The actor had to get swabbed before crossing the border so he took the opportunity to document the experience on Instagram and Facebook. And his genuine reactions to the nasal swab test are everything. 

“This will be my first swab test ever, so let’s hope it will be an interesting experience,” the 49-year-old said at the beginning of the short clip. 

The doctor then proceeded to insert a long cotton swab into his right nostril, and Ping Hui could be seen wincing uncomfortably. When it was time to swab the other nostril, tears started to form in his eyes.

“TBH, it’s really not that painful, more like an uncomfortable feeling as the swab goes really deep into the recesses of your nasal cavity, to a spot right between your eyes," wrote TPH. "And rest assured, your tears will flow uncontrollably. For those who fear it, don’t ‘cos it’s just another interesting experience to add to our list of “been there done that”. 

Despite getting swabbed and testing negative in Singapore, Ping Hui had to undergo another round of the same discomfort at the JB border. 

“It took about a day to get the results back in Singapore. The Malaysian customs took about 20 minutes. However, [the swab test] in Malaysia was much deeper ,” he told 8days.sg, adding that both tests were “uncomfortable but manageable”. 

When we asked how painful it was on a scale of one to 10, he replied: "Zero". Hmm, what about the tears and wincing, then? 

As Ping Hui's trip falls under the Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) scheme — a directive to facilitate short-term essential business and official travel between Singapore and Malaysia for up to 14 days — he only needs to be quarantined until a negative COVID-19 test result is obtained. Which means no quarantine is needed for TPH. 

Photos: Tay Ping Hui/Instagram

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