THE Hari Raya exodus has started. Bus terminals in Puduraya, Hentian Putra, Hentian Duta, and KL Sentral train station are teeming with people who are eager to balik kampung.
Over at Puduraya, the scene was busy, yet devoid of its usual chaos that the 30-year-old station is usually associated with.
Gone are the congestion and touts as the terminal looked brighter and orderly.
Families with young children and students were seen lugging their bags and back-packs, waiting at respective platforms for their buses to arrive.
Waiting patiently: Passengers waiting to board their buses at Puduraya. Despite the presence of the new and posh waiting area located at the mezzanine floor of the Puduraya Bus terminal, express bus passengers going home for Hari Raya are still crowding the older and more congested section of the bus terminal as many were still unaware of the new waiting area.
However, for those who discovered it, they thought that it was posh and modern and was comfortable.
Rohana Yacob, 40, and her four children aged between 13 and two, were waiting for the bus to go home to their hometown in Perak.
“I bought my tickets a week ago as I did not want to drive home,’’ she said.
Sharozi Amir, 26, and his 14-year-old sister Siti Narsifa, were heading to Alor Setar and were excited about the trip.
“We bought the tickets two weeks ago as we did not want to take any chances of being stranded in KL on Hari Raya day,’’ Sharozi said.
All smiles: Mohd Azaha did not seem detered even though he missed his bus. “Our parents are expecting us back early to help with the Hari Raya preparations,’’ he added.
Students from College Masterskill, Zatin and Sharifah Nurul, both 18, were heading to their kampung in Bota and Kuala Kangsar respectively.
“We had bought our tickets yesterday. We were surprised that there were still tickets left,’’ Zatin said.
A check at the ticket counters in Puduraya revealed that tickets were still available, where tickets for destinations like Alor Setar and Hatyai were selling like hot cakes.
“We still have tickets to the north and south, especially Perak, Ipoh, Malacca and Johor Baru,” said a clerk who was handling the Konsortium Bas Express counter.
Empty: The newly-ungraded waiting area (mezzanine floor) of Puduraya devoid of passengers as many were still unaware of its existence Meanwhile, in Hentian Putra in Jalan Putra, and Hentian Duta in Jalan Duta — these bus hubs were also busy. Passengers were seen reading books and newspapers while waiting patiently for their buses.
Although the crowd at Hentian Putra was relatively small compared with other stations, the activities were no less vigorous.
Many of the passengers arrived late thus missing their buses. However, the bus operators tried their best to accommodate them by putting them in a later ride.
One such passenger was visually- impaired Mohd Azaha Iendot, 25, who has been in Kuala Lumpur for 10 years.
Azaha, who hails from Kuala Terengganu , missed his Transnasional bus. But, sympathetic to his plight, the bus operator immediately scheduled him in the next available bus at 11am.
Despite the confusion, Azaha was all smiles when asked about his trip back home.
Careful now: Bus company staff Zainol Noordin helping visuallyimpaired Mohd Hafiz Abdul Rahman onto the bus at Hentian Duta. “This year is really special, my brother who is studying in Egypt is coming home after three years,” he said.
Azaha, the 14th child among 20 siblings recently graduated from his college in Kuala Kubu Baru.
“I am the only one here in KL. I enjoy the trip back home every year. I make sure I buy the ticket as soon as it is released so I won’t have problems,” he added with a smile.
Housewife Suriati Abdul Wahab, 42, who was travelling back to Marang. Terengganu, with her two children, said it was a breeze getting tickets this year.
“All I needed to do was check on the Internet for the information on tickets and my husband immediately bought them,” she said.
Suriati’s husband who is attached to the Department of Works could not travel back with them thus forcing the family to take the bus.
Since her children are nine and seven years old, the trip is more bearable.
“It is no longer difficult to travel home by bus. It makes it easier for us as my children are older,” she added.
A large number of passengers at Hentian Putra were students returning home for the holidays either alone or in groups.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia students, Siti Asarida Awang, 20, and Ummi Hawa Che Zamzan, 20, have been in KL for two years.
“We bought some cookies although it is not much but still we want to take it home so our families would enjoy them,” said Ummi who bought her ticket three weeks ago.
They were also glad the tout problem in Hentian Putra was not as bad as the other stations.
“The problem is not too bad. All we have to do is walk straight to the counter to buy tickets instead of being waylaid,” added Siti.
According to the head of Transnasional Express Division, Major Randhir Singh, tickets are still available at all their counters.
According to Randhir, ticket sales has been very good this year and Transnasional has added extra buses and trips to accommodate the passengers.
“Some of the routes are in high demand especially Kuala Terengganu, Kota Baru, Johor and Alor Setar, but we still have tickets,” he added.
The operators at Hentian Putra also urged passengers to come earlier than scheduled to avoid missing their buses.
It was a similar scene over at KL sentral KTM station as most of the crowd were heading to Singapore, Johor Baru and Malacca.
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