SINGAPORE: The Great Wall of China, Taj Mahal, Christ the Redeemer, Machu Picchu and the Colosseum. These are some of the “wonders of the world” Dr Chua Ee Chek has seen so far.
This year, he would have crossed another off his list with his trip to Jordan – the ancient city of Petra.
But instead, the 63-year-old ophthalmologist is spending his holiday closer to home, in Hokkaido, Japan.
Together with six friends, Dr Chua was scheduled to travel to Petra through Istanbul from Oct 22 to Nov 3.
“We decided to cancel the trip about a week after Oct 7,” Dr Chua told CNA, referring to the day when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing at least 1,400 people.
“Although the travel agents in Jordan told us it was business as usual, our main concern was the possibility of escalation to the other parts of the Middle East,” said Dr Chua. Jordan shares a border with the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Like Dr Chua, several travellers from Singapore are cancelling their plans to visit countries in the Middle East over safety concerns.
Retirees Lisa Ng and her husband had booked a tour for next month with a Christian travel agency, which would bring them to Egypt, Israel and Jordan.
After the war broke out, Mrs Ng said the agency offered two options: To continue the tour to Egypt and Jordan, skipping Israel; or postpone it to next year.
“But I thought it was not very safe to be around there. So, we decided to cancel,” said the 65-year-old.
“It’s better to stay safe, stay far away from the area for the moment.”
Mrs Ng added that she decided to cancel after Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) released an advisory that Singaporeans should avoid all travel to Gaza Strip and the West Bank as well as all non-essential travel to Israel.
Having been to Israel in 2016, missing it this time around was “not too much of a loss” for Mrs Ng. However, she had been looking forward to seeing the pyramids in Egypt as well as Petra in Jordan.
“I was a bit disappointed that I won’t be able to go.”