Malaysians working in Singapore held joyful reunions with their loved ones after returning to their homeland yesterday following the partial reopening of a land border that has been shuttered for nearly two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Buses drove fully vaccinated passengers across the Johor-Singapore Causeway that connects Singapore with the Malaysian peninsula, with strict measures in place, including COVID-19 tests before deaprture and upon arrival.
Malaysian Minister of Health Khairy Jamaluddin wrote on Twitter that a COVID-19 case was detected during the screening in southern Johor state, but did not elaborate.
Photo: AP
“As we safely reopen our borders, there will be positive cases at points of entry. Risk assessment, isolation and monitoring close contacts will become the norm,” he said.
Under the first phase, only 1,440 travelers who must be citizens, permanent residents or long-term pass holders are allowed from each side per day.
The causeway was one of the world’s busiest land borders before the pandemic struck.
Air travel also reopened with fewer restrictions, allowing anyone who is fully vaccinated to travel quarantine-free between the two countries.
“It’s already since past one year plus, I never meet her and when I see her today, I’m happy, I’m very happy,” retiree Siva Ganesan said after greeting his wife, Uma Devi Balakrishnan, at the bus terminal in Johor.
His wife works as a cleaner in Singapore and was stranded when borders were shut.
A Malaysian man kissed and hugged his baby whom he met for the first time, while another woman sank tearfully into her father’s arms. More than 100,000 Malaysians were believed stuck in the Singapore after the border closed in March last year.
“It’s surreal, doesn’t feel real at all, because it’s been a while not coming home,” Malaysian Cheong Weng-yin said. “I have been feeling very nervous until I set foot here.”
Across the border, Chua Pei-sze and her two daughters, ages 10 and seven, were first in line for the first bus heading to Malaysia.
“Finally we can get to bring my daughters to see their grandmother in person ... video calls just aren’t enough,” said the 43-year-old, who works in the shipping industry.
Kavin Raj, 24, said he was planning to surprise his family, because they were not aware that he had managed to get a ticket on the first bus.
“First thing, I would say, I will have a very good meal in Malaysia,” he said.
More than 350,000 people crossed the causeway daily before it was shut, mostly Malaysians working in Singapore due to a favorable exchange rate.
The two countries said the limits on land border crossings would be progressively relaxed to include general travelers and modes of transportation other than buses. A second land link is also expected to be restored soon.
Singapore has vaccinated 85 percent of its population, and Malaysia nearly 80 percent.
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