PUBLISHED ONApril 03, 2026 8:32 AMBYSean LerLong queues were reported at Woodlands Checkpoint on Good Friday (April 3) morning as thousands of Malaysians who work here made their way home ahead of the long weekend, which coincides with Qing Ming Festival.
The traditional Chinese festival, also known as tomb sweeping day, falls on Sunday (April 5) this year, and is dedicated to honouring and remembering ancestors and loved ones who have died.
From around midnight, social media was abuzz with commuters sharing scenes of huge crowds waiting for buses to cross the Causeway after they have cleared Singapore's immigration.
Some Malaysians reported taking four hours to complete their journeys from Queen Street bus terminal to across the Causeway. Others showed screenshots of their WhatsApp chats with family members spanning more than an hour as they waited in the bus queues.
@asiaone Crowds rush into Malaysia at midnight on Good Friday, ahead of Qing Ming Festival on Sunday. #sgnews #Singapore #Customs #Checkpoint #goodfriday ♬ original sound - AsiaOne
Several posts also show hundreds of people standing nearly shoulder-to-shoulder as they wait for buses.
Tee Han Long, who shared a short video of the situation at the bus waiting area wrote: "This too shall pass."
In an earlier photo post on Threads, he captioned a picture showing crowds making their way down steps to the bus bays with: "Endless night."
However, checks by AsiaOne indicate that traffic along the Causeway during the said period was actually smooth.
There were also no advisories on heavy traffic issued by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on its social media platforms.
This means that the crowding situation was likely due to bus scheduling issues.
Digital creator Boeyt Carreon posted a video showing travellers walking across the Causeway instead of waiting for buses.
He wrote: "The lines were long, the pace was slow, and every step felt heavier past midnight - but this is also of those moments that reminds you how real travel can be. Not every journey starts with comfort.
"Sometimes it starts with standing in a queue, walking shoulder to shoulder with strangers, and pushing through exhaustion just to reach the other side. But maybe this is what makes the trip more meaningful - because when you go through the hard part first, you learn to appreciate the simple joy of finally arriving."
The situation did not appear to have eased even after sunrise, with ICA informing travellers of "very heavy departure traffic" at both Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints due to tailback from Malaysia.
According to ICA, waiting times were up to three hours.
ICA eventually lifted its heavy traffic advisory at about 9.38am.
Meanwhile, there was still crowding at the bus waiting area with pictures posted on social media showing queue lines extending past the staircase leading to the departure hall.
In an advisory dated March 30, ICA informed motorists who planned to travel to Malaysia that they can expect heavy traffic at both checkpoints.
As of 2022, there were reportedly about 1.13 million Malaysians living or working in Singapore. Of these, over 38 per cent were from Johor, the closest state geographically to Singapore.
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