Trapped in Macau: the Singaporeans and Malaysians desperate to get home

With borders shut and no direct flights home due to the coronavirus pandemic, dozens have been stranded after losing jobs in the tourism-reliant Chinese city

Some are too pregnant or too unwell to transit through Hong Kong and are pinning their hopes on their consulates helping to organise a repatriation flight

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Gavin Chin and his wife are among dozens of Malaysians and Singaporeans who have been trapped in Macau.

Published: 9:00am, 11 Mar 2021Updated: 11:40am, 15 Mar 2021

Gavin Chin, a Malaysian living in Macau, is desperate to hop on the next flight back to his hometown of Sabah. He was working as a diver technician on The House of Dancing Water show in the Chinese special administrative region when he was laid off in November last year as the coronavirus pandemic took its toll on the Macau economy. But Chin, 36, faces a problem: there is no flight home.

Dozens of Singaporeans and Malaysians share his plight. With borders shut due to the pandemic and no direct flights between Macau and either country, they have been left stranded and are lobbying consulates and airline carriers to help.

Some in the group have banded together to arrange a repatriation flight in April but others cannot wait. Chin’s wife may be too pregnant by then to be allowed to fly on a commercial airline.

“My wife is five months pregnant and I am jobless in Macau, so we think it’s best for both of us to go back to Sabah,” he said.

Casinos and hotels illuminated at night on the Cotai strip in Macau. The Macau economy is reliant on tourism. Photo: Bloomberg

He saw two choices: wait for a repatriation flight or travel to neighbouring Hong Kong, where he would need to serve a three-week quarantine in a hotel before flying back home.

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