A Busy Street Scene

      In a large capital city like Kuala Lumpur, there are several busy streets, but the busiest of all is Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. From early morning, traffic starts building up.Crowds of pedestrians, shoppers and others can be seen walking along the pavements outside the shops or trying to cross the road.

      The noise of cars and taxis hooting, or of scooters, flying past is deafening. Anyone who stops by to watch the scene is amazed at the number of vehicles zooming past or crawling a long when caught at the traffic lights.

      The people, mainly lady shoppers with children, line the street as they await an opportunity to cross the road. It is a bright and gay scene.The main attraction is the variety of textile shops, departmental stores, the Selangor Emporium, carpet shops, restaurants, jewellers or electrical goods shops, pavement stalls with small items like costume jewellery, toys and aluminium cooking utensils and vendors attracting customers to buy their wares.

      In the hustle and bustle, one can savour the delicious aroma of Oriental delicacies floating in the air. It comes from 'Nasi Beriyani', 'Satay',pungent curries, fried chicken
and sweet meats, tempting passers-by to stop for some refreshment.

      In the afternoon, the crowds grow bigger as office workers join the throngs of people. Now it is also time to go home. Taxis are in great demand while shoppers queue up to get one. Most of the taxis have already been hired and so they do not stop to pick up passengers, much to the frustration of the shoppers.

      The crowds gradually disappear as evening approaches and darkness begins to creep in but they grow steadily again as the night market starts operating. Crowds swarm around for night snacks at the various food stalls and restaurants near the theatre or to pick up some good bargains. Now Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman is a sea of lights. It is indeed the liveliest street, busy all day long and into the night, in .the heart of Kuala Lumpur, the nation's capital.

Nurul Akmal