November 29. Until Thursday morning, the Malaysian bus company’s website remained down. Meanwhile, the other ticket page Transtar Travel Pte. referred customers to a virtual waiting room and stated that the ticket purchasing website will open whenever spaces were available. The website said that it is currently seeing a high user volume.
Before the Covid 19 pandemic, around 300,000 individuals crossed the land border daily either for employment or for tourism on the opposite side. According to the Singapore government’s announcement on Wednesday, priority for tickets will be given to those who have worked in either nation. According to the media report, Transtar website tickets for the following 30 days were sold out in around 20 minutes.
Gan Kim Yong, Singapore’s Trade and Industry Minister, released a statement explaining the conditions of the migrant workers. He said, “Many workers from both Singapore and Malaysia have not been able to see their families for many months. We seek the understanding of workers who may not be able to purchase a bus ticket to travel home immediately due to limited capacity.”
Frederic Neumann, co-chief of Asian economic research at HSBC Holdings Plc, spoke about the border reopening and the related restrictions. He said, “The current quota will allow only a fraction of daily pre-pandemic travel, but it will provide a meaningful economic boost nonetheless. With high vaccination rates on both sides, it appears likely that restrictions will be further relaxed in due course, allowing for a much greater number of travellers in both directions over time. Even then, however, it will take some time before mass tourism will resume.”
