It is the same with the Hari Raya celebrations, and I think it made the occasion even more meaningful after the aviation tragedy that struck the country in March and July.
The tragedies have nudged us to cherish every moment with the people in our lives, as we will never know what tomorrow brings.
Anyway, I was happily driving around the city, enjoying the light traffic when I ended up in Century Garden where the KSL City Mall and KSL Hotel and Resort is located.
I seldom drive to this area, so I was shocked when confronted with the "noise pollution" here.
The horns were blaring, and there was a traffic congestion on the roads around the KSL building. The car park of the shopping mall was also jam-packed.
The security guards, many of them foreigners, seemed to be at a loss as to what to do.
Welcome to the city, I thought. The situation was really chaotic.
It was a harrowing experience going up the steep and narrow multi-storey car park of the shopping mall, not knowing whether to turn right or left as motorists were all over the place without any security personnel to direct the traffic.
After I managed to find a parking space, I went to talk to some residents to see if this traffic jam was because it was a public holiday, being the first day of Hari Raya, or was it a regular occurrence?
A resident, living in Jalan Seladang, told me that she could only reach home before 5pm or after 10.30pm or 11pm on Mondays because of the night market right outside her house.
"I can't bring my car into the house on Mondays now. I'm used to it and can't do much about it as the traders are also trying to make a living.
"If you don't allow people to make a living, then there will only be more snatch thefts and petty crimes, so my main complaint is not them (the traders) blocking the entrance to my house," she said.
However, the resident told me that she was irked that some traders are selling raw chicken and fish.
"The stench from the blood of the fresh meat is overpowering the next morning. I have no complaints against traders who sell clothes or pots and pans but raw poultry and fish is a strict no-no," she continued.
Besides this complaint, I heard another one about the road congestion and attitude of some road users.
This one is from a frequent shopper who applauded the shopping mall for bringing in Singaporeans by free shuttle bus to the mall.
When the shopping mall began operations, the tenants complained of slow business due to lack of promotion.
However, since the shuttle bus service was introduced, the place is now filled with shoppers from across the causeway.
However, this has aggravated the jam, not to mention the presence of the pasar malam traders hogging the road.
She was also upset that there were people who would flag the taxis down in the middle of the road and instead of just getting into the cab, they would either be bargaining or discussing the routes with the cabbie, and that, too, was another contributor to the road congestion.
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