In Kuala Lumpur

BRITAIN'S decision to extend its visa-free status to Malaysia was greeted with both joy and relief here on Tuesday.

The announcement ended a nervous six-month wait, during which Britain mulled over imposing visa requirements on a country that had always enjoyed visa-free visits for up to six months.

A retraction of the status could have strained relations between  two countries which had traditionally enjoyed close ties, and affected Malaysia's international standing.

Last July, Malaysia was named among 11 countries whose citizens posed a risk regarding illegal immigration, crime and security in the UK. These countries were given a six-month period to reduce these risks.

If Malaysia did not pass muster, other European Union nations might have followed suit and imposed visa requirements as well.

Currently, Malaysians enjoy travel without restriction to some 22 countries in Europe.

Last September, Malaysian High Commissioner to Britain, Abdul Aziz Mohamad, revealed a list of misdeeds that got the country into Britain's bad books.

It turns out that Malaysians were among the top 10 nationalities who overstayed in the UK and the top 20 for overall immigration abuses.

Malaysian passports were also frequently sold to nationals from China, Sri Lanka and India, who use them to gain illegal entry into Britain because passports from their home countries are subject to more stringent checks.

Furthermore, Malaysians were selling forged documents to nationals from these countries.

Authorities learnt that many Malaysians who overstayedn their visas worked in Chinese restaurants as cooks or waiters, hoping to save enough money to start their own business in Malaysia.

To combat this problem, the Malaysian High Commission stopped renewing the passports of Malaysians who have previously overstayed in the UK.

These individuals were instead issued with an Emergency Certificate (EC) that allows them to make a one-way trip back to Malaysia.

As the government scrambled to rectify the situation, the announcement was met with unhappiness by Malaysians, who felt that the majority were being punished for the misdeeds of a few black sheep.

Britain is a popular tourist destination and sees about 100,000 visitors from Malaysia each year.

Many also go there for their studies. There are an estimated 12,000 Malaysian students in Britain now and more than 400,000 Malaysians have passed through its universities, including top politicians like deputy prime minister Najib Razak.

The implementation of a visa regime could have meant the end of the love affair, not to mention the impact it could have had on business travellers, noted industry observers.

There was even talk of a tit-for-tat retaliation: If the British revoked Malaysia's visa-free status, Malaysia would do the same.

Fortunately, it has not come to that. Malaysia was one of six countries that passed the test and continues to enjoy the visa-free status.

Prominent blogger and opposition politician Jeff Ooi cheered the decision, saying that it would save "bona fide travellers all the agony of being lumped together unfairly with the pariahs".

But the hard work is not over - and it cannot stop.

Although Britain's High Commissioner to Malaysia Boyd McCleary praised the effort that the Malaysian government had put into the issue in the last few months, he said "not everything is perfect".

Calling this incident a "stern rebuke" by the British, a New Straits Times editorial also pointed out that "Malaysians must be made aware, and reminded constantly, that the decision to continue to allow visa-free travel will not be for an indefinite period, but kept under continuing review".