Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
It all began in March. My Nigerian husband’s mother fell ill and had complicated health issues. He decided to fly home to help her.
Unfortunately, he never got to return to us.
He landed at the Malaysian airport at 5 PM. I was waiting for him, hoping to pick him up and then send him home before reporting for my late night shift as a nurse.
I missed him terribly.
However, I didn’t hear from him after his plane landed. I kept trying to call him, but none of my calls got through. I had to force myself to leave the airport and make my way to work.
It was more than 5 hours later when he informed me that he was boarding a plane again. His phone had been confiscated by the immigration authorities.
I was confused. What had happened?
He filled in the blanks for me. He had touched down at 5 PM, which I knew. But around 7 PM, he was stopped before he could exit past the last immigration gate.
He was as confused as I was about it. He had already made payment for his quarantine arrangements. He was legally married to me. I couldn’t understand what the issue could be.
Apparently it was because we had not gotten the My Travel Pass. We were unaware about it at the time.
All because he did not have that, he was not allowed to exit the airport to return home to me and our children.
Besides confiscating his phone, they told him that he would be either jailed or deported back to Nigeria if he did not book a flight back. So he had to fork out another whopping RM5,000 for a flight that same day. But they did not return his phone until it was time for him to board, and they left him in a room alone as if he were a criminal being questioned.
I begged and cried to authorities, but no one could help me.
We tried to get him a My Travel Pass so he could return home. Two attempts were made, but both were unsuccessful – we were rejected for the reason that he would be travelling in from a high risk country.
I tried to communicate with anyone who could possibly help me. I went through SPO (an online enquiry system), but I had picked the wrong option and they redirected me to My Travel Pass – which was of no help.
I called, I emailed, I did everything I could think to do. I just wanted my husband home.
I put down my pride and begged and cried at any official I came across. Unfortunately, they kept telling me that they could do nothing to help me – it was the rules.
Without my husband at home, I effectively became a single mother.
Working as a frontliner during the pandemic was already tough enough. I am a nurse and the severity of the pandemic meant long, long hours. A shift could be up to 16 – 17 hours.
I was forced to leave my children at home because I couldn’t afford a babysitter. I’m from out of state, and I didn’t have the money to send my children to my family.
My older children (who were not very grown themselves) had to look after their younger siblings. Because the younger ones were just toddlers, they couldn’t do much on their own. They had to be helped by their older siblings.
The older siblings in turn started missing out on their schoolwork. Without an adult at home, they had difficulties in joining in on online school classes and in completing their schoolwork.
Before leaving for work, I would cook all three meals – breakfast, lunch and dinner – in one go to be stored for my children later. I am fortunate that my children were able to heat the food without injury to themselves and that they didn’t experience any food poisoning.
I was extraordinarily blessed with one thing: my managers at work understood my situation. They let me take calls from my children, and when there was less work, they allowed me to go home early.
However, I had only one day off every week. I had to spend that precious day off cleaning, doing laundry, and trying to spend as much time as I could with my children.
I got very little rest. I don’t think I experienced a full night’s sleep since this happened.
My children couldn’t understand why their father had been away for so long. How could they? They are so young.
This one time we had a video call with him while he was in a car and the children clamoured around the phone. “Is daddy on his way home?” they asked me.
The memory of that breaks my heart.
Eventually, my husband and I gave up on trying to get him to return to KL. We decided that I should move to Nigeria with the kids to be with him.
I scoured job ads, and found a job that was suitable for me. I secured a job offer and a visa.
But the nightmare continued, I still couldn’t leave my own country.
I filed an application in early September. I was supposed to start this new job in Nigeria in October, but the My Travel Pass application was supposed to be resolved within two weeks.
I didn’t hear back from them till the very last day of September. I was supposed to start my new job in Nigeria on 1 Oct so I’ve had to keep pushing back my starting date and paying more for my visa.
I tried calling immigration to sort this out so I can finally reunite with my husband – so my kids can experience having a father in their lives again – but it amounted to nothing. The phone would ring, but nobody picks up.
I’m so tired.
I’m sure a lot of people are experiencing the same issue that I’m facing. Facebook groups and Twitter hashtags have sprung up to create solidarity between those separated from their partners so unfairly by these rules.
I only hope that the authorities will be more sensible about their regulations and how it affects their citizens. This entire experience has been nothing short of a living nightmare to me and my family.
UPDATE: I finally received a resolution and it is only because I made an appointment to go to Putrajaya and physically sort out the issue. I am looking forward to seeing my beloved husband again, and for my kids to finally have their father back.
Thankfully, in a recent update, Malaysia has announced that they are looking at abolishing MTP for Malaysians who want to leave the country. I hope this will be implemented ASAP so other couples will not go through the nightmare that I had to.
For more stories like this, read: My Grandfather Passed Away While I Was Stranded In Thailand Due To The Lockdown.
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