KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) has urged the government to grant a 30-day-maximum extension of visa, nationwide, to tourists from China who are currently stranded in Malaysia due to the ongoing novel coronavirus epidemic.
Its president, Tan Sri T.C Goh opined that such a move is necessary to better facilitate their return to China.
He hopes that both the Federal and the State government could better communicate and facilitate on this matter, and to come up with a unified measure, so as to avoid unnecessary confusion and inconvenience to our visitors.
Goh who is also the president of the Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS) was responding to the State government’s announcement of 7-day visa extension to China tourists who are currently stranded in Sabah, which he opined is insufficient.
He suggested that the State Immigration Department to go to the ground to better understand and assess the dilemma facing the China tourists, and to consider giving them a 30-day extension of their visa.
“We understand that some of the China tourists who are currently vacationing in Sabah may not wish to return to their country due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic there. If this is the case, then the government should consider granting them extension of their visa. We believe their temporary stay in Sabah or other parts of the country would help boost the tourism industry which is already affected by travelling restrictions imposed by many countries, China and Malaysia included,” he elaborated.
He also believed that the health condition of those China tourists currently stranded in Malaysia is not an issue.
Goh further noted that some of the China tourists who wished to return home may require more than seven days to make necessary arrangement including flight schedule and transportation back home. He thus hoped the relevant authority could take this into consideration and grant them a 30-day visa extension.
Besides this, he also hoped that the State government could pay serious attention to the recent announcement by the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Kota Kinabalu that, a few thousands of China tourists were stranded in Sabah following the State government’s temporary suspension of all flights from China
“All quarters must continue to have a good deliberation and cooperation to ensure that, whatever issues there are facing our valued visitors, are promptly and effectively resolved, in a courteous manner,” he stressed.
He also noted that presently, except for Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic, both the Malaysia Airlines and Air Asia are still conducting flights to various parts of China, and passengers could still fly to these places via Kuala Lumpur.-pr/BNN
