JOHOR BARU, Oct 6 — The influx of Singaporean visitors have reportedly started to return yesterday after commuters initially avoided crossing over due to the uncertainty involving the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP).

Singapore’s Straits Times reported that the live camera feed of the Causeway and Second Link in Tuas from the Land Transport Authority’s One Motoring website showed a long line of vehicles queueing up to enter Johor Baru yesterday evening,

It reported that the Beat The Jam app showed that the average waiting time at the Causeway was around 50 minutes the whole day, while Singapore shoppers admitted that visitors have now returned to JB — with long queues at cafés in Jalan Dhoby.

This, it said, was a far cry from the evening of Friday, where the atmosphere around the popular KSL City Mall was described as "weirdly quiet”.

"The authorities already said that they won’t issue any fines, so more must be done to tell [Singaporeans] to not worry too much,” said Chan Wah Heng, the owner of Wah Heng Bak Kut Teh who said around 70 per cent of his patrons were usually Singaporeans.

"I think Singaporeans will still come to Johor with or without the VEP. Nothing replaces the many choices of things to do and buy here,” the report cited Hazeem Esman, a social development officer from Singapore.

This comes as several traders were reported worrying about their livelihoods if Singaporeans continue to shun JB — such as breaking even on rent, or obtaining enough for wages.

English paper The Star also cited various business associations urging the state government to step in, so the temporary situation will return to normal soon.

"I believe things will eventually return to normal as Singaporeans are still keen on spending their time and doing their shopping here,” Malaysia Budget and Business Hotel Association (MyBHA) Johor Chapter chairman Jarod Chia reportedly said.

"The lower number of people coming in will only be a temporary thing, but the sooner it is resolved, the less businesses here will suffer.”

Earlier this week, The Star also reported that inbound traffic from Singapore was down 20 per cent from normal daily volumes on the first day Malaysia is enforcing the VEP requirement on foreign-registered vehicles arriving from the republic.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke previously said that a total of 75,412 Singaporean motorists have activated their VEP RFID tags, while 37,246 have yet to activate their collected tags.

He urged Singaporean motorists to urgently apply and register for the VEP as it is mandatory for all foreign-registered vehicles entering Malaysia.

The VEP was first announced in 2017 as a measure to thwart car theft and vehicle cloning activities. It was also to prevent foreign vehicles with traffic offences from leaving the country without first settling their fines.

The VEP was delayed and was also postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in 2020.

In May, the Transport Ministry announced that all foreign-registered vehicles entering Malaysia by land from Singapore would be required to apply for the VEP starting October 1.

Since last month, many Singaporeans have rushed to apply for the VEP and collect the RFID device before the deadline. This has caused a huge backlog of applicants at the three designated VEP collection centres here.