IF YOU thought that the balik kampung traffic snarls this year were bad, wait for another five years when Kongsi Raya a.k.a. double celebrations are on the cards.
Former New Straits Times (NST) motoring journo Hezeri Samsuri had this ominous warning when he recently highlighted on his X (formerly Twitter) page upcoming Kongsi Raya dates.
His post highlighted that for the years 2029, 2030 and 2031, the Lunar New Year and Eid celebrations will fall on consecutive dates.
Ni bakal jem teruk. Mau tidur tepi jalan bukak khemah karang.
Tapi lama lagi ni…. Chill chill dulu. Kita kan Malaysia. Dah kena baru teriak. pic.twitter.com/MfEpYKSwNa
— Hezeri Samsuri (@HezeriSamsuri) April 18, 2024
Given the expected mass exodus, he suggested that travellers best be prepared to camp roadside for their journeys to their respective hometowns.
Hazeri’s post which has been viewed 615,900 times at the time of writing has generated plenty of comments. Here is a sample.
One netizen predicted a “friendly fireworks war” will break out during this time.
Some cheekily remarked that the national flying car project will have taken off by then.
While others had more realistic hopes that the much-touted rail systems would be up and running by then.
With many netizens lamenting that the recent Hari Raya decorations at many malls were not up to scratch, one wondered how these shopping hot spots would cope with the double celebrations.
Another comment brought up many Malaysians’ worst nightmare.
One made the pertinent observation that the roads were gridlocked no matter the festival, citizens were going to balik kampung whenever there was a prolonged break.
One proposed a novel solution which would probably have many Malaysians cheering if it were to become a reality!
But another netizen chimed in with a more sobering thought and the economic impact of such double celebrations.
One netizen’s comment quite possibly summed up what many were feeling by raising the white flag.
All said and done, the post highlights the colourful backdrop of living in multi-racial Malaysia even if it means traffic jams of apocalyptic proportions are on the horizon. – April 25, 2024
Main image credit: PanduLaju
