for about a month while another closed its doors for at least three months.

“The closure of the border has made it difficult for most businesses to survive, and moneychangers are among the worst hit, ” she said.

Moneychanger Alice Chan, 54, said her business has dropped by 90% since the border closure.

“When the border was still open, we had dozens of people coming to our shop, especially on weekends.

“Most of our customers are either Malaysians working in Singapore or Singaporeans coming here. But now we hardly get any customers, ” said Chan, adding that most of her current customers are Malaysians who still have some foreign currency.

“Most of the currency we have changed so far are from neighbouring countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam, where the rate is low compared to the ringgit, ” she said.

Another moneychanger who only wanted to be known as Ng, 42, said she had shortened her operating hours due to lack of customers.

“I used to open my shop 12 hours every day but now it is only open between 10am and 5pm.

“There is no point opening until late at night as there will be no customers, ” she said.