The best thing about change in Kuala Lumpur
When cousin Robert visited a few years ago, he’d planned to get a car to drive around KL on his own. Then he saw the various flyovers criss-crossing at the junction of Jalan Damansara and Jalan Bukit Kiara, and decided he wouldn’t be able to find his way around the city anymore.
Cousin Robert is no stranger to KL, having lived and worked here in the 80s and spent weekends exploring the city and its outskirts by car. So for him to say what he said is an indication of how much the city has changed since the 80s.
Much of the change has been in the areas of construction – industrial, commercial and residential buildings – and transportation.
As the capital city of Malaysia, KL continues to attract people from the smaller towns who come to study, then get a job, and eventually settle down as “transplanted” KL-ites. Part of the settling down is getting married, and with marriage comes the need for a home. Marriage begins with two people so their first home in KL would usually be an apartment, but with children on the way, more living space is required, leading to landed properties (a house with a small patch of garden). So that’s one area KL has changed – more tall buildings (apartments and the fancier condominiums) and more residential areas.
The other area in which KL has changed is that of transportation, both private and public. The growth in the number of private vehicles is a result of the increase in number of KL-ites (see above paragraph). But it’s in the area of public transportation that I’ve seen the most change.
It used to be there were just two forms of public transport within KL – bus and taxi. If memory serves me right, there were two main bus companies plying different routes. There was the Sri Jaya bus company, whose buses I used the most, because my school was on one of its routes, and most places I went to as a kid were on the Sri Jaya routes. It wasn’t until I changed school for my upper secondary school years (cuz the former school didn’t have an upper secondary level) that I started using buses run by Tong Fong, the other bus company that served KL’s public transport needs.
With only two forms of public transportation in those days, you can imagine the taxi drivers were the kings of the road. They were supposed to use the fare meters installed in their vehicles but often did not, instead naming an exorbitant fare at the end of the ride, at which time the passengers had no choice but to pay up. Or choosing to accept passengers at their whim and fancy.
Cousin CF from the States had an expensive experience with one such taxi driver when he visited in the late 80s. I was away in school in England at the time but mother told me the story. He and family had hailed a taxi from their hotel. When he arrived, he told my parents it was a long ride which had cost them RM10/- (about US$2.50). Later, when they were upstairs of the shop and in the back portion which looks out to a fair bit of the area behind the shop (where else, duh?), he had a shock to see his hotel within view. In fact, it was a mere 15-minute walk from the shop! Talk about being fleeced by a KL taxi driver!
These days, KL taxi drivers don’t have it so good anymore. Which to me is the best thing about the big change in my city and hometown.
These days, there’s a choice of taxi, bus, LRT (light rail transport) and Monorail. LRT is probably the most popular since there are two main lines (much like in the old days when there were two main bus companies?), feeder buses from the more “remote” residential areas to LRT stations, and ample parking space for those who choose to leave their cars there and take the LRT to work.
Someone recently asked me why I don’t do the same – drive to the nearest LRT station, park my car there for the day and take the LRT to work. I replied that in the time spent driving to the LRT, parking my car, getting a ticket, waiting for the LRT, etc., I would be well on my way to the office, and in my own transport, too. Besides, I might need to go out during the day, so I would need my car. More to the point is the fact that I don’t like riding in public transport. They’re often too packed with people, and at my height (way below average), I would end up smelling armpits. No, thank you.
Meanwhile, the taxi drivers are learning to behave, and not to say no to any passenger (not even one who just wants to take a taxi to the other end of the same stretch of road), but instead to smile and say yes, come on in. There’s too much competition these days, and they can’t afford to say no to any passengers any more.
