It’s an annual occurrence each Chinese New Year when city folks leave the city en masse to spend the long break in their hometowns or at holiday resorts.
APART from places like the Puduraya bus station and shopping malls, Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya were relatively quiet on Chinese New Year.
Traffic was sparse on the usually-congested major roads in KL such as Jalan Tun Razak, Jalan Ampang, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Jalan Raja Chulan, Jalan Kuching and Lebuhraya Mahameru.
Over in Jalan Pudu, however, there was still a long line of buses waiting to enter the Puduraya bus station to fetch city folks of all races who could only return to their hometowns for the long Chinese New Year holidays at the last minute.
Although most Klang Valley residents had taken advantage of the long break by heading out of the city on Saturday, many had also remained behind.
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Not a single vehicle: A deserted road in the Pudu area. |
In Petaling Jaya, 1 Utama Shopping Centre, The Curve, Ikano Power Centre, Ikea and Sunway Pyramid were packed with people intent on enjoying the holidays with families and friends.
Jasmine Peter from Sungai Buloh had a surprise when she thought she could spend a leisurely Sunday out at a nearby mall.
“I thought most people had returned to their hometowns for the holidays but I was wrong. The mall I went to was packed with people,” said Peter.
It was the same at shopping centres in Kuala Lumpur. Only here, there were also a lot of foreigners in the crowd.
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Holiday haunt: Malaysians and foreigners who thronged the KLCC park on the first day of Chinese New Year on Sunday. |
On the minus side, some outlets raised service charges by up to 25% on account of being open on the eve of the Year of the Pig.
A centre operator said that the higher charges was to make up for the overtime pay to the remaining workers since most of their Chinese staff had taken leave for the festival.
“Prices will be back to normal after Chinese New Year eve,” he said.
KLCC was no exception as thousands of people thronged the shopping mall and the park to shop and relax.
They included many foreign workers who took advantage of their time off to meet up with fellow countrymen before work commences next week.
Some tourists interviewed said they enjoyed the Chinese New Year feel in the city.
Benedicta Carolina, 35, and Selvia Wong, 33, from Surabaya, Indonesia, decided to visit Malaysia during the season upon the invitation of a Malaysian friend.
“We took up the invitation and decided to celebrate it here.
“The New Year feel is about the same but there are more Chinese in Malaysia, and due to this we noticed that most businesses are closed at this time,” said Benedicta who is also of Chinese descent.
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