Johor Customs See Snaking Lines Of Malaysians Lugging Barang Barangs
As the number of local Covid-19 cases continues to increase, Singapore has introduced stricter ‘circuit breaker’ measures to keep the outbreak under control.
Malaysians working in Singapore are among those hit hard by the move. With many business temporarily halting operations, many of them have decided to return home to wait out the ‘storm’.
On Monday (6 Apr) night, hours before the ‘circuit breaker’ measures kicked in, Malaysians returning from Singapore were seen forming long lines at Johor customs.
A Johor immigration staff shared images of the human congestion, with the caption “WELCOME HOME MALAYSIANS & STAY AT HOME SAFELY”.
Johor customs occupy lanes normally meant for cars
In one of the photos, long lines of Malaysians can be seen queueing on foot at the Johor Bahru (JB) CIQ Checkpoint. Normally filled with cars, these lanes are now solely occupied by humans.
Before being allowed to pass, Malaysians have to undergo health screening at one of these makeshift booths.
Given how lightly-packed they are, those in line are presumably drivers who disembarked from these empty vehicles, which lined the Causeway.
Returnees carrying barang barang wait patiently in line
Other travellers who made the journey on foot also had to go through a similar procedure.
Lugging plenty of barang barang, these group of returnees had to stand patiently in line before their turn to speak to one of the customs officers.
The procedure here was likely similar to the one documented by this Malaysian who recently returned home.
M’sian In S’pore Shares How To Go Home For Those Affected By Our Neighbour’s Lockdown
If her post was anything to go by, the folks seated across the customer officers must be trying to get their Quarantine Forms and Health Alert Cards sorted out.
After settling that, Malaysians were then directed towards the main hall of the CIQ Checkpoint Building.
Johor CIQ Immigration Building hall is vacant
While most of us would’ve seen nightmarish pictures of the hall jam-packed with people, the place is now a desolate marble concourse devoid of activities.
Visitors lining up in the hall were also reminded to keep a 1m distance from each other.
After they were done with a multitude of procedures, the visitors were finally able to proceed to immigration counters before being cleared to enter Malaysia.
Let’s cooperate by adhering to government’s measures
These pictures of Malaysian returning home goes to show how closely tied Singapore and Malaysia are as neighbours, especially when our workforces are concerned.
While both countries’ government work hard to contain the outbreaks, we have faith that things will resume normalcy soon.
For now, we hope Singaporeans will cooperate by adhering to the measures put in place by the government to keep the control the spread of the virus.
Featured image adapted from Facebook.
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