KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 — This Chinese New Year, many Malaysians will be able to take advantage of the current Covid-19 standard operating procedures to make it a long weekend and return to their hometowns for family reunions.
For many Chinese families, it is a big deal as for the first time in two years, crossing state borders is allowed, and so are close family gatherings.
But for Malaysians abroad, they can only watch in sadness as international borders are still restricted, and travelling home proves to be still too much of an inconvenience with permits, travel bubbles and quarantine in the way.
Evangeline Majawat, a Sabahan married to a British national who has been living in Scotland, it has been two long years since she last saw her family and she is itching to return home.
She had high hopes to finally be united with her parents in Kota Kinabalu again when the government announced that they were planning on opening international borders in January, but those plans have now been shelved as the world grapples with the infectious Omicron strain of Covid-19.
Malaysia is not shutting its doors to its citizens and international travellers, but the cost of returning for the holidays is too prohibitive for many.
“The options are the Langkawi Travel Bubble route, but the cost is prohibitive as my husband and one child are British. It will cost our family of four an additional £1,500 to take this option. This excludes flights from the country of origin and the cost to get back home to Sabah.
For Majawat, whose husband works as an architect in the Isle of Skye, the financial costs of the travel bubble are too cost-prohibitive for them to consider.
The alternative option is the MyTravelPass which is not an option as applications take a month and her husband is unlikely to get approval.
“It has been two years and counting since I last saw my family. My youngest was a baby when she last saw her grandmother and she’s now in pre-school.
It is a tough decision for the Malaysian diaspora, especially those with foreign spouses and children who hold different citizenships. Like her, many families have been apart for years even before the Covid 19 pandemic and have had to deal with the effects from afar.
“My parents have missed out on time with their grandkids. And it’s hard seeing my parents grow old from afar. We want to hug them in person. Most days, I put on Malay and Sabahan pop songs for comfort and relief from the homesickness that floors me at times.
“I hope the government will come up with a feasible roadmap for opening the borders or at least easing restrictions for returning Malaysians with foreign family members. For now, the hugs will have to wait,” she said.
Perak-born 31-year-old Chow Lee Li has also been forced to make the decision to stay in Dubai, where she is now working, for the holidays while the rest of her family, who lives in Malaysia, reunites.
Chow missed the Lunar New Year celebrations with her family last year as she was working in Kuala Lumpur back then and could not return to her hometown in Pulau Pangkor in Perak due to the interstate travel ban.
“For this year, I won’t be meeting my family again for the Chinese New Year celebration. I will be staying in Dubai as Covid-19 cases are soaring due to the Omicron variant,” she said.
Chow said that it has been almost two years since she last visited her family members and relatives for festivals.
“The celebration this year will be moderate and not like the ones before the pandemic. My family will have a small reunion dinner at home. Maybe they will do a steamboat or barbecue,” she said.
Despite being apart from her family, Chow believes that this Chinese New Year will create a spiritual atmosphere among those who usher in the festival.
“I suppose this year Chinese New Year people will do their best to visit family and spend time at home.
“Especially with the chaos caused by the flood in Malaysia. Spiritual support is needed. People need a reason to have a good start to 2022 ahead. Chinese New Year seems to be like the best opportunity to do so,” she said.
Shaun Koh, an accountant living in Sydney, Australia also said he would not be returning to Kuching, Sarawak for the fourth year running as he cannot afford to be away from work for too long and baulks at the costs and time needed to quarantine.
“I have three children and as much as I want to see my family and have them see my children, it is too many factors to consider. My children are still young, so travelling is hard enough without Covid 19 and quarantine to think about,” he said.
Koh said that his parents and siblings have not seen his youngest daughter, who was born in the year 2020, but they have had to make do with video calls all this while.
“It’s hard because my grandfather passed away last year without getting to meet my youngest and my other two did not get to say goodbye either. This pandemic has really been rough for us all and I just want for it to be over,” he said
Another Sabahan, Francoise Lourdes, who lives in France with her husband, the combination of the quarantine period and the virus is also too much of a burden to consider returning home for the holidays.
“The Omicron variant has gone wild here. It’s like every other person has it here so I’m scared I’ll bring it back to my family. The plan now is to go back during the summer.
“I don’t know what the SOPs now are, but I am hoping we will be able to quarantine at home by then,” she said.
Lourdes, who was working in Singapore with her husband and relocated to his hometown of France after Covid 19 hit, has not been home for some four or five years now and is yearning to see her family.
