A year has passed since the border between Singapore and Malaysia closed, and many Malaysians eagerly await crossing the Causeway again.
This might be why the Malaysian High Commission (MHC) in Singapore has been seeing persistent long queues of people renewing their passports.
Netizens at the scene described queues starting from as early as 1am, with one person allegedly fainting while standing under the hot sun.
As such, they urge Malaysians to renew their passports online and as early as possible.
Posting in the Facebook group ‘走，新加坡‘, a netizen shared a photo of the queue outside MHC in Singapore at 5.58am this morning (17 Mar).
Even though long queues for passport renewal aren’t uncommon there, there seems to have been a sudden surge recently.
The endless line allegedly starts from as early as 1am – 2am, according to a netizen who posted in the same Facebook group.
News site Johor Chinapress reported that an individual had passed out from queuing under the scorching sun. An ambulance was seen on site to assist them.
Apparently, many had to endure the lines to renew their passports, lest they would expire soon.
Speaking to MS News, Kelly, a Malaysian, said that both her and her father had an appointment for passport collection.
However, when it was their turn, they were told that there were no available slots any more. They needed to return the next day before 8am instead.
Evidently, they were not the only ones faced with such situation.
In order to mitigate the long queues outside MHC, the ‘走，新加坡’ group admin Sammi advises Malaysians to start the renewal process as early as possible.
She urges Malaysians in Singapore to apply for passport renewal when the expiration date is 1 year away.
To make the process more efficient, they can do so online here, or through travel agencies.
They thus won’t need to stand in line for hours, and only visit the MHC to collect their passports when they’re ready.
Whatever the reason may be for the sudden, exceptionally long queue at the MHC, we hope the situation will improve soon.
With online options for passport renewal, the process doesn’t have to be so tedious for Malaysians.
Hopefully the queue situation there will continue to get better, and more manageable in the long run.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook and Facebook.
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