Malaysian passport could be more powerful

SEREMBAN, 6 Jan -- Individu yang ingin menggantikan kehilangan dan kerosakan pasport dikenakan denda sebanyak RM300 hingga RM1,200 berkuat kuasa sejak Rabu lalu.Perintah denda itu terkandung dalam Perintah Fi (Pasport dan Visa) (Pindaan) 2019 bertarikh 20 Disember 2018 yang digazetkan minggu ini.Sebelum ini, pemilik yang kehilangan dokumen berkenaan tidak dikenakan sebarang denda atau bayaran.--fotoBERNAMA (2018) HAK CIPTA TERPELIHARA

ONE of the most widely cited measures of the strength of a country’s passport is the Henley Passport Index (HPI), which measures how powerful a passport is by its visa-free score, namely the number of countries the passport holder can visit without needing government-approved visas prior to travel.

This year, the HPI has listed the Malaysian passport as the world’s 12th most powerful, with visa-free access to 179 countries. However, as a proud Malaysian, I was slightly disappointed when I noted that this was a drop from the 10th place last year, with visa-free access to 180 countries.