M’sian influencer couple end up losing RM10,000 after failing to apply for Korean ETA before flying out

MALAYSIA: Tim Tiah and Audrey Ooi, well-known entrepreneurs and influencers in Malaysia, took to social media to express their disappointment after their family of four missed their flight to Korea, all because they failed to apply for electronic travel authorizations (K-ETA) before their scheduled departure.

Their mistake caused a loss of RM10,000 (around S$3263).

Mr. Tiah, the co-founder of Nuffnang and who also co-founded Colony Coworking Space with Ms. Ooi, posted a video on Instagram on Tuesday (March 17) simply captioned “How I lost RM10k last night.”

Visibly upset, he admitted that he doesn’t always “hold it all together” and that “sometimes I really just drop the ball.”

On the evening of March 17, the family was supposed to leave Malaysia and go to Korea for two days, before going on to Japan.

However, because they did not fill out a K-ETA, they were not even allowed to check in for their flight, Ms. Ooi explained.

Mr. Tiah then chimed in to say that he had been vaguely aware that they needed to have a visa of sorts, and he applied and filled out a document.

As it turned out, it was the wrong one, because he only filled out a digital arrival card. It appears that this document is the Korea Electronic Arrival Card, an e-entry declaration that travelers need to complete and submit three days before they arrive in the country. A foreign national who has a valid K-ETA does not need to submit an e-Arrival Card, however.

“I think we burned something like RM10,000 worth of flights and hotels that we may not be able to cancel, tours and all that,” he said soberly.

It affected him so much that he had been unable to sleep well that night, “because I was feeling really disappointed in myself for making such a silly mistake.”

Adding insult to injury, when he asked at the check-in counter if others had made the same mistake, he was told that “it rarely happens,” he said, while Ms. Ooi, sympathetic to her husband’s feelings, patted his shoulder but gave him a smile.

“Basically, we’re the only idiots to miss this,” he said, adding that he has been juggling a number of things, from running Colony to being a dad, to planning their family vacation and their social media activities.

“When I drop something, I really feel disappointed in myself,” he repeated, admitting that this is “a pretty big ball” that he dropped this time.

Ms. Ooi also posted about their missed flight, saying it was the first time this had happened to them. She added in the comments that while they tried to apply on the spot for the K-ETA, it did not arrive on time.

Until the end of this year, citizens from 67 countries, including Singapore, do not ned a K-ETA for short-term tourism, business, or family visits. /TISG

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