Interstate travel: Where is your first destination?

As of midnight yesterday, 89.4 percent of Malaysia's adult population had received complete Covid-19 vaccination - only 0.6 percent short of reaching the 90 percent target that is key towards getting the interstate travel ban lifted, as announced by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Many who commented on social media posts regarding the possibility of interstate travel being allowed again - be it news quoting Ismail Sabri, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin or Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah - have voiced their eagerness to get to the point, while some others also raised their concerns on its impact.

Among those who are looking forward to the lifting of the ban, some share a similar idea on where they would go first.

"My hometown," said a woman who only wanted to be known as Haifaa when contacted by Malaysiakini.

"I want to go back and see my parents who I haven’t seen in almost two years due to interstate travel ban," she said. 

Haifaa who lives in Shah Alam said she cannot wait to see her parents who live in Seri Manjung, Perak. The same sentiment is also shared by her two sisters who also live in the Klang Valley, according to her.

They did meet virtually through video calls, which had been a frequent affair for the family since the pandemic hit the country last year.

However, Haifaa said she still feels that it is not enough, and even felt sad upon learning that their mother had kept from them about a minor surgery she had to undergo just so they would not be worried.

The 27-year-old school teacher said she is more than ready to do Covid-19 screening using a self-test kit before going back to Seri Manjung and after returning to Shah Alam, as advised by the Health Ministry.

"I don’t intend to stop at any R&R unless I need to use the restroom," she said, detailing some of the extra precautions she is willing to take so as to reduce the risks of getting the coronavirus.

Highway operator Plus Malaysia Berhad (Plus) has estimated that between 1.1 million and 1.3 million would be on its North-South Expressway daily when the travel ban is lifted. 

The estimation has led to many raising concerns about the huge number of people who would possibly visit highway rest areas when the country is still battling an outbreak.

Noor Hisham had recently hinted that interstate travel may be allowed in a few days time, while Ismail Sabri gave his assurance that it would be announced soon, and effective nationwide.

Although Haifaa welcomes the announcement, she also expressed her disappointment about what was described as the government's lopsided rules against unmarried individuals like her.

It is believed that she was referring to the relaxation of travel rules for long-distance couples and for parents to visit their underaged children in other states, while those who are single were left out.

"I feel like singles suffer too. I live on my own. When the inter-district travel ban was implemented, that’s when my mental health suffered the most.

"I followed everything that is required to do to ensure we get out of this pandemic but sadly nothing had been done by the government to help the responsible singles," she said. 

No to spreading infection

Quality control engineer Shuhada Shoberi, 34, told Malaysiakini that she too looks forward to returning to her kampung in Kedah, where she last set foot in August last year.

Unlike Haifaa, all of Shuhada's siblings still live with their parents except for her who now works in Penang.

The engineer said she has already made all the preparations needed to go back to her hometown, including getting a saliva self-test kit for her family to use before they depart to Kedah.

"We used to go back to my kampung at least once every two or three weeks. Now, my kids have been asking when we can balik kampung, and when this pandemic will end.

"This is because we could not go anywhere for quite some time already, and had been staying at home all the time," she said, admitting that the movement control order imposed by the government had affected not only her but also her children, who missed their hometown.

Shuhada said they also would never flout the standard operating procedures.

"We do not want to be the culprit spreading infection. We want to go back to my kampung so that we can be happy, and we do not want it to turn into something else," she said.

Demand for self-test kit expected to rise

A rapid-test kit seller who does her business online told Malaysiakini that she expected the number of orders would skyrocket soon due to the prospect of interstate travel.

The teacher who only wanted to be known as Juwita, 28, said even before the news came out her business had been booming with around 10 test kits being sold daily to people around her place in Teluk Panglima Garang, Selangor.

She had been selling the kits at RM19.90 each, while for those who buy in bulk (10 sets and above), they get the wholesale price of RM16 each as per the ceiling price set by the government.

"Now I am low on stock because I did not get many kits when the price was still high. I plan to buy more but am worried if the government suddenly reduces the ceiling price again, then I will be suffering a loss.

"I will wait and see first," she said.

Last month, the government decided to cap the price of Covid-19 saliva self-test kits at RM19.90 each (for retail) and RM16 (wholesale). They used to go up to RM40 each. However, there have been calls urging the government to further reduce the ceiling price so that it can be affordable for the low-income group.

Meanwhile, despite many expressing their eagerness to cross state borders, there are also those still reluctant to do it due to safety factors.

Among them is retail outlet supervisor Nur Hafiz Kenny Yusoff, 28.

"It is expected that traffic jams will occur on all highways (when interstate travel reopens) - this is one of the reasons why I won't do it for now. From a health safety aspect, I am still afraid to be at crowded places," he said.

The man who lives in Selangor with his family said that while he really wants to visit his relatives in Kedah, it can wait until the pandemic situation turns much better.

This was especially due to the fact that Perlis, which borders Kedah, is seeing spikes in daily infection cases.

Sigh of relief for business operators

The news about the reopening of interstate travel was not only welcomed by city folks who wish to go back to their hometown, but also came as bliss for stall operators who do their business along highways.

Mira Firzana, 25, who sells cosmetics and scarves at a rest area on the East Coast Expressway 2 (LPT2), said her business was badly affected by the travel ban.

She lost about 90 percent of her income during the period.

Mira said she even had to fork money out of her own pocket to pay her employee's salary, so that the business can still be continued.

She estimated that only between 20 and 30 individuals stopped at the rest area daily, many are lorry drivers.

The businessperson expressed her happiness about the news and wished to use the opportunity to make up for what has been lost when people start travelling again en masse.

"I have no plan to return to my hometown yet. For now, I want to focus on my business first because I have been resting for too long.

"After all the interstate travelling starts slowing down then we will go on leave," she said, adding that her business would not compromise on safety and would do regular Covid-19 tests.

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