Friends Of STAR

This Hari Raya I didn't drive back to Kelantan. It made me one of the few Kelantanese living in Kuala Lumpur, with parents still alive in Kelantan, who did not drive or fly home. Not that I did not miss my parents. I did. After all Hari Raya ought to be the best day of all days to say thank you to them.

The first time I drove back to Kelantan was almost thirty years ago. There was no Karak Highway, no toll and not many cars either. But you had to plan your trip well in advance. The Gua Musang Highway had just opened but you had to reach it before dusk. To be exact, you had to be there before or earlier than 6:00 PM or you would not be allowed in. And believe it or not there was a gate manned by police personnel who would shut it closed at exactly 6:00 PM. And you needed a police permit too although applying it was no big hassle since everyone with a car would be given one. Unfortunately you could only apply at the Kuala Lipis police station and sometimes the crowd a few days before Hari Raya was too big even for the police to handle.

Back then a good trip would take 10 to 12 hours and you had to fill your tank full at Kuala Lipis since there was no petrol station up to Kuala Krai, almost 200 kilometers away. There was actually a gas station at Gua Musang, albeit a small one mainly catering to timber trucks. But normally you did not have to worry much even if your car stalled along the highway. The highway was infested with police personnel of every kind who would ago all the way to help you should your car break down. Once I had a flat tyre and within a few minutes three police land rovers came to the rescue and they even radioed in for a police tow truck in case they could not get my car running on time. They did not wish anyone to be stranded on the highway at night for the simple reason communist insurgency was then a real threat. I was told, some people - I mean real people with flesh and blood, were ambushed and killed by the communists around the area.

By the standard then the Gua Musang Highway was quite good except for a stretch after Kampung Tunku. It had a very steep elevation followed by a sharp turn. Many were unnecessarily killed there and after few years it was redesigned. The elevation is still steep but the stretch has been widened and the sudden sharp turn eliminated.

A few years later I got married and the Hari Raya trip now involved two hometowns; one in Perak and one in Kelantan. The first few years we would go back to both Kelantan and Perak and I had to drive through the East-West Highway that connects Kelantan to Perak. The East-West Highway is practically a mountain highway and in some parts very close to Thai border. At that time the highway was classified as a "security highway" and every few kilometers there was a military check point. The Gua Musang Highway was a police-controlled highway while the East-West Highway was a military one. The highway was a nice place to see elephants and I had seen many when it was first opened but rarely these few years. Though the highway was good, the stretch from Grik to Kuala Kangsar was horibble until it was rebuilt a few years ago.

Mahathir's era changed a lot of things. The number of Malay middle class increased considerably but his biggest contribution was the nation's infrastructure. New highways mushroomed overnight including a new Karak Highway which cuts the journey to Kelantan by almost two hours. Instead of only three routes to Kelantan; via Kuala Trengganu, East-West and Gua Musang two more were added, the Simpang Pulai-Gua Musang (which I have not tried) and a new road via Jabur. Of course, the new Malay middle class means a big increase in the number of cars. Thankfully, the improved infrastructure mean a journey that used to take 10 to 12 hours could now be made between 6 to 7 hours on a good day.

But nature sometimes rains havoc on traffic even if you have a good infrastructure. In late 90s I was caught in a huge traffic jam before Kuala Krai that took 18 hours to clear. The cause - a flooded road. We were driving home in two cars, I was driving a continental car while my wife drove a Japanese car. The jam took a toll on the Japanese car and the engine overheated.

Driving home for Hari Raya is not as enjoyable as before. In the 80s up to mid 90s I used to go shopping to Sungai Golok in Thailand with the whole family before Hari Raya. No insurance, Thai license plate or international documents required though you needed a good contact at the border. You can't do it now. The last time I wanted to drive to Sungai Golok I was stopped at the Malaysian side by a Senoi Praq policeman. Further, driving home for Hari Raya simply means going home and nowhere else. Kota Bharu would be so congested that whenever I go home for Hari Raya I would have to forego visiting relatives there. Even driving around my hometown is a hassle because of a sudden increase in traffic.

On the third day of this Hari Raya I drove to Tronoh in Perak on a day journey. It was a breezy journey to Tronoh but on the way way back I was caught in a massive traffic jam from Ipoh all the way to Slim River. I wonder what it would look like on Saturday and Sunday. It was between 40 to 60 mph all the way to Slim River. It could have been worse if the police had not opened the road shoulder to traffic. But the worse part I could not even get into the R & R area, the road leading to it was packed with cars. And when I managed to stop at one near Rawang, the toilet was full and I had to wait for 30 minutes.

Many things have changed from the first time I started driving home for Hari Raya. Whatever complaint we might have about traffic congestion, road accidents we are far better off than those living in other countries. Just take a peek at the videos below.

Going home for Hari Raya in Bangla Desh

The Railway Station of Senen In Indonesia