Public aware of rationale for interstate travel ban

PETALING JAYA: While Malaysians believe interstate travel for celebrating Hari Raya Aidilfitri should be postponed, they say the government should have imposed stricter Covid-19 standard operating procedure.

Adie Aziz, 39, was looking forward to spending the holidays with his mother who is living alone in Melaka.

So, he was disappointed with the proposal by the authorities to ban interstate travel.

While it seems like the responsible thing to do, he wonders if the situation could have been avoided if the government was stricter with the SOP and adopted short but aggressive lockdowns early such as what was done in Australia.

Adie said he thought at first that the Australians were overreacting when they locked down a whole city despite only a few Covid-19 cases reported.

“But they get to go out and about after the lockdown ended. We are still huddled in our homes,” he said.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba has proposed that interstate travel for the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations be postponed as the Covid-19 situation in the country is still worrying.

Siti Syafiqah, 31, from Temerloh, said the proposal was a disappointment.

However, she was not surprised as at least 1,000 new infections were reported every day.

“I haven’t seen my parents in Pahang for the past year but I think it is okay as long as they are safe.

“We will celebrate Hari Raya next year. We hope the vaccination programme can take place quicker and we can get back to our normal lives,” she added.

Mohd Farid, 37, too was looking forward to going back to his hometown in Johor Baru for Hari Raya.

“But, I understand if we cannot travel interstate because of Covid19.

“I hope the rule will apply to all, including VIPs, and not just regular folk like me,” he said.