Many had lined up at the border since late
Thursday and crossed over at midnight on foot or by car and motorcycles.
National news agency Bernama said fireworks can be heard in the background
along with shouts of “welcome back” as families waited for their loved ones at
the Johor Causeway linking the countries.
The Malaysia-Singapore land border, one of
the busiest in the world, was partially reopened Nov. 29 but it was limited to
only about 1,500 people one-way daily with strict rules. More than 350,000
people crossed the causeway daily before it was shut, mostly Malaysians working
in Singapore.
Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints
Authority said in a statement that more than 11,000 travelers passed through
the checkpoints early Friday. Malaysian officials estimate some 400,000 people
are expected to cross the border within the first week.
With most of its population vaccinated,
Malaysia has lifted remaining coronavirus restrictions on businesses as it
moves to restore pre-pandemic life and revive its economy.
New daily cases have hovered around 20,000,
driven by the highly contagious omicron strain but less than 1% have been
categorized as serious.
There will be no quarantine for fully
vaccinated tourists but they need to take a PCR test two days before arrival.
At Kuala Lumpur International Airport, staff wearing traditional costumes
welcomed visitors. The first regular AirAsia flight from Jakarta in two years
was given a water cannon salute upon landing.
The Malaysia-based low-cost carrier, the
largest on the continent, said that 12 flights from within Asia arrived at
Kuala Lumpur on Friday, marking the revival of its international operations
since March 2020.
“Definitely it’s starting to feel a little normal again,” said Peter Miller, an American expatriate who arrived with his family for work. “Still have to do some testing here and there but ... everyone’s learning how to deal with the new phase of the virus.”
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