Gerak Malaysia Will Allow You To Travel Interstate IF You Absolutely Need To

From today onwards, if you need to travel between states in Malaysia, you can apply for permission via the Gerak Malaysia app. This is to provide some lenience to those who fled the Klang Valley during the initial phase of the MCO, which is now in its sixth week and will be going on for a few more weeks through the fasting month.

As a recap, when the MCO began the government initially allowed inter-state travel with permission by application at your nearest police station. This was quickly stopped after queues became impossible to manage and a potential hazard, and so everyone was pretty much told to stay wherever they landed.

Born as a collaboration between PDRM and MCMC, Gerak Malaysia will allow Malaysians to apply for the necessary permission by submitting their name, number of family members, travel details like origin and destination, and so on. This is important as it allows the government to track the movement between green, yellow, and red zones – and all kinds of contact and movement tracing is important. There is even a QR code as implemented in other countries – which will be personally tagged to you and probably usage-enforced at a later date.

This app is especially useful for students who are trapped at campuses out of town and those who want to return to their kampong. If you don’t have a smart device, you need not worry as you can now apply at police stations (once again), but to avoid overcrowding it is recommended that you call to book an appointment ahead of time.

Even with all this said, the Gerak Malaysia app is still in its fledgling phase and has not yet been approved by the National Security Council. There are estimates that movement permits will only be issued from the beginning of May onwards, and the Ministry of Health will have to weigh in on whether the volume of those wanting to travel interstate poses a health risk.

So think carefully before you decide to travel.