JB workshops see brisk business as border opens up

JOHOR BARU: As thousands of cars and motorcycles continue to pour across the Causeway into Johor with the reopening of the border, workshops near the two checkpoints are seeing an increase in customers.

Motorcycle shop managing director David Ker, 54, said business has doubled since the border reopened on Friday.

“On Friday itself, we received about 50 customers. We have had people coming non-stop since morning and almost all of them are Malaysians working in Singapore,” he said at his shop in Taman Nusa Perintis here yesterday.

Ker said as the cost to repair and service motorcycles was higher in Singapore, many Malaysians working there had held off sending their vehicles to workshops.

“So when the border reopened, we saw a significant number of people sending their motorcycles to workshops around the Johor Baru area,” he added.

Motorcycle mechanic Teo Kwee Hue, 58, said some of his customers had even called him ahead of the border reopening to check if his shop was still open.

“We also have customers still in Singapore who have asked us to pick up their motorcycles from their homes in Johor Baru.

“Most of these motorcycles have been left idle for a long period of time and need to be serviced,” he said.

Teo also has customers working in Singapore who come to Johor just to send their motorcycles for repair.

“I have a few customers who came into Johor from Singapore in the morning just to repair their motorcycles before returning in the evening,” he said, adding that business has improved by almost 40% in the past few days.

However, he has yet to receive any Singaporean customers.

Chu Fong Wee, 56, the director of a motor workshop, said she had been getting many customers from the tourism industry recently.

“Tour operators have been sending their vans to be serviced in anticipation of more visitors.

“Business has increased by about 30% in the past few days. However, for cars, we expect this to take some time,” she said.

Car mechanic Jumadi Ismail, 61, said he expected to see more Singaporean cars at his workshop in the weeks ahead.

“For now, I have only received two customers from Singapore.

“However, I think in the next few weeks, I will be getting more customers from Singapore as some of my regulars have already started calling me.”