Singapore drivers rush to Malaysia’s VEP information counter in Woodlands industrial park to seek help

SINGAPORE: Over 50 Singapore drivers turned up at an office in a Woodlands industrial park on Monday (Aug 19) to seek help regarding their application for Malaysia’s Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) after it opened in the morning to no fanfare.
A queue soon formed outside the office around lunchtime after CNA reported at about noon of its opening and the location.
Drivers were later told by staff members that they were no longer issuing queue numbers for the day. The drivers were then told to leave behind their contact details as well as vehicle plate number, CNA observed.
No public announcement on the exact location of the office in Woodlands was made by TCSens – the vendor appointed by Malaysia’s Road Transport Department (JPJ) to handle queries from Singapore drivers – nor by the authorities there.
CNA first found out about the location of the office from a staff member at TCSens office in Johor’s Danga Bay.
The office – located at 186 Woodlands Industrial Park E5 – was empty when CNA arrived at 8.45am. There were no drivers waiting outside the office, nor were there any signs at the unit indicating that it was the VEP information centre.
The building’s board listing, however, listed the third-floor unit as “MY VEP PTE LTD”.
Earlier this month, Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced that a VEP information counter would be opened in Woodlands to help drivers with their queries.
The counter will be operated by a Singapore firm in collaboration with TCSens, he said then.
On Monday, staff members running the centre arrived at 8.47am to set up operations.
Two rows of chairs, six information counters and a TV screen were seen inside the office.
However, no drivers were seen at the office in the first hour of operation.
At about 10.20am, a driver arrived at the office to enquire about his VEP application.
Mr Jackson Tan, a private-hire driver, told CNA that he found out about the office’s address from a friend who went to TCSens’ Johor Bahru office and enquired about the opening of the Singapore office from a staff member there.
“Even on the Malaysia side, they only told my friend (the address) … Not even the unit number (of the office),” the 55-year-old told CNA.
Mr Ng Poh Heng, a manager at the office in Woodlands said that it was strictly an “enquiry centre”.
“The office is to provide guidance on the requirements for Singaporeans who have issues and problems, applying the VEP online – which is needed to enter Malaysia.
“The centre here is an enquiry centre, so Singaporeans don’t need to travel all the way to Johor Bahru to get it done. So whatever questions they have, they can ask it here face-to-face,” he said, adding that the information centre is open on weekdays from 9am to 5pm.
CNA understands that drivers are not able to install nor collect their radio frequency identification (RFID) tag at the office.
When CNA returned to the information centre at about 1.40pm, a queue had formed outside the office. There were about 25 people inside, and another 15 queuing outside.
One driver, who only wanted to be known as Steven, told CNA that he took half-day leave from work to get his queries settled. He got to know about the location of the information centre following the publication of this article.
The 42-year-old mechanical designer said that he arrived at about 1.30pm and got a queue number about 10 minutes later.
“I was at home when I saw the news and decided to come down. I had to come today, otherwise, it would be crowded later on.”
According to Mr Steven, his RFID tag was pending activation after he submitted a photo of his car on Jun 29 online, and he had come down to the information centre to check on its status.
“I did not expect so many people today because it’s only the first day.”
As of 2.15pm, more people had joined the queue, which has since snaked down the corridor of the industrial building.
Another driver, Mr Jummaat Abdul Karim, told CNA that he had planned on driving to the TCSens office in Johor Bahru on Aug 21, but came down after his sister sent him the link to CNA’s report.
The 71-year-old semi-retiree said he has obtained approval for the VEP, showing CNA the application document.
“But my application needs my current address but I’m unable to update my address through the system (online).
“I thought by coming here I could find out what I need to do,” said Mr Jummaat, who waited in the queue for about 30 minutes and had driven from Sengkang.
“But the bottomline is, they also don’t know whether they can help you or not.”
At about 2.20pm, staff members told drivers that they were no longer issuing queue numbers for the day. The drivers were then asked to leave their email addresses and car plate numbers, CNA observed. 
Mr Tan Lee Tong, 68, left his email address and his vehicle number. He arrived at about 2.20pm and was unable to get a queue number.
“I came down to get more information and I understand this place is for enquiries only,” said the retiree.
Mr Tan’s current RFID tag is about to expire on Oct 28. He had terminated the email address which he had used to register his RFID.
“(I’m) not sure if I’m coming down again, so I’m going home,” he told CNA.
Malaysia in May announced that all foreign-registered vehicles entering the country by land from Singapore will be required to use VEPs from Oct 1.
Vehicles that have been registered will be fitted with an RFID tag that costs RM10 (US$2.28). The RFID tags, which uniquely identify each vehicle, are non-transferable.
Action will be taken against any foreign motor vehicle without a VEP entering Malaysia from that date. Anyone found guilty of the offence can be fined up to RM2,000 or jailed for up to six months.
Mr Loke said that the permit has been implemented since 2019 but has not been enforced. The system was put on hold in 2020 as the government said it was looking at ways to make the installation of the RFID tag easier.
Currently, all foreign-registered cars entering Malaysia by road via Johor need to pay a levy.
Singapore-registered vehicles are required to pay a road charge of RM20 for entering via the Woodlands Causeway and Tuas Second Link checkpoints, which are among the busiest in the world.
Motorcycles are excluded from these charges.
Additional reporting by Amir Yusof