There is a magic in that little world, home; it is a mystic circle that surrounds comforts and virtues never known beyond its hallowed limits.
— Robert Southey, English poet
All the papers in Malaysia and Singapore yesterday highlighted the happy news of the reopening of the Johor Causeway on April 1. Accompanying the news were equally happy and touching pictures of reunion of families.
Social media like YouTube carried the news and pictures on the same day of the reopening.
The Causeway, a road and rail link between Singapore and Johor Bahru in Malaysia, was completed in 1923.
The 1.05-km causeway, which cost an estimated 17 million Straits dollars, spans the Johor Straits (also known as the Tebrau Straits).
The Woodlands customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) checkpoint is at the Singapore end while the Sultan Iskandar CIQ at Bukit Chagar is at the Malaysian side.
In 2014, it was estimated that more than 130,000 vehicles cross the Woodlands checkpoint each day. The Causeway and Linkedua Highway, which had been so empty throughout the implementation of the movement control order, suddenly sprang to life again on April 1.
Vehicles coming from the direction of Singapore sounded their horns while passengers cheered and clapped in joy. Some even cried. Fireworks were even played as part of the homecoming celebration. And why not? Many were going home to meet their families again after two long years.
Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and KLIA2 were equally busy with many flights arriving and departing.
I was touched by a Bernama photo which showed a man embracing his child and wife at KLIA.
What made the reopening meaningful this time was that Malaysians were returning home just before the start of Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month.
On March 25, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakub and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong agreed to reopen their land borders for fully vaccinated travellers beginning April 1. Both prime ministers also agreed to allow fully vaccinated travellers to cross the land borders without the need to take the COVID-19 pre-departure and arrival tests or be quarantined.
Yesterday, Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also the Sarawak Disaster chairman, was busy attending the border reopening preparation simulation at Kuching International Airport.
The simulation was to ensure a seamless entry for travellers from Singapore and other countries.
With Brunei set to open its borders on April, Uggah said the state government would continue to implement the standard operating procedures (SOPs) which it had been using.
When the borders with Indonesia and Brunei reopen, there will also be tears of joys, cheering and claps of joy to celebrate the happy occasions.
We have often heard of the saying “home, sweet home”. When a person says that, it means he or she is happy to be home after being away.
If you have never been away from home, you will not understand what it’s like to miss your home, especially your family members and your grandmother’s or mother’s or auntie’s or wife’s cooking.
I cooked chicken soup with Adabi Soup Powder and potatoes recently and shared a picture of it with my niece who was working in Singapore.
“Wah … nice. I was craving for chicken soup recently,” she confessed.
“So easy to cook if you have a rice pot,” I told her.
“Cannot cook,” she said.
With the reopening of the Johor Causeway, she told her mother, who was living in Johor Bahru, that she would be going back next weekend.
I told my youngest sister (her mother) to cook some chicken soup for my niece on her return.
Besides home cooked food, other things we often miss about our home, sweet home are our family members as well as our favourite food from the stalls or markets.
When my youngest sister was home recently after being away for two long years, she ate as much ‘laksa’ (spicy noodle dish) and ‘kolo mee’ (Malaysian dry noodles) as she could.
Similarly, whenever I return to my home town, Sibu, I also eat as much as I can of the town’s signature food like the Foochow fried mee, ‘kompiah’ (bread product) and ‘Diang Miang Hu’ (rice flour congee).
If you are one of the Malaysians who have just returned to your home, sweet home after the reopening of borders, enjoy yourself and eat as much as you can of your favourite food.
Even though we have moved into the endemic phase of COVID-19, remember to adhere to the SOPs set by the National Security Council and the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee to keep the virus at bay.
