Permatang Pauh traffic jams and public holiday

Well, I had to go out to George Town for a meeting today. No problem with going out to the island but I took the time to breeze through Permatang Pauh and then Seberang Jaya. Easy traffic at about noon. Not too many cars on the roads. Pockets of enthusiastic supporters of Pakatan Rakyat were enjoying themselves by the roadsides and distributing leaflets to motorists who cared to wind down their windows. (I did.)

But coming back to the mainland was terrible. I had expected Jalan Baru to be jam-packed so I diverted to the Butterworth-Kulim highway. Well, traffic was heavy along Jalan Permatang Pauh and it wasn't helped by the Police who had set up a road block to check the identity cards of motor-cyclists. But at least, traffic was moving.

I diverted through Perda when it became apparent that traffic was not moving at the Bukit Tengah roundabout. But I wasn't able to turn into Jalan Padang Lalang and had to proceed straight through Jalan Muthu Palaniappan. Also jam-packed. A police car attempted the near impossible: it squeezed through the centre of the road inbetween two rows of cars. Dunno what's the rush. Impatience? Join the queue, lah....

Anyway, I arrived home to learn that Tuesday's been declared a special state public holiday by the Penang government. In case you haven't heard about it, it's been reported by thestar online, Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider. Actually, a little bird asked me yesterday whether I would prefer a half day off or a full day, and I chirped back that the government shouldn't do things by half measures. Either a full-day public holiday be declared or none at all. Anyway, while it's good news for civil servants, I doubt many businesses and companies in Penang will observe the holiday. Most probably, anyone in the private sector that will be voting in Permatang Pauh will be given time off. Me? My one-day's leave has already been approved by my bosses. If my wife has the day off, most probably we'll go climb the BM Hill in the afternoon and then wait for the results to come in later in the night.