St Anne's feast

Uh oh ... it's the start of the annual St Anne's Feast in my neighbourhood and traffic's going to be horrendous going in and out of my housing area. Luckily, there are alternatives to bypass the anticipated jam.

I took some time off this morning to visit the St Anne's Church in Bukit Mertajam well before the build-up of visitors and worshipers tonight and was mildly surprised to see this sign outside the church grounds:


And to think that the highlight of this year's festival will only be this Saturday. Crowds are already coming in steady droves early.

This is the original church. Building it on a small hillock makes it look grand but when you go inside, you'll find it rather small. Cosy but small.


That's why a few years ago, a new church was built on an adjacent piece of land to accommodate the worshippers that comes from as far away as Johor and southern Thailand. The new building is magnificent but it's way too modern for my liking.


The land behind the old church is perhaps the nicest bit. It's still the hillock but it's clean and well maintained. During the festival itself, there are people climbing a flight of steps to leave lit candles before the images of St Anne. In the daytime, you are able to appreciate the hillock better.


Last year, a group of worshippers travelling in a bus from Ipoh was involved in a nasty accident that left several of them dead or seriously injured. Hopefully, nothing of this sort will happen on the roads this year.