Hi all. Just joined Fodor today and would like to share a bit on the situation in my home country Malaysia with in relation to the Corona Virus pandemic. The Malaysian government has implemented Movement Control Order (MCO) as a preventive measure to flatten the curve of the corona virus spread. The MCO initially took effect on the 18 March to 31 March 2020. It has then been extended three times 14 April 2020; 28 April 2020 and of recent to 12 May 2020. What this means to us - Malaysians, expats, stranded travelers who are all currently in Malaysia are obviously limited social contact.
In general our dynamics have changed. Most of us are to remain at home/designated accommodation for "isolation". Heres how we are abiding to MCO

• Schools (from early childcare to higher institutions - private or public) are closed and just like the adults, children engages to online learning to not fall far behind.
• Only 1 family member from 1 household are allowed to go out to source for provision.
• Only 1 person allowed to be in 1 private car only if you need to source for provision. If i am not wrong you can take your pregnant wife for medical checks with a doctor's letter (If i am not wrong on this).
• Obviously no mass movements or gatherings which includes religious, cultural, sports and social activities (yes it is an offense if the authorities find you jogging in the neighborhood or swimming in your apartment's swimming pool).
• Malaysians are not allowed to travel abroad. To those who wishes to return to Malaysia from overseas, they would need to be quarantined for 2 weeks at designated accommodation. They will be advised on the location once they arrive Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
• No entry to all tourist and foreign visitors into Malaysia. So you can't even imagine how this virus has impacted those within the tourism and hospitality industry!
• Food is very important to us. Whilst we can't dine in, Food and Beverage premises are allowed to operate by offering take out and food delivery service.
• All non essential businesses are to remain closed during the MCO except for supermarkets, grocery stores, wet market, infrastructure services and multifunctional stores selling daily necessities.

To date the Corona Virus in Malaysia records 5691 positive cases out of which 3663 recovered and 96 death. Till then we continue to stay calm, stay at home and practice personal hygiene and social distancing, stop feeling sorry for ourselves but to use this time to reinvent our business, ourselves and to spend quality time with our family. When all this is over we shall continue to travel again.

I wish all of you a great weekend where ever you are and stay safe and healthy!

Greetings from Borneo Malaysia,
imwerren

Thank you.

I have friends in KL who have kept me updated.

Their neighbors to the south, Singapore are all in lockdown.

We were just in Malaysia prior to the lockdown. I really enjoyed our time there. Thanks for the update.

Malaysia's neighbor to the north, Thailand, also mostly shut down. No ins nor outs. Shop food only, no alcohol allowed to be sold: this to discourage social meetings over beers, etc. Curfew during night time. Streets have about 1/3 normal traffic-how very nice if on bicycle. Biggest drawback is closure of golf, all golf all Thailand. Well, have heard Chiang Rai golf open, but cannot travel between provinces. Nearly all folks compliant with mask order and hand cleaner. Most use some alcohol based cleaner but some use weak bleach-probably much cheaper. No one here wants to drink bleach, as promoted by some remote politician.
Wishing all a safe journey to the end of this adventure.

Dear jacketwatch,

Thank you for your comments. Hope your friends are keeping well in Malaysia. Yes Singapore is practicing circuit breaker movements up to 1 June 2020.

Despite all the craziness we truly wish and hope things gets better.
Take care and warmest greetings from Borneo,
imwerren

Dear yestravel,Thank you for your comments. I am so happy to hear that you got the opportunity to travel to beautiful Malaysia before the chaos started and not when the Movement Control Order took shape. We saw a few travelers who were stranded or panicking to leave Borneo/Malaysia during their travel. Some experienced flight cancellations, some had to purchase new flights (at a very dear price but better than being stuck in a foreign country with no friends/family for indefinite time), some had to be quarantine for a few days when they were in between transit, etc.

Happy to hear that you enjoyed Malaysia. When all this is over, Malaysia looks forward to welcome you here again.

Take care and warmest greetings from Borneo,
imwerren

Dear jobin,

Thank you for reading my post and for sharing with travelers alike the updates on Thailand. I have a friend from the hospitality industry who moved and took a job position in Pattaya at a leading international hotel. She had to go through self quarantine for 2 weeks and take a 50% paycut. At that point (end March 2020) the hotels were still open. I am not to sure about now. Sorry that for time being you are unable to enjoy your golf sessions?

I hope the situation in Thailand improves with the supply of masks and hand sanitizers. We experienced the same but my last visit to the pharmacy which was last weekend, there were 4 ply masks and hand sanitizers available for sale and people did not hoard on the purchase. I suppose since most of us are at home practicing washing our hands with soap is the best. Thank goodness here in Malaysia people are also not gullible to consume sanitizers! As for the front-liners at medical facilities, they are short of the scrubs. Thankfully, good samaritans from the fashion industries are working tirelessly to produce scrubs for the front-liners.

I wish you the best of health and when it is safe to travel again hope to welcome you here in Borneo.
Take care and best wishes,
imwerren


Stay safe and

I would like to go back someday. I don’t think many people know how lovely it is there and frankly what a bargain it is if you are coming with US money. We had a wonderful time and I hope someday to go back again and just do it all over again!

Update on Thailand. Emergency order extended till 1 June. No tourists in, out permitted. No travel between provinces, nor any golf etc. Curfew extended also but am uncertain about the 'no alcohol' sales. Many expats unhappy, the Thais equally so no doubt.

As in many countries, the Thai political power now using social infiltrating mechanisms to exert control over the press and the people.
There will be fewer tourists and more repression in the years to come. Since tourism accounts for about 15% of the GDP of both Thailand and Malaysia, expect the next few years to be 'belt tightening'. The Thai Navy had to cancel the submarine order due to cash constraints. Yes, the Thailand military wants submarines: but why?

Long queues in the city to receive free food at local wats. Folks are hungry and poor, yet govt forbids such distributions due to 'social distance' violations. As Bertolt Brecht said: 'first comes the food, then comes the morals'.
Stay safe all.

China.

Dear jacketwatch,
Yes please do come back to Malaysia and if you did not get the chance to explore the Malaysian Borneo - Sabah and Malaysia these states has a lot to offer in terms of nature and adventure.
Stay safe and Malaysia welcomes you here again when the world heals.
Best wishes,
imwerren

Dear jobin,

Many thanks for the latest updates on the lockdown situation in Thailand. Much appreciated.
Stay safe and when the world heals, the journey continues.
Best wishes,
imwerren

Yep. I'm on regular e-mail with my Malaysian friends in KL. I just answered their long e-mailed last night. Also, a week and a half ago, my Singaporean friend e-mailed me. I knew that they were on Circuit Breaker in Singapore as I watch CNA-Channel News Asia-live streamed although I'm here at home in L.A. I also listen to Prime Minister Lee address the nation in regard to the virus.

The Singaporean friend mentioned that hotels in Singapore aren't allowed to take new hotel reservations. That friend happens to be in management at a hotel. How things have changed since I was just back in the region from the usual December to February. I'm now waiting to see how my friends in Bangkok are doing as I also check up on them. I sent out an e-mail a few days ago. I hope they are all still OK. One friend has moved out of her rented apartment in central Bangkok and moved into her boyfriend's house in outer Bangkok as he lives up in Northern Thailand where he's from, but kept his Bangkok house when he moved back up north some years ago. He has businesses up north and also helps with his family's big business.

Happy Travels!

Dear Guenmai,
Many thanks for your response and update on how your friends in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand are doing. We hope you and family are doing well in LA. Hows the lockdown in LA? It is good to know that most of us have friends abroad and we learn from each other on how everyone is coping/dealing with the corona virus pandemic. I am in the travel business here in Borneo and business wise we are badly effected. But of course we abide by the rules and whilst during the movement control we work on reinventing ourselves/our business as when the time when the world is ready to travel once again - we are ready.

Take care, stay safe and when the world heals we can get on with the new normal.
best wishes from Borneo,
imwerren

Thanks for your concern. We're not really on lockdown here in L.A. County, but on shelter-in-place. We can go out and there's no restriction on how many people can be in a car like it is in some countries as I have close friends all over the world and the e-mails have been flooding in. One friend and her husband have been held up since March in the (European) country where their vacation home is as they couldn't get out and back to their own (European) country before the lockdown. While out one day trying to get food, they were pulled over as they were two people in their car. They found out that only one person could be in a car. This was at the beginning of the lockdown. It would be good for them to get back to the (European) country where their kids and little grandkids live and where they also live. The country that they're held up in has had serious lockdown, but the restrictions have been lifted a wee bit as of last week.

Oh, weeks ago, I got an e-mail from the E&O in Penang announcing that they've shut their doors due to the pandemic. I was introduced to the rooms manager just on Jan 19th,2020 as I've been staying at that hotel for 6 years of trips to Penang. They had recently finished the renovations of the Heritage Wing not long before I arrived and I was given a walk through of it . Now, they're shut down.

Happy Travels!

"Oh, weeks ago, I got an e-mail from the E&O in Penang announcing that they've shut their doors due to the pandemic. I was introduced to the rooms manager just on Jan 19th,2020 as I've been staying at that hotel for 6 years of trips to Penang. They had recently finished the renovations of the Heritage Wing not long before I arrived and I was given a walk through of it . Now, they're shut down.
I got the same email. We stayed there in March thanks to your recommendation. A wonderful hotel. I also saw the newly renovated Heritage suites. I actually preferred the other wing where we stayed.

Yestravel: I totally agree about the wings at the E&O as I've never stayed in the Heritage Wing, but always in the Victory Annex. I wonder when I'll get back now as I really miss the place and just being in the region overall, but it might not be until Dec 2021-Feb 2022 depending on this Wuhan-Corona virus situation. I'll be very restless meanwhile as I've been going to the region now for 21 years. I'll have to figure out what to do with myself when December rolls around.

Happy Travels!

Dear Guenmai,
Many thanks for the updates and sharing with us on how you are doing in L.A. Good to know that you can go out with no restrictions on how many people in the car. Hope your friends could return back home and be close to their kids and grandkids again.

Yes a few hotels of various stars across the different states in Malaysia have sadly closed. Just this week one of Malaysia's reputable publishing house Blu Inc also shut down with 200 team members without a job. On 1 May 2020 the government announced that whilst the Movement Control Order is still taking place up to 12 May 2020, that starting 4 May 2020 there will be conditional enforcement to ease the control. This means that almost all economic sector will be allowed to open with conditions. It is rather a gray area as to if Travel and Tour company could operate. It only mentions that hotels are open but guests are to stay in the room and provided room service for meals. As for F&B business restaurants are allowed to have dining in option but tables must be placed 2 meters apart and number of customers limited to the size of the table.

As of the 1 May 2020, we are also allowed to go for grocery shopping/ seek medical assistance with 2 person in a private car.

Have a lovely weekend!

Sad!

It has been more than a month since the Movement Control Order took place on 18 March 2020. We so miss going out to the jungles and rivers of Borneo. This was taken on 17 Feb 2020 at Bole River, Danum Valley Conservation Area.