During the Lunar New Year, Malaysia's capital is deserted as its residents enjoy one of the many public holidays observed by a nation with an array of races and religions.
But the nonstop stream of festivals, which began last October when Muslims celebrated the end of the fasting month, is being met with grumbles from business and industry figures, who say the nation cannot afford all the merry-making.
After Malaysia's majority Malays celebrated Id al-Fitr, it was the Hindus' turn with the Diwali festival of lights, then Christmas, followed by traditional New Year and now Lunar New Year.
"I can't get anything done!" laments lawyer Karen Lynn Johnson, who is frantically preparing for her upcoming nuptials. "Every supplier I call comes back to me with the same reply: wait until after Lunar New Year."
Malaysia's ethnic Chinese community dominates business and the long holiday weekend saw a lull at construction sites, shopping malls and restaurants as city-dwellers flooded the highways to return to their home villages.
"For business people it is never in their interests as it affects sales and trading," said M. Vivekananda from the Malaysian Employers' Federation. "Our stand has always been that public holidays should not inhibit business activities. The markets should be kept open."
Business people complain that sales figures drop, trading on the bourse is halted and manufacturers who need to keep their factories open have to pay hefty overtime and triple holiday rates.
"Not only is it expensive, it disrupts the production of goods and sometimes deadlines cannot be met because there is not enough manpower," Vivekananda said.
Malaysia, Southeast Asia's third-largest economy, has 16 national holidays when the stock market, banks, schools and businesses are closed.
In addition, each state has its own set of holidays, so residents of central Selangor state, which governs much of the capital Kuala Lumpur, are generally entitled to four or five additional holidays.
In addition, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi last month declared the colorful Hindu festival of Thaipusam a public holiday just a few days beforehand, sending people scrambling to shift functions and events.
There are no figures on the costs involved, but in February last year exports shrank 14.41 percent to 41.1 billion ringgit (US$4.24 billion) compared with the previous month because of "shorter working days and festivities," the government said.
"On the stock market, millions of ringgit in business transactions are lost and we miss the opportunity to make money. This could affect our market's performance," businessman Michael Chiam said.
However, Malaysian political economist Charles Santiago argues that holidays are an important stress buster for the overworked.
"Private businesses feel there are too many holidays and therefore not helpful but rested workers can also provide better productivity and benefit the economy in the long term," he said.
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