By Juliana June Rasul

CAN'T get more than 20 litres at a Johor Baru petrol station?

Simple. Drive to the next one and get another 20 litres.

That's what some Singaporeans are ready to do, following announcements that the Malaysian government is limiting foreign-registered vehicles - including Singapore ones - from taking more than 20 litres of petrol at pumps within 50km of the country's borders.

The new ruling was enforced last Wednesday.

Mr Badrul, an attendant at a Jalan Tebrau petrol station, told Berita Harian: "We don't ask (Singaporean drivers) too many questions because when they come in (to Johor), their tanks are already three-quarters full.

"We let them fill up only 20 litres. If they go to another station to fill up more than that, who knows?"

A Singaporean motorist in his 40s, who wanted to be known only as Mr Shukor, told The New Paper on Sunday he would consider hopping from station to station if he required more than 20 litres of petrol.

"Most of the time, if I'm just going to Johor to shop, I don't use that much petrol. So when I do fill up before I return to Singapore, it's less than 20 litres," he said.

Berita Harian said checks with petrol stations in JB showed they preferred drivers of Singapore-registered cars to pay first, before filling up their cars.

Still, one driver, identified only as Mr Amin, told the paper he had no problems returning to the counter a second time to pay for another 20 litres of petrol.

However, some Singaporeans are upset at the new ruling. The Star newspaper reported last week that the Malaysian Chinese Association public complaints bureau was flooded with complaints from Singaporeans.

The association's deputy chief, Mr Michael Tay, told The Star: "We understand that the ruling is to curb smuggling of petrol from the country. But our state depends on foreigners for income and we do not want to deter them with such a ruling."

According to the Johor police, between 830,000 and 850,000 Singaporeans enter the state of Johor monthly.

When the rules were first announced, Johor domestic trade department director Che Halim Abdul Rahman had said that they did not apply to Singapore cars.

But in an abrupt turnaround the next day, Mr Che Halim said he had been told by the government that Singapore-registered cars do fall under the new rules.

"The government decided that the ruling is to be applied to all foreign vehicles, and all petrol stations are to abide by the rules," he said.

According to Mr Che Halim, all petrol stations within 50km of the Johor-Singapore border have been informed of the new rules and notices have been distributed to the petrol stations' owners.

Revoke licences

Those who do not abide by the rules may have their licences to operate petrol stations revoked.

"We feel that 20 litres of petrol is enough for drivers to return to Singapore or to shop around Johor Baru.

"If they wish to travel further, they can fill up their cars, as long as they do it at a petrol station outside of the 50km radius," Mr Che Halim told Berita Harian.

However, he said Singapore-registered cars would not undergo checks when returning to Singapore, either at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine complex in Johor Baru or at the Second Link.

The rules are intended to curb smuggling and hoarding of subsidised Malaysian petrol which can be priced as low as half of what similar fuel costs in Singapore.

Malaysia has long been concerned that foreigners are taking advantage of its RM40 billion ($16.3b) annual fuel subsidy.

In June 2008, the government imposed a ban in northern Malaysia to stop Thais from filling up at border petrol stations.

The ban was due to take effect in Johor as well, but it was abandoned after the government raised fuel prices by up to 63 per cent.

Later that month, the government decided to implement a dual-pump solution - with petrol stations selling petrol at market prices to foreign-registered vehicles, while keeping subsidised prices for Malaysian-registered cars.

This article was first published in The New Paper.