Singapore and Malaysia reunite, if only for cake | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
July 11, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2025
Singapore and Malaysia reunite, if only for cake

Analysis

Daniel Moss, Bloomberg
09 April, 2022, 06:45 pm
Last modified: 09 April, 2022, 07:00 pm

Related News

  • Bangladesh, Malaysia to jointly investigate militancy allegations involving Bangladeshi nationals
  • Court freezes foreign investments of S Alam Group chairman, family in Singapore
  • Suspected militancy: 4 deported from Malaysia placed on 4-day remand
  • 35 Bangladeshis face terrorism charges after deportation from Malaysia
  • Militancy allegations in Malaysia: Does it ring alarm bells for our manpower export?

Singapore and Malaysia reunite, if only for cake

After two years of tight restrictions, the border between Singapore and Malaysia, one of the world's busiest crossings, has finally reopened

Daniel Moss, Bloomberg
09 April, 2022, 06:45 pm
Last modified: 09 April, 2022, 07:00 pm
Homeward bound.Photographer: ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Bloomberg
Homeward bound.Photographer: ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Bloomberg

They came to hug parents, hold loved ones and cradle babies they made but hadn't met. They loaded up on cakes, grabbed cheap massages and pumped gas.

After two years of tight restrictions, the border between Singapore and Malaysia, one of the world's busiest crossings, has finally reopened. In the process, a key export resumed to the city-state's larger neighbor about half a mile across the water: people.

This is about more than tearful reunions, as heartening as they are. It's a big milestone in Southeast Asia's journey from trying to quash Covid-19 to living with the disease. The economic recovery in either country can't be complete without a relatively free flow of human capital alongside investment. Before Covid, more than 300,000 people crossed the boundary each day. As much as Singaporeans and Malaysians complain about each other, and for all the differences in politics and relative wealth, the resumption of cross-border travel has underscored just what's been missing during the peak of the pandemic.

In the hours after the border fully reopened after midnight on April 1, thousands of Singapore residents streamed across the bridge over the Strait of Johor. That brought valuable cash into Johor Bahru — and the promise of more money to come. That prospect is lifting confidence among consumers and business in the Malaysian city. Six decades after Singapore divorced Malaysia and became a republic, the two countries remain intimately linked. Singapore gets power, water and labor from Malaysia. High-rise apartments lining the Johor coast are occupied by people who work in Singapore, or did before Covid. Think of New York and New Jersey, just add passports. 

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The state of Johor accounts for about 10% of Malaysian gross domestic product and has been one of the hardest hit parts of the country. Singapore was Malaysia's top source of visitors in 2019 with about 10 million arrivals. Just a fraction made it the following year, and most of those were crammed into the early months before lockdowns. "Johor suffered disproportionately," Serina Rahman, visiting fellow at Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, wrote in a report last year.  

As Singapore prospered in the decades since separation, costs of manufacturing soared. Factories began to move across the water. Malaysia has land and relatively cheap labor, vital ingredients Singapore lacks, explained Teh Kee Sin, founding president of the SME Association of Johor Selatan. "The past two years have reminded us how important we are to each other," Teh said in an interview at the factory he runs that makes parts for printers, bicycles and fishing reels. "Malaysian politicians sometimes say 'Oh we don't want to be Singapore's backyard.' I say, 'What are you talking about?'" 

For all the optimism, Johor is yet to see the big bucks from across the water. Many of those who came the first week were visiting family and quickly returned after the weekend, or even before. Spending isn't their first priority, small business owners sat. Revenue is up roughly 20% since the weekend, said Lim Meng Chin, owner of Hiap Joo bakery, a haunt for devotees of banana bread, which was established in 1919. That still only takes it to around 80% of pre-Covid levels. "Before Covid, they were lined up to the end of the road," he said in an interview. "Two things Singaporeans love are banana bread and fish-head curry." In KSL mall, near the border checkpoint, Ching Ching is posting job openings at her foot reflexology business. Ching says she saw lots of traffic from Singaporeans the past weekend. Price is her advantage, with an hour-long foot treatment costing 48 ringgit ($11.40), about a third of what's charged in Singapore's suburbs. "Locals rarely come here," Ching said. 

There's also a backlash building. Malaysian newspapers carried front page stories Wednesday complaining about Singaporeans allegedly filling up on gas that the Malaysian government subsidizes. The Johor division of Malaysia's Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs said it will step up enforcement against operators caught selling the fuel to foreign-registered cars, with companies liable for fines of up to 2 million ringgit. Former Prime Minister Najib Razak, scouting for themes to advance his comeback after a corruption conviction, has highlighted the issue. A national election is due in about a year.

(Malaysia previously banned the sale of 95-RON gasoline to foreigners because that grade of petrol is subsidized for locals. Singapore sells that type at multiples of what it costs in Malaysia. Singapore wants tanks to be three-quarters full before departing the island.) 

Most shops in an arcade surrounding a bus depot across the border were shuttered on a recent afternoon. Padmini Perihsamy, however, is convinced things are looking up. Her stall selling South Asian pastries reopened last weekend and did brisk business. During the peak of the pandemic, she switched to online sales and wholesale. Perihsamy is confident those kiosks will be open soon.

Until they are, this is a recovery in waiting.

Daniel Moss is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asian economies. Previously he was executive editor of Bloomberg News for global economics, and has led teams in Asia, Europe and North America.

Disclaimer: This article first appeared on Bloomberg, and is published by special syndication arrangement.

Top News / World+Biz

Malaysia / Singapore / reunion

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Kunming rising: China's emerging healthcare hub draws Bangladeshi patients
    Kunming rising: China's emerging healthcare hub draws Bangladeshi patients
  • Representational image. Photo: Collected
    2nd round of US-Bangladesh tariff talks set to conclude today as business leaders await breakthrough
  • Photo: Courtesy
    4 arrested, 2 remanded over brutal killing of trader near Mitford Hospital

MOST VIEWED

  • Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS
    SSC, equivalent results: Pass rate drops to 68.45%, GPA-5 also declines
  • In terms of stream of education, girls maintained their excellence as well. Photo: TBS
    SSC 2025: Girls dominate boys by over 5%
  • Govt vehicle purchase, foreign trip, new building construction banned: Finance ministry
    Govt vehicle purchase, foreign trip, new building construction banned: Finance ministry
  • Students sit for SSC exam at Motijheel Girls' High School on 10 April 2025. Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS
    SSC exam results out: Here's how you can check online and via SMS
  • The overall pass rate across all boards this year, 68.45%, is significantly lower than last year's. Photo: Focus Bangla
    SSC 2025: Rajshahi board records highest pass rate, Barishal lowest
  • Representational image. Photo: Collected
    35% tariff: Bangladesh, US 'agree on most issues' as first day of talks ends

Related News

  • Bangladesh, Malaysia to jointly investigate militancy allegations involving Bangladeshi nationals
  • Court freezes foreign investments of S Alam Group chairman, family in Singapore
  • Suspected militancy: 4 deported from Malaysia placed on 4-day remand
  • 35 Bangladeshis face terrorism charges after deportation from Malaysia
  • Militancy allegations in Malaysia: Does it ring alarm bells for our manpower export?

Features

Kunming rising: China's emerging healthcare hub draws Bangladeshi patients

Kunming rising: China's emerging healthcare hub draws Bangladeshi patients

4h | Panorama
Photo: Collected/BBC

What Hitler’s tariff policy misfire can teach the modern world

1d | The Big Picture
Illustration: TBS

Behind closed doors: Why women in Bangladesh stay in abusive marriages

1d | Panorama
Purbachl’s 144-acre Sal forest is an essential part of the area’s biodiversity. Within it, 128 species of plants and 74 species of animals — many of them endangered — have been identified. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS

A forest saved: Inside the restoration of Purbachal's last Sal grove

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Renowned economist Abul Barkat imprisoned

Renowned economist Abul Barkat imprisoned

2h | TBS Today
All of Iran's uranium still intact, Israel claims

All of Iran's uranium still intact, Israel claims

2h | TBS World
Trump-Netanyahu in new strategy on Gaza issue

Trump-Netanyahu in new strategy on Gaza issue

4h | TBS World
Shocking science: why birds stay safe on electricity lines

Shocking science: why birds stay safe on electricity lines

4h | TBS Stories
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net