Singapore-HK Travel Bubble Off Again

 

In November the travel bubble was postponed, and now again

The Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble is on hold -- again.

Today it was announced the arrangement where Hong Kong and Singapore travelers would not have to quarantine in each destination was called off due to the rising number of cases in the Lion City.

In the past week Singapore reported 42 cases, including 11 on Monday, which went over the threshold for holding the travel bubble. The city has banned dining in at restaurants, and limited social gatherings to two people in a bid to contain the virus.

Singapore saw a spike in cases this past week

Originally the scheme was supposed to happen on November 22, but it was cancelled the day before when Hong Kong went through a fourth wave. Now both cities have caused postponements.

Those who were keen to travel were booked for the first flight that was planned for May 26, but now will have to wait until at least June 13 to see if the travel bubble will be back on.

Nevertheless, Hong Kong officials said in a statement that both governments remain "strongly committed" to launching the scheme "in a gradual and orderly manner".

"The two governments will continue to closely monitor the epidemic situation in both places, including the effectiveness of the enhanced anti-epidemic measures introduced by the Singapore government, which has taken effect from yesterday (May 16) and would last till June 13," the statement said.

"During this period, both sides will continue to maintain communication, exchange relevant data and statistics, and review developments closely before deciding on the way forward."

HKers would rather go to China, not Singapore

Tommy Tam Kwong-shun, chairman of the Society of IATA Passenger Agents, a coalition of the largest travel agents in Hong Kong, estimated about 4,000 travellers from both cities were affected by the travel bubble busted again.

"The bubble is fragile," he said. "Singapore is not the biggest tourist destination for Hong Kong people, after all the industry is more keen on having a travel bubble with mainland China or Macau."

He urged Hongkongers to get vaccinated to help make the cross-border travel bubble a reality.

And watching the spike in cases in Taiwan should also be another wake-up call for people to realize that the best way to control the pandemic is to protect themselves by getting the jab. We cannot keep borders shut down forever...