Sudden freeze on VTL dashes dreams of many

Family reunion: Guwi hugging his older son upon returning from Singapore. Sharing in their joy are his younger son and mother-in-law.

JOHOR BARU: The sudden freeze on the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL), a special air and land travel lane for fully-vaccinated individuals, has shattered the hopes of many who plan to travel between Malaysia and Singapore.

Bus driver Lim Pak Yen, who last saw his family 21 months ago, said he had planned to return to Johor Baru via the land VTL (VTL-Land) next year for the Chinese New Year celebration.

However, his excitement was shortlived.

“When I saw the latest VTL suspension announcements, I immediately felt helpless and disappointed.

“Although the Singapore government said the travel freeze is from Dec 23 to Jan 20, I am not keeping my hopes up in case the freeze is to be extended; I do not want to be disappointed again.

“My wife and two teenage kids in Johor were filled with anticipation for my return and have even prepared presents for me.

“I have missed so many celebrations together and opportunities to watch my children grow,” said the 50-year-old, who has been working across the Causeway for about four years.

Lim added that he has no choice but to wait for both governments to give further updates on the matter.

The sale of bus and air tickets to Singapore under the VTL has been suspended effective Dec 23 until Jan 20 following the city-state’s s decision to freeze cross-border travel due to the rising Covid-19 cases there.

However, travellers who have already purchased tickets and meet the stipulated conditions for VTL-Air and VTL-Land travel can proceed with their journey under the special travel lane initiative.

Both governments kicked off the VTL-Air and VTL-Land travel initiative for fully-vaccinated individuals on Nov 29 and Dec 20, respectively, to enjoy quarantine-free travel between the countries.

Meanwhile, food factory technician Guwi Min Siong, 48, thought he could enjoy his long-awaited reunion with his family here after being apart since March last year.

The father of two said he arrived here via VTL-Land on Dec 21 as a surprise for his family and initially planned to head back to Singapore for work in February next year.

“I wanted to spend more time with my family and we were so happy to see each other again; my sons have grown much taller now.

“With the sudden news about the VTL suspension, I am frantically looking for bus tickets into Singapore for next month.

“Luckily, there are tickets available for Jan 21, which is after the supposed VTL freeze ends,” he said.

Guwi hopes that both the Malaysian and Singaporean governments will not extend the freeze.

“If not, many including myself will have trouble going back to work across the border,” he added.

Although frustrated, Guwi said he understood that the travel freeze was due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant and hopes the situation will improve soon for people of both countries to resume commuting without limitations.