Brunei And Malaysia Breakthrough On Travel Without Passport
By M K Anwar

Bandar Seri Begawan - Swipe your Identity Card and hop across the border. That will soon be a reality as Brunei and Malaysia have agreed to commence a pilot trial between the two countries involving 1,000 people from each side.

Officials from both countries discussed on the use of the frequent travellers card (FTC) for travel between Brunei and Malaysia during the first and second Joint Commission Meeting on Harmonisation of Immigration Matters held in Kota Kinabalu and in Miri.

After the third meeting that ended yesterday in Brunei, Awang Sa Bali bin Abas, the Director of Brunei Immigration Department, stated this in an interview at the end of the meeting.

It was further agreed that before the overall introduction of the card there would be a pilot trial to test the system.

Awang Sa Bali stressed that only 1,000 Bruneians will be involved in the trial. Similarly, on the Malaysian side, 1,000 people will be involved. Registration for the use of the FTC will be open to all Bruneians, he added.

The test trial will show how effective the new system is and will also be used to iron out any technical hitches at an early stage before its full introduction later.

Singapore too held a trial run for six months before fully introducing the same system of travel.

An announcement will be made by the Immigration Department when the registration for FTC will start, Awg Sa Bali said.

He said the FTC would incorporate the use of the smart chip imbedded in the Brunei Identification Card that was introduced in August 2000. Those successful applicants will have their ID cards reprogrammed for immigration purposes.

Both the Brunei ID card and Malaysian MyKad will have similar security features, which would record movement of people going in and out of the two countries.

The only control post that will accommodate the FTC during the trial run will be the Sungai Tujoh Control Post in Belait and the Malaysian control post across the same border. The use of passport through these control posts will therefore be eliminated.

The third Brunei- Malaysia Joint Commission Meeting on Harmonisation of Immigration Matters also signed several agreements on streamlining and improving the efficiency of immigration matters of the two countries.

 -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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