New Directive: Singapore Cars can only pump 20 Litres Petrol in Malaysia

Myth or Fact: Does rocking/shaking your car allow you to pump more petrol??Its official!! Fuel Cap on Singapore-Registered Vehicles to 20 litres of Petrol in Malaysia!

New Directive: Singapore Cars can only pump 20 Litres Petrol in Malaysia

December 10th, 2009 stephen.wong

The day that Singapore-Registered vehicles might not be able to pump petrol in Johor Bahru may soon come. “Foreign-registered vehicles will only be allowed to pump maximum 20 litres of fuel when travelling within 50km radius from the border, said Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.” – Reported by The Star/Asia News Network yesterday. See the news extract below on the potential rule that Malaysia might implement soon:

New law only allows 20 litres of petrol

Wed, Dec 09, 2009
The Star/Asia News Network

KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign-registered vehicles will only be allowed to pump maximum 20 litres of fuel when travelling within 50km radius from the border, said Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Enforcement authorities at the checkpoints were also directed to ensure such vehicles leave the country with no more than 20 litres of fuel in each tank, said the Domestic, Trade, Co-operative and Consumerism Minister.

He added the directive would be implemented soon.

Ministry officers were in the midst of issuing a circular on the matter to petrol stations in affected areas.

“This measure is to curb increasing cases of fuel smuggling, as the prices for fuel are subsidised and cheaper compared to prices set by neighbouring countries such as in Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia,” he said.

Consistent with many Malaysia Directives, details were not revealed and the news release raised plenty of doubts and questions. Teething issues were also not addressed.

1. Does the rule apply to Malaysian (Singapore PRs)? If so, wouldn’t the directive handicap fellow Malaysians who need to make a living in Singapore?

2. It is not practical to ensure Singapore-Registered vehicles leave the country with no more than 20 litres of fuel in each tank. How is the check going to be done when the fuel gauge does not tell you the specific litres of petrol remaining in the petrol tank? Added on to that, most Singapore-Registered vehicles enter Malaysia with 3/4 tank full of petrol. If the intention to enter Malaysia is just for a car-wash cum dinner in Tebrau, does the driver need to drive around in circles until only 20 litres of fuel remain??

3. If as mentioned, the intention of this directive is to curb cases of fuel smuggling – why apply a ruling that inconvenience 99.9% of Singapore-Registered vehicle drivers who will not even think about fuel smuggling?

4. “Foreign-registered vehicles will only be allowed to pump maximum 20 litres of fuel when travelling within 50km radius from the border” – How is the check going to be performed if a driver had indeed travel beyond 50km radius from the border??

Before more questions are raised, the Malaysian Authorities should clarify such details or taint their already poor record on news release. In addition, any poorly implemented measures might not only discourage Singaporeans from entering Johor Bahru but worse still – disadvantage Malaysian Citizens who worked in Singapore.

Hopefully, all these done before the directive becomes law.

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21 Comments Add your own

1. snowfox | December 10th, 2009 at 1:39 PM

yes, fully agree with both hands n legs…. for instance my case, wife holding S’PR and cant drive Malaysia car in SG, that means we will be deter from visit mum-in-law, aunties and uncles, and we have bought a house in Gelang Patah, that means we have the house there but cant even visit if the ruling is in place as we do not wanna caught in the change of rule sad to say that
2. snowfox | December 10th, 2009 at 1:40 PM

yes, fully agree with both hands n legs…. for instance my case, wife holding S’PR and cant drive Malaysia car in SG, that means we will be deter from visit mum-in-law, aunties and uncles, and we have bought a house in Gelang Patah, that means we have the house there but cant even visit if the ruling is in place as we do not wanna caught in the change of rule sad to say that
3. Gwen | December 10th, 2009 at 1:49 PM

Dismayed to hear the news. Is the malaysian government serious about this? I hear that they are also implementing gst in 2011, so we Singaporeans may have less reasons to voJB anymore.
4. Jayson | December 10th, 2009 at 8:54 PM

This is stupid. Stupid stupid stupid. Stupid law.
5. KP | December 10th, 2009 at 11:43 PM

Another brilliant act, i think they have come out with a rocket science to measure the damn 20 liters thingy. Sigh…….they have never gone into details. What will happen to those SPR staying in JB???
6. Imagine | December 11th, 2009 at 9:38 AM

This is super ‘brilliant’ from the ‘brilliant’ people.

Maybe they try to increase provide reason for increasing staff manpower and more ‘FINE’ Measure to boost expense and secondary income.

I think they make it so complicated, why don’t they just make its simple. Just remove the so call ’subsidized’ and provide to all citizen the oil welfare like some sort of share. Share only can sell to local. People sold those share will not entitle for any further dividend (like what they does in Singapore)
7. Ray | December 11th, 2009 at 5:20 PM

Bolehland Minister Brilliant Govt.
New creation n Great Idea. More S$$$$ Revenue…into pockets…

For lining the pockets of TP, Custom, Enforcement Officers.RM salary suddenly multiply by 2.4 times.
8. Johnson Lam | December 12th, 2009 at 1:14 PM

We can all make our mini protests again such decisions by the government. Limsimi-why not plan a “boycott JB” day to make our point? Do not let those authorities get their way. Make them wake up.
9. postman | December 13th, 2009 at 12:19 PM

i fully agree to what most of you are writing. I am a frequent diner in malaysia. we travel to JB almost like 2 to 3 times per week after work for dinner gathering. We goes in with 3/4 tank or sometime full tank. This ruling implement mean we have to drive in and draw our singapore petrol to pour into the drain of malaysia???? Is there any logic???? thats CRAZY!!! If this is the case we will not visit JB anymore, thats for sure
10. hafizh | December 13th, 2009 at 6:36 PM

The Government of Malaysia clarified that the intention of the new directive is to stop fuel smuggling.

I can understand that smuggling is still quite pronounced up north near the Thai border. But how many people will actually smuggle petrol into Singapore? In the first place, with the strict custom check in Singapore, it is unlikely for anyone to do so or even comtemplate. In addition, petrol is not exactly the most portable commodity – why is there a concern?

The Government of Singapore has already imposed a 3/4 tank limit for traveling into Malaysia. This would had greatly reduce the petrol purchase by Singaporeans. It is fine to implement a 20 litre cap only if there iis a sound tracking system to monitor purchases centrally, like a system to monitor centrally petrol purchase/day against a specific vehicle plate number. Now, everyone is scratching their head on how our smart government is going to implement a 20 litre cap – where there might not even be a feasible solution in the first place.
11. admin | December 13th, 2009 at 11:44 PM

Hi Hafizh, my thoughs exactly. To add on, I feel that any policy implemented should include the stakeholders in some form of dialogue first.

These people include the petrol station owners, the business people in JB as well as polling of some Singaporeans – this at least to assess that the directive will not put a servere dent in tourism.

I also question the value of making an announcement at such an early stage of planning, when I am sure even the government themselves are not such of the technicalities of implementation yet.
12. Darren | December 14th, 2009 at 7:05 PM

this new made me laugh… i really can’t imagine this become truth and we will not visit JB. can’t they see s’porean is spending $$ to keep JB so lifely… i think many shops will close down and JB lost of income when all driver stop visitting JB…
13. Darren | December 14th, 2009 at 7:23 PM

i heard the minister going to fix the petro price instead and provide subsidy to those who need. this is interesting, then who need the subsidy will “smuggle” or s’porean over there. example help s’porean to top up with a fee paid….
14. Season's Greeting | December 15th, 2009 at 12:05 PM

Season’s Greeting from Malaysia Domestic,Trade,Co-operative and Consumerism Minister with what a beautiful present for Singapore car owners, firstly all S’pore car coming into Malaysia must have a 3/4 tank and how much can we pump into our tank, second if vehicles leave the country with no more than 20 litres of fuel in the tank than Singapore car have to remove the petrol and have only 20 litres balance, so in order to make thing good for all it is better to stop any fuel top-up between 50 km radius, correct me if I am wrong.
15. Jayson | December 15th, 2009 at 1:39 PM

The minister will probably do an about turn and say he is misquoted. PR disaster for him.
16. PR | December 16th, 2009 at 12:01 PM

Aiya, does it means non-m’sian cannot eat rice, cakes – kueh(flour), fried stuff(oil), sugared stuff within 50km of border since these are subsidised also ?? or can eat only 1/3 full ? what else is subsidised ?
17. Jayson | December 16th, 2009 at 12:37 PM

All they need to do ban is to ban pirated DVD and sure enuff JB will be a ghost town.
18. B C | December 21st, 2009 at 6:56 AM

These stupid fuel subsidies will DROWN the nation, SINK the world.

Incr CO2 emissions> Incr Global warming> polar Ice melts> Sea levels rise up to 70m> greater Human disaster fr floods/ tsunamis, sea water flooded farms grow no food> disaster survivors starve to death.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_global_warming )

Are govts prepared for exigencies e.g. Tsunami where even lightly hit Malaysia had problems attending to those affected: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4100030.stm , terrorist strikes/ Religious separatism/ Infectious disease outbreaks etc.

Fuel subsidy is a stop gap measure. Money should be spent on educational, health care, sustainable agricultural, telecommunications/ internet and rail infrastructure for a better and more sustainable life for all.

As stated, these stupid fuel subsidies will only DROWN the nation, SINK the world.
Hope their charges know better and VOTE THEM OUT soon before we all drown in salty water.
19. Richard Toh | December 22nd, 2009 at 9:18 AM

Ha……Ha. You got to fininsh your three quarter tank of patrol to less than one quarter. That is to say that you got to travel more than 230km inside JB after your golfing or meal. Since the law is to make it difficult for foreign cars, don’t go to Malaysia, spend the money in Singapore to help the economy
20. Curious Malaysian | January 6th, 2010 at 1:11 AM

It’s not practical law at all because it kills Malaysian with Singapore PR.

Most Malaysian who have Singapore PR are driving Singaporean cars, they have right to fill up full tank because they are Malaysian (because the government said the subsidies for Malaysian).

What I watched bullshit news, they always focus on Thai cars not Singaporean cars.

In Thailand, most of the fuel is gasohol not pure petrol unlike Malaysia.

New cars in Thailand are modified for Gasohol.

The only petrol in Thailand is
Shell V-Power which is about 42 Baht/L (RM 4.30/L),

Gasohol 91 is 31 Baht/L (RM3.20/L)

Gasohol 95 32 Baht/L (RM3.30/L).

Last time I went to Thailand by driving, what I saw at filling station in Bukit Kayu Hitam, Most Thai vehicles are filling up in Malaysia are pickup with diesel engine and old car before 2000 which unmodified engine. New cars are not seen in filling station.
21. Curious Malaysian | January 6th, 2010 at 1:29 AM

On Hat Yai, Thailand, New cars or modified engine are not filling Petrol in Malaysia because they afraid their engine breakdown due to their engine are modified for Gasohol.

Only pickup trucks with diesel engine and old cars without modification are filling in Malaysia.

Malaysian cars also can’t fill in Thailand because the engine isn’t modified for gasohol or another option by burn the money filling V-Power for RM4.20/L if totally desperate. So expensive want to die and very stupid.