At the stroke of midnight on 18 Mar 2020, the Johor-Singapore border sealed shut following the enforcement of the two-week Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia. The MCO left one of the busiest land crossing in the world strangely empty the following morning, a stark contrast from the night before when Malaysians workers scrambled to cross into the city-state before the borders were closed.

Data from the Beat the Jam! app shows a comparison between the time typically taken to clear the immigration checkpoints and the time taken on 17-18 Mar 2020. Also see photos showing the difference in traffic congestion on the Causeway at midnight and the morning of 18 Mar 2020.

On the next post about the Johor-Singapore crossing, see Part #2.