OUR R & R BACK IN 1964

The cool ambience of Templer's Park close to Kuala Lumpur along the old north-south trunk road with its cascading waterfall. Cannot imagine how it looks like now.

Those days a journey to Kuala Lumpur from any town in the north especially from Perlis, Kedah and Penang would not be a leisure trip at all. Not surprisingly it would take the whole of the daylight hours and even more. Morris Minor, Mini Clubman and the popular Beatles cars plus of course Austin or Morris taxis would be on the roads, taking corners and straights at speeds normally no more than 80 mph. The narrow, single lane roads naturally were a far cry from modern highways. Overtaking had to be attempted with great nerves less you may see a timber lorry suddenly looming round the corner or a herd of cows lazily crossing the road ahead.

If you happened to take a bus ride, then it is more exciting and the hours would surely extend. There are no direct trip as we have now. Moving from Kangar Perlis for example meant you would hopped on several buses, each restricted to the states and never crossing the border. It meant also calling at many of the larger towns including Butterworth, Taiping, Ipoh, Tg Malim and then arriving Kuala Lumpur almost ten hours later.You would be lucky to arrive early if the buses were filled up with the right number of passengers. Timetable schedules if any would not be executed. Similarly if you were a passenger on a taxi, likelihood your taxi from Butterworth would stop at Kuala Kangsar and then Ipoh where you would be transferred to another vehicle and it would proceed only if four passengers were available. Otherwise it meant waiting. Not surprising if it was late in the evening you would have to find a hotel room and continue only the next day.

Perhaps those of us who were at the wheels during the 1960's and naturally before the highway saw its existence, would recognize the above picture. After a tiring journey though coming close to the city but feeling hot and humid we would not resist to stop and take a breather. This would be our R & R if any along the whole distance. The cool, flowing waterfall bouncing off the rocks at the famous Templer's Park was a blessing to tired bodies and minds. Our vehicles too needed that cooling break less the heat would exert pressure on the radiator systems. Not surprisingly like the man in the picture, the stop over would lulled him to sleep before he took the next zig-zagging road into Kuala Lumpur and entering the city via Ipoh Road.

I have not had the opportunity to travel on the old road again since the NS highway has forced us to travel up and down the long stretch from the capital city to the north to either Kangar, Alor Star or Penang in a matter of five odd hours or so only. If you dare exceed the speed limit you can even reach your destination e.g Penang in less than three hours. Maybe it is about time that my next trip down to Kuala Lumpur should take me along the magical route again.

Besides stopping at the R&R of the olden times, I could take a short stop over in Ipoh seeing the stretch of old shop houses where the taxis used to drop or sell their passengers to another taxi company and visit the pamelo stalls, drive into Tanjung Malim and and have a taste of the famous 'kuih pau' and see the facade of one of the earliest teacher training college i.e Maktab Sultan Idris (now a university)besides being lured by such names as 'Cheruk Tok Kun', 'Slim River', 'Batang Berjuntai' and 'Kerling' amongst others all along the route.

Our journey on the popular 'Volkswagen' the people's car of the time, mind you with no air-conditioning but with the soft breeze beating on our faces, blowing in through the side windows were memorable for exposing us to the current development of the rubber, tin and approaching industrial development while displaying strings of 'new villages' as a result of the emergency which had taken its toll on the Malaysian community. No fear for ambushes now as the communist's disturbances had come to a halt and many areas had been declared 'white'. RM 5600.00 by the way would have bought you the famous 'Beetle'.

THE BAMBOO CURTAIN

In today's news, there is accordingly a depletion of rattan or cane in the Malaysian forest. This has of course made the 'orang asli' who have been surviving from jungle products seek out other resources. Rattan has of course been a source of revenue for them as it is required especially for furniture. Rattan furniture has been favorite choice for Malaysians besides being exported. I remember acquiring my first piece of furniture for the home , paid from my first take home salary way back in 1959. That would make it a half century now. For that length of time it is still in good condition. Definitely it was a rattan settee. Don't ask about the price. It was dirt cheap then. Especially the settee was produced from a small workshop next door to our home at Jalan Sekerat Alor Star. The cane or furniture maker later moved to Butterworth Penang and had a thriving business there as he had strong buyers from the nearby Australian Air force base. Indeed during the early sixty's cane furniture was the top hit and I am certain many sets were exported home by the Australian servicemen and others who were living in Penang then.

With poor supply of good cane coupled by few skilled cane -makers, home furniture took to other products. Wood and not necessarily good quality hard wood became the choice. Iron, steel and plastic material products came into the market. Furniture from Indonesia saw a steady grow. Malaysian tendencies to buy brand new especially living-room settee sets annually, especially on the eves of Hari Raya and other special occasions continue to make the furniture business thriving.

Still fine cane furniture, moulded by skilled craftsmen is truly my choice.

Now that canes or rattan are hard to come by, where do the 'orang asli' turn to? Surprisingly they have found a strong market from vegetable growers of Cameron Highlands who need large baskets as containers for their products. Loaded onto lorries in bamboo baskets, vegetables are transported by tons daily to markets in the cities and even as far as Singapore. The daily requirement means of course a huge demand for bamboo. So too basket weavers are as much required.

The story will take a turn when bamboo too starts becoming less after the rape of the jungle as has happened to other natural growth of the forest. Our tendency to rake away whatever is available and never considering to replenish will in the end become our perpetual disaster.It is a welcome sight when you are blessed with greenery wherever you go and more so to see jungle products adorning and utilised in the community with their own characteristics. Only we hope all concerned will remember that usage without replacement will eventually deplete what ever are given.