Malaysians who are Singaporean permanent residents (PR) were not allowed to drive foreign-registered vehicles in the island.
"The government should set up a system to exempt Malaysians with Singapore PR from the VEP fee. Either have their car registration numbers keyed in or use their passports to enable exemption," Nur Jazlan told The Malaysian Insider.DAP Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong said almost 300,000 vehicles cross the Johor-Singapore Causeway daily, most of which are Malaysian-owned.
He said some may argue that Malaysians who worked in Singapore would be earning enough to pay the fee, but added that it would still be a heavy burden for them.
He said the government should conduct an in-depth study on the effects of implementing the VEP fee, especially on Malaysians and on the tourism and retail business in Johor.
"We are not objecting to it, but our main concern is the sizeable number of Malaysians who drive Singapore-registered cars,” he told The Malaysian Insider.Singapore recently announced that effective August 1, the vehicle entry permit (VEP) fee for foreign-registered cars entering Singapore will be raised from S$20 (RM52) to S$35 (RM90) a day.
"We want to see more research and more data. Will it have an adverse effect on tourism and the retail sector in Johor? The government has to do a study to understand the implications and impact of the VEP fee," he said.
Liew also said implementing the fee could be seen as retaliation against Singapore for increasing its own VEP fees.
The goods vehicle permit (GVP) fee for foreign-registered goods vehicles will be raised from S$10 (RM26) to S$40 (RM103) a month.
Retaliation is not the right terminology, YB. Its reciprocating. If they can charge us, why not we also charge them?
Another thing, I don't understand why some Malaysians like driving foreign-registered cars, especially from Singapore and Thailand. What are they so proud of?