Some Businesses Are Happy As M’sian Workers Come Back to S’pore to Work

It’s not just Malaysians who wished that the borders are open again so they can return to Singapore and work.

Businesses in Singapore are equally happy about the reopening of the Singapore-Malaysia borders.

Especially those in sectors that are heavily reliant on workers from Malaysia, like renovation firms.

Some Businesses Are Happy As M’sian Workers Come Back to S’pore to Work

Since 17 Aug, hundreds of Malaysians have streamed into Singapore and returned to their jobs.

They include electricians, painters, carpenters, salesmen and factory workers.

Mr Sky Tan, president of the Singapore Renovation Contractors and Material Suppliers Association, said that the renovation industry has been hard hit, with 80% of their workforce from Malaysia.

A workforce that they lost when borders closed on 18 Mar 2020.

Some companies in the sector, Mr Tan said, had closed down for good.

Bigger firms were forced to downsize and smaller ones disappeared.

Couldn’t Restart Business Even If Circuit Breaker Stopped

Most would remember the period between 7 Apr and 1 June.

Dubbed the Circuit Breaker period, many businesses were not allowed to operate unless they are part of essential services.

When Singapore started trying to reopen its economy again, businesses like Carpenters Design Group couldn’t start because they have no manpower.

Restaurants also couldn’t open for dine-in, despite being allowed to, because they do not have enough staff.

While it’s acknowledged that compared to the over 100,000 daily commutes over the causeway for work, this is just a trickle, many say that this will at least give firms reliant on Malaysian workers some breathing room.

Quota Reached Within The First Three Days

According to ST, Malaysia authorities allowed a daily quota of 400 travellers under the TGL scheme and 2,000 under the PCA scheme.

These quotas were maxed out within the first three days of border reopening.

Companies have been arranging to bring their employees back from Malaysia at their own cost.

American biotechnology firm Illumina managed to apply for over 100 Malaysians to return to work in Singapore under the PCA arrangement.

Other than that, it is also paying for the accommodation and transport of its Malaysian employees here.

Gain City managed to bring 10 Malaysian employees into Singapore and reportedly paid approximately $10,000 for the staff’s hotel stay during their SHN, meals, and swab tests.

As long as the results come back negative, these employees will stay with friends and start work next week.

Rental Driven Sky High

The biggest winners of this SG-MY reopening is probably landlords, ironically.

Based on a report by CNA, it seems like the higher demand for HDB rental units has driven the rent to sky-high prices.

This spike has been attributed to the new influx of Malaysian workers coming to Singapore to work in the estates near industrial areas.

“Malaysians who are coming here to work is a big factor in driving up demand for these units. They are far from the city centre and are popular among Malaysian workers, who prefer to live in a place easily accessible to their places of work.”

This also means that for companies, who have been covering for their employees’ accommodations since mid-March, might not be able to continue doing so, just like NTUC FairPrice.