Thousands Cross Reopened Singapore-Malaysia Land Border

The land border separating Singapore from Malaysia — one of the busiest in the world — reopened to fully vaccinated travelers on Friday after a two-year-long closure due to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg reported, noting the event prompted “thousands” of people to travel between the Southeast Asian nations earlier that day.

“More than 11,000 travelers passed through the checkpoints at Woodlands and Tuas as of 7 a.m. Friday [April 1],” Bloomberg reported, citing a statement by Singapore’s Immigration & Checkpoints Authority.

“At least 400,000 people are expected to cross the border within the first week of the full reopening,” the news outlet paraphrased Onn Hafiz Ghaz, the chief minister of Malaysia’s Johor state, as saying.

The Singapore-Malaysia land border saw traffic amounting to roughly 400,000 crossers each day before closing due to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. The causeway’s reopening on April 1 came after the Singaporean government in late March announced plans to drop all pandemic-related restrictions on travel across the frontier apart from a vaccination requirement. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysia Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob issued a joint statement on March 24 confirming the border’s reopening.

The notice read, in part:

All fully vaccinated travellers, and non-fully vaccinated children aged 12 and below, are permitted to enter Singapore without the need to undergo border health measures, such as testing and quarantine.

…

Fully vaccinated travellers and non-fully vaccinated children aged 12 and below will no longer be required to take a pre-departure test (PDT) and unsupervised self-administered Antigen Rapid Test (ART) after arriving in Singapore, nor serve a Stay-Home Notice (SHN). This applies to fully vaccinated Malaysian cargo delivery personnel as well.

“It is the first time in about two years that people can travel freely between both countries by private transport without the need for testing or isolation,” Singapore’s CNA news outlet observed on April 1.

“In Malaysia, the atmosphere around Johor Bahru city was … lively, with many converging to wait for the arrival of family members,” the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) reported of the scene on Malaysia’s side of the causeway just before midnight on March 31.

“Shouts of ‘welcome back’ were heard from those gathered near the Johor Causeway as fireworks were let off in the background,” Bernama detailed.

“Besides the land crossing, Singapore also dropped most restrictions for all fully-vaccinated travelers arriving by air or sea. People can now arrive at the Changi Airport without having to quarantine or test on arrival,” Bloomberg reported on Friday.