How Malaysians Spent Their NYE According To GRAB’s Statistics

By Karissa Lund  •  08 Jan 2019 in Features

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With so many historical moments that happened in 2018, last year was one crazy ride for all Malaysian out there. It’s no wonder most of us were out and about to celebrate last New Year’s Eve. Between dressing up, watching the fireworks, celebrating with friends, toasting champagne, or just a simple mamak session (cherishing your last day of smoking at an eatery), it’s hard not to enjoy all the festivities that go along with New Year’s Eve.

As we bid farewell to 2018 and ushered in the new year, Grab decided to dig into their data to see what we did on that special day. This is what they found out:

1. Malaysians & Singaporeans partied hard..

Apparently, more than 63,000 people welcomed the New Year in a Grab ride! A popular time in Southeast Asia to head out on NYE seems to be around 10:00 – 11:00pm, which was when Grab observed the biggest jump in the number of bookings compared to a regular Monday. But most people were ready to call it a night between 01:00 – 02:00am as Grab that period saw the highest number of bookings post-midnight.

And it seems like we scored well as party-animals. According to their statistics, Singaporeans and Malaysians stayed out partying the latest! In the Klang Valley, Grab saw seven times more bookings at 02:00am on 1 Jan ’19 compared to a regular Tuesday.

2. Where did we go? You guessed it.. KLCC and Zouk/TREC

In true Malaysian spirit, Malaysians flocked to the city centre, more specifically Suria KLCC/Petronas Twin Towers, to catch a completely clear view of KL’s iconic fireworks display.

The top drop-off point before midnight was Suria KLCC/Petronas Twin Towers, Pavilion KL and at third place, Sunway Pyramid. As for the top pick-up points after midnight, they were Zouk Club/TREC,  Suria KLCC and I-City Shah Alam. Damn, we do love all the spots with grand fireworks. Maybe everyone wanted a perfect view for their new year’s kiss..

3. Out of all Southeast Asian cities, one Malaysian Grab driver had the most trips on NYE

While most of us were out celebrating New Year’s Eve, many Grab drivers across the region were hard at work. Taking advantage of higher than usual demand, one Malaysian Grab driver in particular clocked in 26 rides between 5:00pm and midnight on 31 December 2018! Now, who said Malaysians are lazy?

While this Malaysian driver led first, the second highest went to a couple of drivers in Bangkok and Singapore with a total of 24 rides that day. While the lowest number of trips by a driver was 17 in Yangon, Myanmar (which is not bad as well).

4. Pearl Milk Tea was the highest order for GrabFood in Malaysia

What’s a celebration without food, amirite? Grab took a look at the most popular food items ordered via GrabFood in Malaysia on NYE, and it looks like Pearl Milk Tea, Satay and McDonald’s Prosperity Burger (Beef) were the most popular for the New Year. We’re not quite sure what that says about our netizens, but it says something.

On top of that, the largest GrabFood order made was worth RM291 and consisted of butter prawns, sweet and sour fish, spicy clams, salted-egg cuttlefish, bean curd, marmite prawns and orange juice. Looks like someone started the new year with a full stomach!

 

That’s the round up that Grab have compiled, and it’s safe to say that now we’ve learnt something new about Malaysians’ year-end behaviours. In conclusion, our party-culture is still going strong (so maybe we should reconsider the new 1am nightspot curfew #pakatanpuhlease). And also, most of our us are likely addicted to boba-tea.

Let’s hope that 2019 will be better for all Malaysians. For now, grab all the people you love and give ’em a hug… you’ll be immediately making their year a little brighter. Peace!

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