PETALING JAYA: Two former deputy ministers have urged Putrajaya to allow fully vaccinated foreigners who are under the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme to enter the country.
In a joint statement, Hannah Yeoh and Azis Jamman said MM2H had contributed billions to the economy but remained suspended for about a year, while many visa holders have been left stranded outside the country.
They urged home minister Hamzah Zainudin to allow existing MM2H visa holders to reenter the country once they have been fully immunised against Covid-19, while releasing the revised guidelines for the programme’s resumption.
“In a time of pandemic when our economy is so battered while we struggle to hold together whatever that is remaining, it is common sense to not drive away the current contributors of our national income,” they said.
Yeoh was the deputy women, family and community development minister under the Pakatan Harapan government, while Azis was deputy home minister.
They said Malaysians with foreign spouses already living in this country were struggling to renew their visas, having to go through the online appointment system which was already fully booked out for the next three months.
The Segambut and Sepanggar MPs said this was distressing to families as their medical treatment, job security and children’s education were among factors dependent on their spousal visas’ renewal.
“We urge the home minister to allow renewal of visas for a longer term instead of just one or two years. This will automatically reduce the large crowd at immigration counters and provide more certainty to these families.
“These couples have children, and they work and pay taxes to contribute to our economy. These are just two examples of how the minister can use his power to promote family-friendly and income-generating policies.”
They added that the home ministry needed to optimise its services and to consider moving more of its services to an online platform in order to reduce the load on physical counters. - FMT
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