Putrajaya hopes S’pore allows M’sians to self-quarantine under PCA

SINGAPORE – Malaysia hopes that the Singapore government allows Malaysian workers and diplomats to quarantine at their own residences under the Periodic Commuting Arrangement (PCA) scheme.

“This is similar to the arrangement provided by the Malaysian government to Singaporean workers and diplomats in Malaysia,” said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, who arrived here yesterday for a two-day working visit to the republic.

Speaking to the press today, he said even though the PCA is not suspended, he understands that the standard operating procedures (SOP) have become stricter in which all the Malaysians, including diplomats, will have to be quarantined upon returning to Singapore at designated facilities.

The scheme, a Safe Travel Lane agreed between the two governments, kicked off in mid-August last year.

In the meeting with his Singapore counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan today, he said they discussed matters such as the gradual resumption of cross-border movements, vaccinations, and the impending meeting between the prime ministers of both countries.

On the resumption of the Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL), Hishammuddin also hoped that the scheme could be resumed as soon as possible to facilitate the movement of both business and official travels.

From February 1, Singapore had announced the suspension of arrangements under the RGL for a period of three months.

As for the Air Travel Bubble, Hishammuddin said consultations between both sides are still ongoing.

“We understand that the proposal comes with its own challenges, therefore we urge the respective lead agencies on both sides to intensify their efforts and find a way to implement and operationalise this,” he said.

Touching on the agreement reached to digitally read and verify health certificates issued by both countries, Hishammuddin said he hoped it will pave the way for further talks to enable vaccinated citizens from both sides to travel across the Causeway. 

“This is (boon) to ongoing negotiations but on the operational side, more work needs to be done by the respective agencies and authorities to mutually recognise our respective Covid-19 vaccination certificates such as linking up our respective platforms – MySejahtera for Malaysia, and TraceTogether – for Singapore," he said.

An agreement has been reached between the Singapore Smart Nation and Digital Government Office and the Malaysian Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry to digitally read and verify health certificates issued by both countries.

Hishammuddin noted that both governments are working very hard to implement the plans.

“To return to normalcy (it) will take some time. We understand that families have been split, people have been kept apart – but we must take into account the most important factor which is public health.

“We must realise that our plans will be difficult to implement if the numbers continue to rise – this is the hard truth. But rest assured, both governments will continue negotiations but our success very much depends on the role we all play to keep our numbers down,” he said. – Bernama, May 2, 2021