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.