Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - Although Indonesia-Malaysia relations are currently strained, Riau people`s interest in going to Malaysia for medical checkups or recreation remains high.

Rahmat Syafii, a Riau resident about to take a flight to Malaysia at Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport on Monday, said he was going to Malaysia for medical treatment at a private hospital in the neighboring country.

"I have no worries about Malaysia because the situation in Riau is different from that in Jakarta," he said.

Rahmat said he preferred to have medical treatment in Malaysia since he trusted the hospital there and also its facilities and services which were fairly priced at that.

A duty officer at Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport, Amintas Sinaga, meanwhile, said the tension in diplomatic relations between the two countries had not affected the flight frequency between them. In fact, some airlines had even increased the number of flights between Pekanbaru and Malaysia.

"For example Air Asia usually flies four times a week, but especially this month, Air Asia has increased the frequency to daily," he said.

When holidaying , Riau people were more inclined to go Malaysia than to other parts of Indonesia, he said.

"The distance between Riau and Malaysia is relatively short, it is only 40 minutes by plane while a plane trip to Jakarta takes 90 minutes," he said.

Zamami Ismail of the Malaysian consulate in Pekanbaru said so far, the tension in Indonesia-Malaysia ties had not affected the flow of Riau visitors to Malaysia.

"We just hope the best solution can be found by the foreign ministers` meeting in Kinibalu city," he said.(*)

Editor: Ruslan Burhani
COPYRIGHT © 2012

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