While all Malaysian citizens are eligible to purchase RON 95 at RM1.99 per litre at an allocation of 300 litres per month under the Budi Madani RON 95 (Budi95) subsidy initiative, which began yesterday, one of the requirements for access to the subsidised fuel is the possession of a valid competent driving licence (CDL).
This is an issue for Malaysians who are required to hold a Singapore driving licence for work. This is because Malaysian workers in Singapore such as bus, lorry and port truck drivers must surrender their Malaysian licence to obtain a Singaporean one, as required by the republic’s regulations, the Malay Mail reports.
Transport minister Anthony Loke said the government was aware of this, and is taking steps to address the issue. Explaining the matter, he said that Singaporean law prohibits individuals from holding two driving licences simultaneously, forcing Malaysians in certain occupations to convert their licences to work there.
Loke said the matter was raised in cabinet last week, and it was agreed in principle that these workers are entitled to the subsidy as they remain Malaysian citizens. “These groups are citizens of Malaysia, they live in Johor and commute daily to work in Singapore. When they return, they drive their own cars or motorcycles that are registered and taxed here. They should not be excluded from receiving Budi95,” he said.
However, he added that implementation will take some time due to data privacy laws. Loke explained that Singapore’s land transport authority (LTA) does not share personal data with Malaysia, making automatic verification impossible. To resolve this, he said the road transport department (JPJ) is now developing a dedicated online registration system for Malaysians holding Singapore licences.
“The Singapore data is not integrated with us. It is beyond our jurisdiction and involves the personal data protection act. We need a system to register these Malaysians, but JPJ will require two to three weeks to develop it,” he said.
He added that the exact number of Malaysians holding Singapore licences is currently unknown, though there are between 200,000 and 250,000 daily crossings at the Johor-Singapore border.
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Pay Singapore tax but no pay Malaysia tax while benefit from currency exchange still cheap skate for subsidy. Worse than B40 here