Kuala Lumpur (TDI): Every day, nearly half a million Malaysians wake up before dawn, pack into motorcycles, cars, and buses, and cross the Johor-Singapore Causeway to go to work in Singapore.
It is one of the busiest cross-border commutes in the world, and until now, one of the most dangerous, with almost no safety net. The Malaysian government has now decided to fix the issue.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced on National Labor Day that the government will amend the Self-Employment Social Security Act 2017 to extend protection under the Social Security Organization, known as “Parkeso,” to Malaysian workers abroad, starting with cross-border workers commuting to Singapore.
Around 480,000 Malaysians commute daily between Johor and Singapore, facing dangerous travel conditions that result in nearly one traffic death every day, which makes around fifty-four deaths every year.
The legal gap is the core problem, as workers traveling between two countries fall through the cracks of both insurance systems. The Deputy Chief Executive of the Social Security Organization (Sosco) pointed out the dilemma faced by cross-border workers in an interview.
He said, “At this point, if they buy insurance in Malaysia but meet with an accident in Singapore, they cannot claim. If they buy insurance in Singapore but engage in an accident back in Malaysia, they also cannot claim.”
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“Worst of all, if the accident happens right on the Causeway itself, which becomes a ‘no man’s land,’ nobody covers it all.”
The Ministry of Human Resources plans to present a bill in parliament next month to introduce a commuter scheme under the existing Social Security Act, allowing cross-border workers to voluntarily contribute to their own coverage, ensuring their protection, whether they are in Malaysia, Singapore, or on the Causeway in between.
The first step will focus on work-related accidents; the plan is to expand health and disability coverage as well, with time.
The workers welcomed the news. Muhammad Amyrul Syahwan, who travels forty-nine kilometers daily to his workplace in Singapore, said that this scheme would help security workers’ futures, noting that many commuters have no insurance at all.
Another commuter, Luqman, who rides his motorcycle thirty-five kilometers every day, called the protection a necessity and said that the government should also pay attention to how tiring this daily journey is for workers.
For nearly half a million Malaysians who cross the border every day, this law is not just a policy update; it is a matter of life and death.
