JOHOR BARU: Singaporean Wong Liang Fuh felt relief when he saw his vehicle entry permit (VEP) tag being fixed to his car.
The 66-year-old had waited in line at the collection centre in Danga Bay here for more than two hours before receiving his radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.
The self-employed man said he had registered for the VEP before the Covid-19 pandemic and applied for a renewal in June as it was only valid for five years.
“After the Malaysian government announced that the VEP will be required starting Oct 1, there was an urgency for me to get my VEP tag.
“I decided to head to the collection centre in Johor Baru to check on my application status as my email enquiries went unanswered.
“Luckily, the staff at the centre were quite friendly and helpful. I am happy that I have received my VEP tag as I can enter Johor Baru without issue come Oct 1,” Wong said in an interview.
Wong visits Malaysia weekly for both shopping and business matters.
Now that he has successfully acquired his VEP tag, he will encourage his Singaporean friends to do the same and give them advice on the application process.
Another Singaporean, Rahman Mukiyat, also made a trip across the Causeway to make enquiries at the VEP collection centre after his emails went unanswered.
The 65-year-old engineer said he had also registered for VEP a few years ago and decided to renew it before the enforcement date.
“I think there was a surge in applications as we could not log in to our account. We made several enquiries via email but did not receive any answers from the Road Transport Department.
“We decided to leave home in the morning, sat through a one-hour traffic congestion on the Causeway. At the collection centre, we had to wait more than an hour for our turn to make enquiries.
“We have prepared all the required supporting documents and hope that our application can proceed smoothly as we do not want to break any Malaysian law,” he added.
Rahman said his wife returns from Singapore with her mother every month to go to their hometown in Pontian, Johor.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said starting Oct 1, all Singapore vehicles entering Malaysia via the Causeway and Second Link must have a valid VEP RFID tag.
Anyone driving a foreign-registered motor vehicle without a VEP can be fined up to RM2,000 or imprisoned for up to six months, upon conviction.
Loke added that an estimated 120,000 vehicles cross the Causeway between Malaysia and Singapore daily, making it one of the busiest land border crossings in the world.
