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Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong welcomed Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri on Nov. 29 at around 10:45am at Woodlands Checkpoint as the land border crossing between the two countries restarts under the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) arrangement.

The event was streamed live on PM Lee's Facebook page.

This is the first time in about three years that the prime ministers from both countries have met in person ever since Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamed visited Singapore in November 2018.

Witness launch of VTL

Both prime ministers took the opportunity to see the VTL bus from Transtar Travel Pte Ltd, one of the two bus operators for the land VTL -- the other one being Malaysian bus company Causeway Link.

Interestingly, the bus plate number was PC888A, which PM Lee noticed and joked that it was a good number.

Ismail Sabri and him took the opportunity to bump fists in front of the bus.

During the welcome ceremony, PM Lee was accompanied by Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, and Minister for Transport S. Iswaran, and Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan.

The Malaysian prime minister was accompanied by Senior Minister of International Trade and Industry Mohamed Azmin Ali, Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs Saifuddin Abdullah, Malaysian Minister of Transport Wee Ka Siong, Menteri Besar of Johor Hasni Mohammad, and other senior officials.

Welcome ceremony at Istana

Following the VTL launch, Ismail Sabri will attend a welcome ceremony at the Istana, call on President Halimah Yacob, and meet PM Lee.

PM Lee will host an official lunch in honour of Ismail.

Ismail Sabri will have a new orchid hybrid named in his honour during a ceremony at the Istana.

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Top image via Ministry of Communications and Information