A journey through a tangled web of highways and byways

I drove to Seremban from my humble abode recently and covered 106km, if one rather disreputable GPS app is to be believed. My journey began on the northern route of the North-South Expressway which is numbered E1 as well as AH2 (for Asian Highway 2). If you’ve ever wondered what those small signs meant, you’re welcome!

At Sungai Buloh, the E1 morphed into the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) and a new Asian Highway designation, the AH141. Later, I was back on some federal and city roads for a while before I rejoined the NSE at Sungai Besi on its southern route, numbered E2. Later at Bangi the E2 became the AH2 again.

On my return journey, the said disreputable GPS app took me through some quaint Seremban back roads where life appeared slower and I was reminded of the Penang I knew from many decades ago. I was then guided out of town and on to another expressway, the E21 or Lekas, yet another fancy acronym in this never-ending battle amongst toll highway concessionaires to pick the coolest name possible for their particular concession.

Lekas – fast in Malay – quickly took me away from Seremban’s charming old town and countryside and handed me over to the E18, the Kajang Dispersal Link Expressway or SILK, which is somehow a Malay acronym because apparently KDLE doesn’t sound very exciting. SILK smoothly took me onto the E27, the East Klang Valley Expressway, or EKVE, which probably means something cool in some language I’m not au fait with, perhaps French.

The E27 took me to the E19, the Sungai Besi Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE), which deposited me on the E33, the Duta Ulu Klang Expressway (DUKE), which also happens to be part of the AH141. I went from SUKE to DUKE, or from happiness to sadness, if your Malay is au courant.

Sad indeed, as there I was in a small sedan and not my usual thirsty but spacious old 4×4, which consumes a litre of petrol just coughing itself to a start. My back and knees and ego hurt while I looked up to other motorists rather than down on them – a rather unnerving and humbling experience indeed.

I duked my way out of the late afternoon traffic on the E33 back to the recently-traversed E1 incorporating the NKVE, and made my way home, which remains a humble abode regardless of how many French words I throw out to the hoi polloi in telling this story.

At this point, you’re probably close to screaming “Is there a point to all this?” Yes, there indeed are some points I’m trying to make, so hold on to your pantalons, dear readers.

I’ve driven on almost all major roads and highways and byways in Malaysia, especially on the peninsular side. But it appears Malaysia’s appetite for building toll expressways far exceeds my capacity to drive on each and every one of them.

I should have paid more attention when rich people objected to yet another expressway running through their neighbourhood and bringing down property values. Or when the conservation-minded people shouted about yet another toll highway cutting through some pristine nature preserve. All these mean yet another highway with a cute name and many toll booths is being born.

I’ve seen expressways that seem to just hang in the sky, and had I chosen the E12 Akleh elevated highway instead of the E33, or better still, taken the E12 and then still went on to the E33, my story would’ve been more fantastique and my knees more swollen.

Had fate and my GPS app taken me on slightly different routes, I could very easily have added the E6 Elite, the E20 Maju and maybe even the E38 SMART Tunnel to the list of highway concessions I helped enrich. With a few more diversions I could’ve also added the E31 DASH, the E23 SPRINT, the E6 Kesas, possibly the E11 LDP and the E13 LKSA, and closer to home, the E25 Latar and perhaps even the E35 GCE.

These are not all. Elsewhere and not quite taking me to Seremban are the E7 CKE, the E8 ECE, the E9 Besraya, the E10 NPE, the E26 SKVE, the E29 SPDH, the E30 NNKSB and the E37 LKS. These are all within the Kuala Lumpur-Seremban metropolitan area, and many of you probably drive on them regularly without realising how magnificent, intricate and widespread our toll highway network is.

But a blessing can also be a curse. More on that when the journey continues.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.

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