‘Symbol of bonded kinship’: Singaporeans, Malaysians laud importance of Causeway as motorway celebrates 100 years

JOHOR BAHRU/SINGAPORE: The Johor-Singapore Causeway has been a big part of Mdm Samsiah Isnin’s life.   

The 73-year-old Singaporean lives in a Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat at Marsiling Lane and her block faces the 1.05 kilometre-long bridge which connects Singapore and Johor Bahru. 

“The Causeway is always crowded, morning or night. People going to work, or travelling for leisure … the bridge never sleeps,” said Mdm Samsiah. 

Besides the Causeway being a key physical landmark close to where she lives, it also serves as a connector for her to be close with her family on the other side of the border.  

The housewife travels across the Causeway frequently with her husband to visit her siblings who live in Batu Pahat, a town in southern Johor located about a two-hour drive away from the land checkpoint. 

“We will go and see them twice or thrice a month. We go often because my siblings are there, and when we meet them we are happy. We chat, have meals together and stay overnight at their place … Travelling across the Causeway allows us to enjoy this.

“I’ve been using the Causeway from when I was 19 years old until I’m 73 today. The Causeway (in essence) has not changed much, it is always jammed and the fact that it's crowded shows how important it is to all of us — Singaporeans and Malaysians,” said Mdm Samsiah.

She will be moving soon to Choa Chu Kang after the Singapore authorities acquired blocks in her neighbourhood as part of plans to redevelop and extend the existing Woodlands Checkpoint.  

On Friday (Jun 28), the Causeway celebrates its centennial anniversary, having served as a connector across the Johor Straits for 100 years.

Today it has become one of busiest land crossings in the world, with an