Malaysian motorcyclists routinely endure massive congestion at the Johor-Singapore border to get to work. This situation, which is getting worse, has resulted in not just flare-ups, but also accidents. In the first of a two-part series, Ahmad Fairuz Othman and Rizalman Hammim report on the longstanding problem that is taking a toll on 60,000 riders
JOHOR BARU: For Sasitharan Nadeson, a typical working day means waking up at 4am to commute to his workplace in Bedok, Singapore.
The information technology engineer has to leave his house here by 4.30am to beat the queue at the motorcycle lanes in the Sultan Iskandar Building (BSI) Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex to make sure he arrives at work by 7am.
“I need to be at the motorcycle lane before 5am as that is when more and more vehicles begin to cross the Causeway, and the traffic jam starts.
“If I reached one or two minutes later, I would be caught in the jam and might be late for work.”
While many might shake their heads in disbelief, for Sasitharan, it is his daily ritual.
“After three years, you get used to it, but it does take a toll on me. Most of my day is spent working and travelling to and from work,” said Sasitharan, 27.
He is among thousands of motorcyclists who brave long queues at both sides of the Causeway during peak hours every day.
The 1.06km-long Causeway, one of the busiest overland border crossings in the world, is where more than 300,000 people make their daily trips between the countries.
While congestion is expected, motorcyclists such as Sasitharan have noticed an added strain on their daily commute in recent years.
They say the Secured Automated Clearance System for Malaysian Citizen Motorcyclists (M-BIKE), implemented at the Causeway and Second Link more than two years ago, is causing distress and delays.
The automated system requires registered motorcyclists to scan their fingerprints and have a radio frequency identification sticker (RFID) pasted on their passports.
When it was rolled out on Nov 30, 2016, the system was supposed to reduce congestion at motorcycle lanes by 50 per cent, as well as Immigration clearance time from 12 and 15 seconds to eight seconds.
Three months after its implementation, teething problems with the system at BSI resulted in a massive two-wheeler snarl due to faulty gantries.
During the chaos, 36 people, including one motorcyclist who knocked down an Immigration officer, were detained for breaching Immigration checks in their attempt to get out of the gridlock.
Motorcyclist and IT engineer Sarguneshwara Subramaniam, 29, claimed the situation has not improved.
“It looked as if the system was plagued by bugs in its first year, and similar issues occurred in the second year. I believe the system is not well maintained.
“Back then, gantries would not open even after we scanned our passports and thumbprints.
“Sometimes, the system would detect ‘pillion riders’ even though we are riding alone. This occurred to many of us who carried big bagpacks.
“This adds to the headache of our daily commute. And it does not help that the congestion is getting worse,” said Sarguneshwara, who has been working in Singapore for 10 years.
Sasitharan concurred, saying that he had been stuck in the M-BIKE lanes a few times when the gantries did not go up.
“That’s when we had to use the intercom to notify the personnel on duty that we’re stuck.
“I have seen other bikers being impatient in such situations, and they would just sound their horns out of annoyance.”
IMMIGRATION BREACH
The Johor Immigration Department said the M-BIKE was primarily implemented to prevent people from breaching Immigration checks at the country’s borders.
Some motorcyclists had learned the hard way.
Barista Khairul Tahir Mat Som, 34, said the system was a foolproof way to detect immigration offenders.
He said before the implementation of M-BIKE, many motorcyclists could get away without scanning or stamping their passports on the Malaysian side of the Causeway.
“I was once detained by the Malaysian authorities a few years ago for not having my passport stamped at BSI.
“I spent a night in the lock-up at the checkpoint and my passport was withheld for 14 days. I couldn’t go to work in Singapore.
“When the 14 days passed, I rode my bike to work and went through the Immigration clearance. When I handed over my passport for inspection, the officer looked puzzled and told me to pass through.
“After all I had gone through, I thought that was weird,” said Khairul Tahir, who has been working in the food and beverage industry in Singapore for more than a decade.
Horror stories of congestion and frustrations are common in the Woodlands checkpoint in Singapore too.
Asmadi Abdul Aziz, 25, said his worst experience was a two-hour gridlock on the Singapore side, when he returned to Johor on a working day a few years ago.
“The jam has been bad this week as well. It took me one hour and 10 minutes to pass through Immigration in Woodlands during the evening rush hour on Wednesday.
“The next day, it took me an hour and 35 minutes. In my experience, if there is a massive jam at the Singapore side, then the Johor’s side would be clear.
“If Johor’s side is jam-packed, then the Singapore side will be less crowded.”
Despite the jam at the republic’s checkpoint, Asmadi said the Malaysian authorities can learn a thing or two from Singapore when it comes to managing traffic flow.
“In the past, traffic policemen and People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) personnel tasked with managing traffic flow at BSI would not open up car lanes for motorcyclists, even during massive congestion.
“This is unlike Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority staff, who will open up to three car lanes for motorcyclists to use whenever traffic is overwhelming.”
Asmadi said the Malaysian authorities had only slightly improved their traffic diversion methods of late.
“In recent weeks, I have seen one elderly Rela man controlling the flow by shouting ‘Tolong pergi ke hadapan’ (please go to the front) to ensure motorcyclists do not hog the first few counters.
“Before that man was stationed there, there was a young man who used a whistle to divert traffic, which was ineffective.
“The authorities must make sure they have capable people in charge of traffic flow at the counters,” said Asmadi, who commutes by bike between Taman Pelangi here and Senoko in Singapore five days a week.
RUTHLESS RIDERS
Impatient riders and bad road conditions are among the risks that motorcyclists have to face when crossing the Malaysia-Singapore border.
Nanthakumar K. Nallvan, 30, said many motorcyclists diced with death as they were forced to move between larger vehicles along the Causeway and Second Link.
“Everybody is rushing to work on time. This leads to carelessness by road users, which has led to accidents.
“As motorcyclists, we need to be very attentive as drivers of heavy vehicles like lorries and buses cannot see us when we pass by them.”
He said many motorcyclists become agitated when they are trapped in chock-a-block traffic.
“Motorcyclists are sometimes involved in heated arguments and will ram each other’s legs in their rush to get to work, or when returning home,” said Nanthakumar.
According to Razali Tompang, 38, another cause of accidents among motorcyclists is physical and mental exhaustion.
“After working for eight or nine hours, people are tired and stressed. All they can think of is to get home as quickly as possible.
“The strenuous commute affects their work-life balance. Many of them only survive with four to five hours of sleep daily. This can lead to accidents.”
Razali, who co-manages a Facebook group dedicated to providing traffic information for road users in Johor and Singapore, said many motorcyclists suffered from a condition in which they microsleep.
They fall asleep on their machines for a brief moment while waiting to cross the checkpoints.
“It is a danger faced by many motorcyclists. That’s why accidents happen because the riders doze off.
“It is also common to see motorcyclists taking a snooze on their machines at the roadside outside BSI.
“They are too tired to continue as they are staying far away in Kota Tinggi or Kulai,” said Razali.
Despite the hardship, many Malaysian motorcyclists who commute to Singapore choose to endure the daily ordeal for the sake of their livelihoods.
“The exchange rate is very favourable. That is why there are hundreds of thousands of Malaysians working in the republic,” said Razali.
Sasitharan said he earned more as an IT expert in Singapore compared with Malaysia, and that was why he was willing to bear the hardship of commuting by motorcycle.
Khairul Tahir said riding a motorcycle was the cheapest and most convenient way to commute.
“A foreign car driver needs to pay S$35 (RM106) for a vehicle entry permit per day, but a motorcyclist pays only S$4.
“People who use the bus or train will incur extra cost as they need to transit with taxis or other buses to get to their destinations. But a motorcycle can take you wherever you need to go,” he said.