SINGAPORE - As the buzz returns to Singaporeans' popular haunts in Johor Baru after two years, some hawkers and retailers in Woodlands have suffered a drop of up to 30 per cent in earnings.

This is largely caused by Malaysian residents in the area leaving Singapore to visit their homes in Johor after land borders fully reopened on Friday (April 1) for travellers fully vaccinated against Covid-19, they said.

But several owners of the 18 Woodlands businesses The Straits Times spoke to are positive that sales will pick up significantly once the expected influx of Malaysian workers commuting daily to Singapore kicks in in the coming months.

Since Friday, fully vaccinated travellers going between Singapore and Malaysia via the two land checkpoints no longer need to serve any quarantine periods, regardless of their mode of travel.

They also no longer need to undergo any Covid-19 tests in order to travel.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) had said in an earlier update that as at 5pm on Friday, about 33,700 people had travelled between Singapore and Malaysia since land borders were fully reopened that day.

More than 80 per cent of them - about 27,600 people - comprise those departing Singapore for Johor. ST has observed that most of those heading to Johor are returning Malaysians.

The number of travellers who have crossed the Second Link and the Causeway is expected to have significantly risen since Friday evening.

Several businesses at Marsiling Mall, Marsiling Lane Food Centre and Woodlands MRT station said the absence of Malaysian workers who have lived in Singapore since the Covid-19 pandemic has been stark.

Ms Wei Xia, 46, who works at a beef noodles stall in Marsiling Mall's hawker centre, said there were fewer Malaysian customers on Friday night and Saturday morning.

Speaking to ST on Saturday at about 9.30am, she said: "Our sales have dropped by about 30 per cent... I usually won't be so free at this time."

Some retailers expect the impact on their business to be lasting.

An accessories shop worker in Marsiling Mall who declined to be named said sales will likely drop by about 30 to 40 per cent.

"Both Malaysian and Singapore customers will prefer shopping in Malaysia because of the cheaper prices and the favourable exchange rate," he said.

Mr Dennis Yip, 60, the owner of a cellphone shop in Marsiling Mall, also expects a 30 per cent drop in business in the near future.

"The Malaysian workers who have moved here because of the pandemic had been buying mobile accessories and repairing their phones here," he said.

"But they will do these in Johor instead when they switch back to commuting into Singapore daily."

Mr Gary Ye, 25, who works at a mobile phone shop next to Marsiling Lane Food Centre, said the growing number of Malaysian workers returning to Singapore in the coming months will boost the shop's sales in terms of topping up pre-paid SIM cards.

This growth, however, will be cancelled out by a drop in phone sales as Malaysians would instead buy their phones back home, he added.

But some shops and hawkers are readying for a boost in the coming months.

Ms Elly Khalid, 30, who works at the Rotikek bakery at Woodlands MRT station, said business should improve significantly when Malaysian workers resume daily cross-border trips and buy bread as they pass by the station on their way to work.

Mr Mohamed Jamil, 44, who operates Indian food stall Shaj Food Centre at Marsiling Lane Food Centre, said he will bring forward operating time by two hours to start at 3.30am once more Malaysian workers return.

A hawker at a Marsiling Mall coffee stall who wanted to be known only as Mrs Koh, 60, is sanguine about her prospects despite a 30 per cent fall in business since Friday.

"The Malaysian workers will return to work in Singapore anyway; it is a temporary issue," she said.

"They are finally able to return home freely. I am happy for them."