Malaysian Telcos Offering Free Calls For Aidilfitri; From 10pm Tonight Until 10am Tomorrow

The Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Saifuddin Abdullah has recently announced that local telcos will be offering Malaysians with free calls for the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration. He revealed that this effort is organised by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), with the collaboration of various mobile service providers such as Celcom, Digi, Maxis, redONE, TM, Time dotCom, Tune Talk, U Mobile, Yoodo, and Yes 4G.

With the recently implemented Movement Control Order (MCO) nationwide, any form of public gatherings for celebrations and such are strictly prohibited – as part of the updated SOPs determined by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and the National Security Council (MKN). In the interest to elevate the spirits of all Malaysians for tomorrow’s Aidilfitri festivities, the aforementioned telcos will be offering customers free unlimited voice calls starting from 10:00 PM tonight on 12 May, until 10:00 AM tomorrow morning on 13 May 2021.

However, Saifuddin noted that the free calls are subject to the terms and conditions determined by their respective telcos. Users are recommended to refer to their service providers for any clarification, he added.

Do keep in mind that this joint effort only applies to voice calls during the duration – including calls between the telco companies mentioned earlier. However, it’s worth mentioning that those who wish to use their data for video calls and so on for tomorrow should utilise the free 1GB daily internet provision from all local telcos, which is currently ongoing until 31 July 2021.

Movement Control Order 3.0 Goes Nationwide From Now Until 7 June: Here Are The SOPs

 

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has announced that Malaysia is now placed under the Movement Control Order (MCO). These also include locations that were previously designated as Conditional MCO and Recovery MCO which include states such as Penang, Johor, Sabah, Sarawak, Melaka and others. 

In the announcement, he pointed out that the country is now facing the third wave of COVID-19 infections which could potentially cause a national crisis. This wave is also discovered to include newer strains of the coronavirus that also has a high rate of infection.

PM Muhyiddin stressed that the country has exceeded 4,000 cases as of 10 May 2021, with a total of 37,396 active cases and 1,700 reported deaths related to COVID-19. He noted that the major cause of the increased number of cases is attributed to various public gathering activities which have caused difficulties in maintaining social distancing practices.

In light of this, the National Security Council (MKN) have decided to take drastic measures by implementing MCO nationwide, with hopes to curb the further spreading of COVID-19 in the country.

For clarity, here are all the SOPs as stipulated by PM Muhyiddin in his announcement:  

• Interstate and interdistrict travel are not allowed. The exceptions being for emergency cases, or for health, work and economic related affairs, married couples who are located in different areas, or for vaccine appointments.

• Public social gatherings such as weddings, tahlil, dinner receptions, birthdays, and events are not allowed. This also applies to official events, face-to-face meetings, seminars and study courses.

• Marriage ceremonies are permitted but are required to adhere to the attendance restrictions and SOPs determined by JAIS for Muslims, and by the National Registration Department for non-Muslims. 
• All sports and recreational activities involving multiple individuals are prohibited. However, personal activities such as jogging, cycling and regular exercises in public areas are allowed – provided that social distancing is maintained.

• Educational institutions are required to close during MCO, but exceptions are given to students who will be sitting for international examinations. Meanwhile, daycare centres and kindergartens are allowed to operate with proper SOPs in place. 
• Personal transportation, taxis and e-hailing services are only allowed to carry three individuals, including the driver. Meanwhile, the individual capacity for freight vehicles, as well as those used for economical and industrial purposes, are determined by the limit described on their respective business licences. 
• As for public transportation, operators are required to maintain social distancing restrictions on their vehicles (LRT, MRT, buses) and also adhere to the SOPs that have been determined by the government.

• The economic sector is allowed to operate throughout the duration of MCO. 
• Dine-in at eateries is no longer allowed. Instead, the public is encouraged to rely on drive-thru, takeaways, and delivery approaches. 
• Workplaces are required to instruct employees to Work From Home (WFH), and to also maintain not more than 30% of management staff to be in the office at all times. 
• Open houses, house visits, and cemetery visits during Hari Raya Aidilfitri are not permitted. 
• Mosques and suraus with a capacity of supporting more than 1,000 individuals are only allowed to host 50 attendees for Aidilfitri prayers, whereas those that could only support less than 1,000 may only allow a total of 20 attendees. 
• Non-muslim places of worship will also see revised restrictions. These will be determined by the National Unity and Integration Department at a later date. 
• Specific measures that are implemented in the states of Sabah and Sarawak, as well as the Federal Territory of Labuan, will resume accordingly.

The restrictions on inter-district and interstate movements as well as on social, sports, and education activities are already in place starting from today until 6 June, following the announcement made by the Senior Minister for Defense, Ismail Sabri Yaakob on 8 May.

As for other restrictions, they will be enforced on 12 May instead and will last until 7 June. Please keep in mind that the ones listed above are just a small number from a larger list of SOPs that is likely going to be revised by MKN.

Currently, other possible changes such as operating hours for premises and services such as food delivery and so on are still not known. It is quite likely that the complete list of updated SOPs from MKN will be issued to the public by tomorrow morning or so.

On that note, we’ll definitely keep you posted for any updates.

AirAsia Launches ASEAN Unlimited Flight Pass For RM 599; Valid Until March 2022

Last year, AirAsia has launched two unlimited flight passes which allow customers to travel multiple times to selected international and domestic destinations. Today, the low-cost carrier announced yet another unlimited travel pass although this time around, customers would also receive unlimited free delivery for airasia Food, Fresh, and Shop.

The modus operandi for AirAsia’s latest unlimited travel pass which called the ASEAN Unlimited pass is generally identical to the previous two passes. To utilize the pass, customers need to choose flights that are marked as “100% Off” when they book them through AirAsia’s website.­

However, customers need to book their flights at least two weeks before the departure date and they still need to pay governmental taxes as well as airport chargers on their own. Additionally, there are also additional charges if they want to obtain baggage, meal, and preferred seat allocations for their flights.

­While AirAsia has noted that the list may change from time to time, here are the ASEAN and domestic destinations that are applicable for the ASEAN Unlimited pass at the moment:

As for the travel period, the ASEAN Unlimited pass is valid for flights from today onwards until 26 March 2022. That being said, flights availability is also subjected to border and movement policies that are put in place by respective federal and state governments.

Similarly, the unlimited free delivery for airasia Food, Fresh, and Shop that we have mentioned earlier is also valid until 26 March 2022. Price-wise, the ASEAN Unlimited pass can be obtained through AirAsia’s website from now until this Sunday, 7 March 201 for RM 599 although BigPay cardholders can obtain it for RM 549 instead.

Before you make the jump though, we would like to remind you that interstate and international travel is still being prohibited at the moment unless you have obtained permission from the police. In addition to that, our fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is still far from over even though the government has kicked off the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme and has also eased down some of the MCO restrictions as of late.

Furthermore, AirAsia has also stated that the purchase of the ASEAN Unlimited pass is non-refundable. So, make sure that you have considered all angles and understand everything that AirAsia has laid down in the terms and conditions for the ASEAN Unlimited pass before committing to it.