It’s about the destination, not the journey – for now
YOU know the old adage we love in travel, about how “it’s about the journey, not the destination”? Well, in these days of Covid travel, when the journey has become so fraught with red tape, tests and protocols, it has definitely become more about the destination.
In other words, you just want to get there and when you do, you breathe a huge sigh of relief and then you go, well, it’s all worth it – because you have finally arrived, after weeks of anxiety and planning.
Such was my feeling when I landed in Penang last Friday – landing was smooth, passengers were eager to disembark, most visiting for the first time in two years, and immigration was hassle-free. No request for any paperwork, unlike at check-in and departure.
We were ushered by throngs of staff to the PCR testing area – you can sense their excitement at their island’s opening to international traveller. First, the registration for the PCR test (quicker for those who have pre-booked) and then you get sorted out by those who paid for the 1.5 hour test vs the 3 hour test. Then a swift nose jab and throat swab – by this time, after two years of pandemic living, I am feeling more lab rat than human being – and off you go.
The rule is, you wait at your residence or hotel till you get the result, then you are free to move around.
Problem is, MySejahtera app (Malaysia’s contact tracing and general Covid information resource) is not talking to MySafeTravel – the two channels international travellers have to currently manage for entry – and the former doesn’t know I have fulfilled the requirements of the Vaccinated Travel Lane and continues to show me as a PUS (Person Under Surveillance), subject to a five-day home stay.
But I am not going to allow that to compromise the joys of being in Penang. As travellers, we are used to improvising and pandemic life has trained us well to adapt, be agile, be nimble, get on with it, one step a time.
Superstar Gemini in port
So I got on with the business of being back in Penang. I get quickly into the rhythm of local life which is pretty much back to normal. Traffic jams are back, crowds are back in the markets and at the food stalls, restaurants are full – with no restrictions on table numbers. At the port, I see Superstar Gemini by Star Cruises docked and I understand it’s still operating cruises from Penang to Langkawi.
The food, oh my word, the local food is as good as I remember – and I spend the first few days literally food-hopping, revisiting my favourite hawker haunts and relishing the familiar tastes of this island which continually wins awards for its street food.
On my morning walks, I notice there’s been an explosion in dog ownership – specifically little dogs walking their owners – and one evening, I even saw a man walking his turtle. It was the slowest walk I’d ever seen. Covid has brought out the eccentricities in all of us.
Scanning to enter places seems to be more voluntary than mandatory – I sense a similar desire by people here, as in Siem Reap, to get on with life. Local infections are still high, but people are learning to live with it. At my Penang condominium, I get a weekly summary of Covid cases and how many are in home quarantine. No one bats an eyelid now when they say, “Oh, so and so’s got it.”
The food is as good as ever – local delights such as char koay teow (left) and curry mee, not to be missed
Back in Singapore, I had just exited a home situation in which my niece (not the first in my family by any means) tested positive and I had to test myself everyday for seven days before I ventured out – all part of living with the virus.
Today, I spent most of the time chatting with friends from Singapore who are travelling to spend the weekend with me in Penang. They had issues with uploading their vaccination certificates onto MySejahtera, so while again MySafeTravel told them they were good to go, the other was showing a red light.
We laugh. “All part of travel today,” one says. “It really isn’t that bad.”
It should get better. By April 1, vaccinated travellers will just have to download MySejahtera and not have to get the MySafeTravel pass anymore, according to this article, as Malaysia moves to an endemic phase. That’s one less red tape for travellers to get tangled in.
Penang has done fairly well in domestic business, as soon as local lockdowns were lifted and people were free to move interstate . It being one of the top domestic destinations, it was so packed during the holidays that locals started complaining about too much tourism. Some things never change.
But the island needs its foreign travellers back. According to immigration figures, in 2019, its top 10 markets – Indonesia, Singapore, China, India, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, UK, USA and Thailand – accounted for 593,804 arrivals at Penang airport, 89% of the overall total.
To do that, it needs to make it as easy as possible for travellers to enter, and move around freely, without being anxious about red tape and whether they’ve done the right thing.
Speaking at the Allianz Global Summit this week, I was asked by CMO Joe Mason if travellers were prepared to jump through the hoops to travel – “it’s a nightmare”, he says – and I replied, “If we have to, we will. We’d rather not, of course, but for us who have been deprived of the freedom to travel for two years, any chance we get, we will do it.”
I remember my first visit to New York in November when I had to download the NYC Covid Safe app. That was easy to use, just upload passport and vaccination certificate. No need to wait for registration, email notifications, verifications … and now that’s not necessary anymore, I understand. In France, I had to download a Pas Sanitaire to enter restaurants, museums and other public places – that’s also been dropped.
During my recent visit to Siem Reap, Cambodia, there were no apps to download, just tests to take – and now those test requirements have been withdrawn completely.
In my inbox this morning, I get a message from my travel agent handling my flight to the UK next month – “nothing needed to take note of for entering the UK. They do not have any requirement.”
Music to my ears …
And even sweeter music – this morning, Singapore scrapping its Vaccinated Travel Lane strategy and going for what it calls the Vaccinated Travel Framework (VTF, another acronym for us to celebrate) – meaning all vaccinated travellers can enter now without having to test on arrival, only pre-departure test from their country. And at the same time, easing of local social restrictions which makes Singapore a more desirable place to visit. Plus plus, the good news keeps coming – the unconditional opening of the land border between Singapore and Malaysia. Imagine all the road trips to come … game on, travel.
