He was eager to return home as he had not seen his family since March last year.
Around midnight, the 36-year-old Malaysian finally secured his booking and tomorrow he will finally be reunited with his wife and two sons — aged five and eight — in Johor Bahru’s Larkin Sentral Bus Terminal.
While cross-border travel resumed in August last year with strict conditions, The Straits Times reported that Tanapal, who earns less than S$2,000 (RM6,160) a month, felt that it did not make sense for him because of the costly Covid-19 tests and the long quarantine periods involved.
The land VTL, which was announced on Nov 24, allows up to 1,440 Singapore citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders in Malaysia to cross the Causeway into Singapore every day, with the same number allowed to go the other way.
The rush to book tickets after so many months apart saw the booking systems of the two firms operating the bus services crashing on the first day of sales.
By day two, a third of the tickets from Singapore to Johor Bahru for the next month had been sold out on Transtar Travel’s website. On the Causeway Link portal, a week’s worth of tickets for the same route had been snapped up.
A beautician, who wanted to be known as Careyn, said she rushed to buy her bus tickets despite already booking a flight. The air VTL between Changi Airport and KLIA also starts tomorrow.
“After the air VTL was announced, I immediately bought an air ticket within an hour of them going on sale. But, as someone from Batu Pahat, Johor, it will definitely be more convenient to travel by land.”
The 22-year-old, who has not returned home since August last year, will now find another date to use the air ticket.
While grateful for the easing of border restrictions, some hope that the requirements will be less of a burden.
A 26-year-old enforcement officer, who wanted to be known as Stephanie, said she bought tickets for herself and her one-month-old baby to be reunited with her family in Malaysia.
But the Malaysian learned on Friday that her Singapore-born son would be unable to travel because he is not a permanent resident or long-term pass holder in Malaysia.
A Singapore trade and industry ministry spokesman told The Straits Times that workers who had been impacted by Covid-19 and separated from their families for many months would be prioritised during the early stages.
“This also allows us to open up in a careful and calibrated manner, to test and adjust protocols and prepare for a larger number of travellers in future,” they added, noting that the land VTL would progressively include other travellers.