KUALA LUMPUR: As more countries announce plans to welcome fully vaccinated overseas travellers, the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) warns that if the country’s borders remain restricted for leisure tourism activities, Malaysia will fall behind.
MATTA advocated that the government reopen the country’s borders in stages, beginning with fully immunised tourists from Southeast Asian countries and gradually easing restrictions for other travellers.
Its president, Datuk Tan Kok Liang, stated that the suggestion was based on the fact that Asean countries accounted for 70% of all tourist arrivals in Malaysia.
“Opening is better than closing our borders. There are proposals that we should emulate the United Kingdom, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand. However, taking into consideration all factors, no one size fits all.
“Every country has its own precarity, including the healthcare system and the people’s readiness. For instance, there are countries, such as China and Japan, whose borders are still closed to international tourists.”
He stated that while MATTA recognised the significance of preserving the public healthcare system from overburdening, it was also critical for the government to consider the livelihood of tourist stakeholders, given that Malaysia had closed borders for over two years.
“Over the past 22 months, there have been no Covid-19 clusters linked to tourism.
“We feel the government should facilitate the reopening of borders and allow the arrival of fully vaccinated tourists from Asean countries before opening to tourists from other parts of the world.
“To make sure the reopening of borders will not affect our Covid-19 prevention measures, we can carry out risk evaluation and reciprocate with countries that are categorised as low risk.”
Tan stated that the standard operating procedures (SOP) should be less stringent without sacrificing basic requirements, such as only allowing in travellers who had completed their primary vaccination and booster shot, as well as requiring tourists to have a negative Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test 48 hours prior to arrival.
“We want the process to be in order, but neither stressful nor difficult for tourists to travel into our country.”
He believes that efforts to recognise other nations’ Covid-19 immunisation certificates should be expedited.
Datuk Dr N.K.S. Tharmaseelan, a health specialist, said Malaysia couldn’t keep its borders closed for very long since Covid-19 weariness was starting to take its toll.
“Just look at Canada, the UK, the United States, the Netherlands and New Zealand, where ‘Freedom Convoy’ truckers have clogged and blockaded roads in protest, disabling further economic recovery.
“We cannot close our borders permanently. Instead, we can slowly reopen borders to other countries, provided that travellers have completed their primary vaccination and booster jab,” said the former Malaysian Medical Association president.
He stated that the majority of countries had immunised more than 75% of their people against Covid-19.
“So if any new variants emerge, such as Omicron, they will not cause severe mortality due to the build up of immunity provided by the vaccines.
“As long as people adhere to the SOP, observe physical distancing, wear masks and sanitise, we can open up borders in stages.”
Tharmaseelan said the reopening of borders should be done cautiously because Covid-19 fatalities were approaching one million in the United States, had surpassed half a million in Brazil and India, and had crossed the 100,000 mark in other Asian and European countries.
“The freedom to choose, move and decide is a fundamental human right, but we should also be aware of the realities, such as rising Covid-19 fatalities, although at a slower rate.”
Dr. Oh Ei Sun, an academic, highlighted the reopening of borders as a challenging matter.
Malaysia, he noted, was still fighting to strike a balance between socioeconomic requirements and safeguarding the public healthcare system from overburdening.
“On one hand, the country needs the tourism receipts and business to fire up the flagging economy. On the other hand, there is the risk of the public healthcare system being overwhelmed by Covid-19, although the infectious Omicron variant causes mild symptoms.
“Having said that, who knows what will happen in the future? What will happen if we open up the borders? It may cause infections. The scariest thing is that there is no standard answer.”
Oh, a senior scholar at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, expressed hope that the difficult work will be performed professionally.
