Earlier today, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has assured him of the continued flow of goods and cargo between Singapore and Malaysia, including food supplies.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday (Mar 17), PM Lee wrote that he discussed the situation on the phone today with Malaysian Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
PM Lee added that his phone call came because, “Last night, Malaysia announced that it would impose a Movement Control Order to combat the spread of COVID-19. This was not surprising, as many other countries have already imposed similar lockdowns”.
While the flow of goods and cargo will continue, PM Lee said that Malaysians living in Johor but working in Singapore “will have to comply with the Malaysian lockdown. This will prevent them from commuting daily, at least for the time being”.
Malaysia, the worst-hit country in Southeast Asia so far, has had a total of 553 infections as of Monday (Mar 16).
More than 300 cases were linked to a religious gathering with 16,000 in attendance, including people from Brunei, Singapore and Indonesia.
Following PM Muhyiddin’s announcement of a lockdown in Malaysia, many Singaporeans headed to supermarkets to stock up on food and supplies, fearing that Malaysia would also stop goods and cargo from leaving the country.
“Meanwhile, I am happy to see that in the supermarkets, while the queues are longer than usual, people are taking it in their stride and only buying what they need”, PM Lee said, reassuring Singaporeans that, “We need not worry, as we have prepared for such an eventuality, and have plans in place to cope”. /TISG