Empty streets in Kuala Lumpur & Petaling Jaya
Image adapted from: Raihan Talib
Anyone familiar with Kuala Lumpur will know about the traffic jams and crowds that flood popular spots in the city. But with Malaysians cooped up indoors during the Movement Control Order (MCO) to help keep COVID-19 off our streets, the roads have been devoid of its usual hustle and bustle.
Earlier during the MCO, we were treated to cool night views of empty streets in KL thanks to the PDRM. Now, a Malaysian delivery rider is sharing with us stunning shots of empty streets and landmarks in KL that he took during the MCO. And his skills – and more surprisingly, his phone – are wowing netizens all over social media.
Sites in KL and PJ left deserted during MCO
Landmarks in KL, such as Dataran Merdeka, seen without any cars or crowds.
Image credit: Raihan Talib
The photos posted on Facebook by Raihan Talib have now been shared over 2,000 times at the time of writing. According to the post, he was out on a delivery run in Klang Valley when he stopped to take these photos.
What then resulted from an ordinary errand are epic shots of landmarks in KL such as Dataran Merdeka and Petaling Street – usually flooded with cars and crowds respectively – now completely devoid of human activity.
A once bustling Petaling Street, as seen on the left, is now empty during the MCO.
Image adapted from: @_bitten_by_the_travel_bug_ & Raihan Talib
Several usually busy roads, such as Jalan Tun H.S. Lee and Jalan Tun Perak, are also caught on camera without any motor vehicles moving around or being caught at traffic lights.
Jalan Tun H.S. Lee and Jalan Tun Perak
Image adapted from: Raihan Talib
Not leaving out popular food haunts and shopping hubs on his list of now-empty spots in Klang Valley during the MCO, Talib captured Brickfields in Little India, KL and an IKEA outlet in Petaling Jaya without the usual stream of crowds and cars too.
Brickfields in KL and IKEA in PJ
Image adapted from: Raihan Talib
Netizens wowed by the stunning photos and photographer’s phone
While many netizens were left in awe at the barren but beautiful landmarks that have been brought to a standstill during the MCO, many more, such as Facebook users Roma Fernandez and Pong Loong Yeat, came out to applaud Talib’s photography skills in the comments section of the album.
Netizens applaud Talib’s photography skills
Image adapted from: Raihan Talib
Netizen Tung Kok Hoin also made sure to commend Talib’s photo-taking skills, saying that this series is “well framed, [with] perfect lighting and sharply focused”.
This comes as no surprise, as a quick search on the website watermark left on Talib’s photos shows that he is actually a professional wedding photographer based in KL.
Image adapted from: Raihan Talib
As Talib also shared in the Facebook caption that he took the stunning photos on his “Samsung Smartphone camera”, many netizens wasted no time to ask him what the exact model of his phone was, with Zahryl Zamri also asking what software he used to process his photos.
One netizen, Siaowei Shirley, even urged one of her friends to “Buy Samsung”, presumably because of how good the photos turned out.
Image adapted from: Raihan Talib
KL and PJ’s empty streets caught on camera during the MCO
These shots of empty streets and landmarks in KL and PJ are a rare sight, and it just goes to show how well Malaysians have been adhering to the MCO guidelines.
As rules are now being relaxed under the Conditional MCO, it’s more important now than ever to keep up with SOPs and personal safety measures, such as social distancing and practicing good hygiene, so we’ll be able to revisit these familiar spots again in the near future.
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