The Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta will seek special permission from the host country to allow Malaysians who do not possess Indonesia's Temporary Stay Permit Card, better known as Kitas, to get Covid-19 vaccine jabs there.
This comes after a special vaccination programme jointly organised by the embassy and Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) last year - which allowed Malaysians non-Kitas holders to pay for Covid-19 vaccines - had to be discontinued due to criticisms as many Indonesians have yet to get their first vaccine shot then.
In a statement to Malaysiakini, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said that only foreigners who possess Kitas can apply for Indonesia's Surat Keterangan Tempat Tinggal (SKTT), which is an identification document that is required for those who want to get vaccinated in the country.
"Meanwhile, for Malaysians and other foreign nationals who do not have Kitas and SKTT, they are not allowed for vaccination. To address this issue, among the initiatives that (the Malaysian embassy) had taken was having cooperation with Kadin through a 'gotong-royong' vaccination programme in mid-Sept 2021.
"This programme has helped foreigners including Malaysians in Indonesia to get vaccinated by paying between 700,000 to 800,000 rupiah (between RM203.40 and RM232.45).
"However, this programme was held only as a one-off initiative and not continued by Kadin. It was discontinued after receiving criticisms from the Indonesian community as many of them have yet to receive even their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine. Most of the community members were also unable to afford the fees charged under the programme," said Wisma Putra.
Policy issue
Malaysiakini had made a request for Wisma Putra's comments after learning about the dilemma faced by some Malaysians in Indonesia who could not get themselves inoculated due to the policy issue.
One of those affected is a 37-year-old housewife, who only wanted to be identified as Aida, who flew to Jakarta in December 2020 to visit her Indonesian husband.
Aida said her unvaccinated status limited her movement to only several facilities, including mini mart and convenience stores to purchase daily necessity items.
It also means that she is not allowed to go into an airport, which poses a Catch-22 situation for Aida to catch a flight if she chooses to return to Malaysia to get her Covid-19 vaccine shots.
"Here they use an application called Peduli Lindungi, an application similar to our MySejahtera in Malaysia, which is required if we want to board a flight, enter a mall, or hotel, and other tourist spots.
"But I cannot download the app. No point in downloading it either, because I am still not vaccinated, so it will be invalid.
Very costly
"And if I were to be able to return to Malaysia just to get vaccinated, it would be very costly because I would have to pay for Covid-19 tests, quarantine hotel, and also I will need to find a place to stay while waiting to complete the two vaccine doses," she said.
According to Wisma Putra, the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta has received 30 similar cases so far, many of whom live outside the Greater Jakarta area.
"In this matter, the embassy will try to get a special permission to enable Malaysian citizens who do not possess Kitas and SKTT to also be inoculated in Indonesia."
For Malaysian citizens overseas, they have to follow vaccination requirements and inoculation programmes of the country they live in. The same applies to diplomats and members of Malaysia's mission to foreign countries.
The Health Ministry only provides inoculation against Covid-19 for those inside Malaysia.
Unresponsive
Meanwhile, Malaysiakini also received several complaints against the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta, which was allegedly being unresponsive or slow in addressing issues faced by Malaysians there.
According to Aida, whose case had also received attention on Facebook after it was posted by cartoonist Zunar last week, she had tried to get assistance from the embassy since December last year.
She claimed that her attempts to get assistance through the embassy's Whatsapp line did not receive anything useful, and she had to pester the officer in charge on the other end of the line many times to get a response.
"In the end, I had to take my own initiative until I managed to contact one of the directors in Kadin, who then promised she would help. The director said he only needed an official letter from the embassy so he could help to speed up the process.
"When I told this to the embassy, an officer said he wanted to contact the Kadin director directly so I gave him the latter's number," Aida said, adding that she later learned that the officer who contacted Kadin only started inquiring about the programme procedures then.
‘Out of touch’
Another Malaysian in Jakarta, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also had similar complaints albeit unrelated to vaccination issues.
According to the 59-year-old businessperson, who had been living in Jakarta on and off since 2012, the embassy allegedly had been "out of touch" since the past few years.
"I already gave up dealing with our embassy, especially in Indonesia. I'll take care of myself should anything happen," he told Malaysiakini.
"The embassy does not care about Malaysian citizens who live in Indonesia. I think if we were to die on the roadside they would not care.
"Calls were never answered, handphone numbers that should be operational for 24 hours were also not attended. And now, we cannot even get into the embassy. They have put a sign in front of the embassy that for emergency cases, we should contact them through email jakarta@imi.gov.my or contact the officer on duty via number +62 813 8081 3036.
"I cannot recall how many times I have tried calling this number. Just wasting my time," he said.
Need for improvement
Responding to the complaints, Wisma Putra said the embassy is working to improve its telephone system by adding more contact lines and improving its appointment system.
The ministry said that the embassy will ensure all calls during office hours are answered, and for off office hours including weekend and public holidays, the embassy can be reached via the Duty Officer line and Whatsapp messages.
"However, the embassy admitted that there are many more improvements that it has to undertake to ensure all customers' calls are entertained properly."
On a physical visit to the embassy, Wisma Putra said they had to limit the number of individuals who can enter the embassy premises from April 2020 due to the Covid-19 outbreak in Indonesia.
Prevention measure
vention measureThe embassy can receive a maximum of 50 people a day as a prevention measure.
Thus, customers who wish to enter the embassy are required to make an appointment via email, which the ministry said would be responded to within three to five working days.
"Only customers who have been given appointments and bring negative Covid-19 antigen test results would be allowed inside, except for emergency cases," it said.
According to Wisma Putra, the embassy is also facing an issue with its jakarta@imi.gov.my email address due to an email migration exercise last year, which may have resulted in some emails not reaching the embassy.
They can now be reached via konsular_jakarta@yahoo.com. - Mkini
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