This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 20, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia and Singapore are in discussions to resolve the problem of some 300,000 Malaysians who commute daily to work in the republic, and are now affected by Malaysia’s Movement Control Order (MCO), according to Bernama.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob told reporters this yesterday after chairing a meeting of the Special Ministerial Committee on the Movement Control Order in Putrajaya.

“We (both countries) have already been in contact and are discussing. Our prime minister has spoken to the prime minister of Singapore, and I have also spoken to Singapore’s defence minister, as well as several other senior ministers.

“So this is already being discussed... InsyaAllah we will make an announcement soon regarding our workers employed in Singapore,” said Ismail Sabri, who is also the senior minister (security cluster).

On Monday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that Malaysia would be imposing a nationwide MCO from March 18 to 31 to curb the spread of Covid-19.

The order, among others, restricts movements of people and bars Malaysians from leaving the country.

Malaysia is a key source of staples for Singapore, which imports more than 90% of its food supplies, while hundreds of thousands of Malaysians commute daily to the wealthy city state to work in businesses ranging from restaurants to semiconductor manufacturing.