The art of endurance

Image from The Star online portal

Huge crowds turned up last night for the annual Novena and Feast at St Anne’s Church, now formally recognised as a Minor Basilica following its elevation some years back. I didn’t join the throng but I had gone a few days earlier when the place was less packed and one could walk around without bumping into anyone.

The celebration spans nine days, culminating on the night of the 26th of July, when thousands of Catholics—and quite possibly not a few non-Catholics too—descend on the church from all over the peninsula. We've heard of road accidents before, but thankfully, none for quite a while already. The aftermath of these few thousand people usually means that the roads, the main road especially, will be filled with garbage from the pilgrims and street vendors alike. 

The open spaces and roadsides would be chock-full of cars. Buses, especially, are a common sight, lined up neatly along the roads. Although the church is only about a kilometre from where I live, luckily my area is mostly spared the traffic jams. Still, the usual disruptions occur: the Traffic Police had cordoned off some roads around the church and rerouted vehicles into the neighbourhood, which caused some minor chaos. But we Malaysians are used to these seasonal disruptions. Every community has its festivals, and we’ve learned to live with them. Grumble a bit about the traffic maybe, but we endure. 

What’s harder to endure, though, is the usual display of Traffic Police incompetence. They had simply blocked off the main road at the traffic lights but didn’t bother to redirect traffic or even show up. They simply left it as is, seemingly adopting a couldn’t-care-less attitude. So for long stretches of time, cars were stopped at a completely empty junction, obeying traffic signals that no longer made sense. The least they could’ve done was to wave cars through the red lights. But no. Nothing of the sort. Just another reminder that in Malaysia, even routine traffic control can be too much to ask.