Taking a bus trip down memory lane
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Mini buses have a major impact on commuters’ lives.
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KUALA LUMPUR: I never thought I would miss the minibuses.
Ten years ago, they were the choice mode of public transport. Yes, the drivers drove like maniacs and were rude. The buses were dirty and leaked when it rained. They also broke down with seemingly clockwork regularity. But they were at least frequent, so that if you missed one, you could easily get another within a few minutes. Thank God for school uniforms, I paid 30 sen to board a minibus and 60 sen on the Intrakota bus. I was rarely late for school as the buses were on time and it usually took a maximum of 30 minutes to travel between Cheras and Pudur aya . That was a long time ago. The minibuses are gone now as far as most of Klang Valley is concerned. Until about two years ago, I firmly believed that public transport was the only way to go. Convenient. Cheap. Fast. Then, the bus operators decided to increase the rates and change the r o u t e s. Instead of paying an adult fare of 90 sen, I pay RM2 and instead of taking one trunk bus from point A to B, I end up taking three. Instead of reaching my destination within 30 minutes, it takes me one, at times up to two hours. Yes, it was a brilliant vision to have a trunk bus servicing the city routes and local shuttles to connect residential areas with major routes. What happened afterwards? Like all great visions in the past, the authorities stopped at the envisioning stage. The execution came years later but the operations did not match that vision. Shouldn’t higher rates translate to higher levels of services? Well, not here, not now and I cannot say if they ever will. Taking a bus became a challenge. I applaud Prime Minister’s “dar ing” effort to take the Komuter train during the dreaded rush hour recently. If I had met him in person, I would have told him to wait at a dingy busstop and board three equally undermaintained buses before uttering even one word of comfort to the commuter s. I am quite sure that the one-day ride would have driven him to the nearest luxury spa to soothe and rejunenate his senses. For a mere RM2, you get to be sandwiched between sweaty odorous bodies, have your toes stepped on, your purse stolen and your butt fondled in the bus. As if these aren’t exciting enough, you end up arriving at work in pants soaking from sitting on a seat directly under a leaky air-conditioner duct. You would think the smooth-running trains are better but your chances of getting to work late are much higher than if you were to try navigating your way through the infamous Federal Highway traffic. I have queued up for almost 20 minutes just to get a ticket. The ticket vending machines are almost-always under repair and surprise, surprise, the trains are so overcrowded at times that a fly would probably suffocate. As taxi fares would exhaust my disposable income, I finally decided to drive. Of course, I am going against the trend in the wake of rising fuel prices. But then I do not have to waste 20 minutes purchasing a ticket or risk getting my pockets picked. I yearn for the day when Malaysia can boast of an efficient public transport system like Singapore. If that ever happens, I will sell my car. Some may say not to compare Malaysia and Singapore as the latter is a small country and therefore easier to plan and manage. Well then, why not compare the Klang Valley to Singapore? Besides, as we are bigger than Singapore — and with more resources — shouldn’t we be having more of and a better everything?
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