Sunday, June 22, 2008

Keto Api - Bahagian 1 (The English version follows)

Malam tadi se jumpo kawan-kawan se yang samo jadi membo kelab poncinto keto api Melesia. Kito buek babikiu di Port Dickson. Ese ni memang minat kek keto api. Se mulo naik keto api maso umo se duo boleh taun. Maso tu se sekolah monongah asrama ponoh di Tanjung Malim, Peghak. Memang kito oghang maso tu naik keto api kok nak balik kampung maso cuti sekolah. Tak macam kaghang ni budak-budak sekolah asrama ponoh macam se tu dijomput dek omak ayah he pakai keto. Dah sonanglah kato kan.

Se ingat lagi keto api mulo-mulo tu kopalo eh itam koso wap. Steam locomotive lah cakap oghang putih. Mulo daghi Tanjung Malim puko sepuloh pagi lobih kughang. Lopeh tu boghonti di tiap-tiap stesen baik kocik baik bosa. Boghonti bukan nak ambik atau nughunkan penompang yo, tapi kopalo keto api tu nak minum air. Keto api wap lah kato kan. Dio kono minum air untuk dijoghang jadi wap untuk tolak piston eh. Joghang pulak guno aghang batu. Cumo se tak nampak keto api tu boghonti nak tambah aghang batu eh. Itu lah sebab eh di dipangge keto api. Api tu guna eh untuk joghang air nak jadikan wap. Kaghang ni KTM tak pakai air dan aghang batu lagi. Tulah dio sobut keto api eh tren yo, nak ikut oghang putih konon eh.

Sampai Soghomban puko ompek potang lobih kughang. Lopeh tu se naik bas ko Kolo Klawang, Jolobu. Sampai yo kek Kolo Klawang puko onam lobih kughang. Lopeh tu bas ko kampung se pulak dah habih. Dah tido. Nasib baik ada keto prebet sapu daghi kampung se. Se pun dihanta balik dek tuan punyo prebet sapu tu. Se masih ingat lagi tuan punyo keto ni namo eh Hamid, kito pangge Lamit yo. Dah meningga lamo dulu. Dio kosian kek se sampai tak mau ambik duit se.

Sobona eh ado lagi keto api se bulih naik daghi Tanjung Malim tu. Tapi mulo puko limo pagi dan sampai Soghomban puko sepuloh. Lopeh tu se joghan naik keto api kopalo itam puko sepuloh tu. Lagi pun se muak dio boghonti sumo stesen. Lopeh tu pikap eh lambek pulak tu. Koso wap lah kato kan. Keto api puko limo tu pakai injin disel letrik, maso tu ghono (warna) kopalo eh hijau. Di sobut keto api mel maso tu. Sobab eh yo lah dio bawak sughat (mail) sekali.

Biaso eh daghi Tanjung Malim sampai Kolo Lumpo kito oghang jaghang dapek tompek duduk. Sobab eh yo lah keto api tu dah ponoh dek budak-budak sekolah asrama ponoh daghi Kolo Kangsar dan Ipoh. Tap payah lah se cito namo sekolah tu. Sumo oghang tau. Tak ado tompek duduk pun tak apo. Kito jalanlah daghi hujung sampai pangka keto api tu.

Di Kolo Lumpo kito tuka keto api lain lopeh nunggu satu jam lobih kughang. Di sinilah biaso eh se dapat tompek duduk. Keto api ni sampai Soghomban lebih kughang puko sepuloh pagi. Jadi tak ado masalah bagi se nak balik kampung.

Maso balik sekolah lopeh cuti pulak se naik keto api daghi Soghomban puko tigo potang. Di Kolo Lumpo kalau nasib baik se naik rel ka (rail car) ko Tanjung Malim. Itu pun kalau keto api se naik tadi tak lambek. Rel ka ini jalan topat ikut maso eh. Kalau kito lambek molopehlah. Se suko naik rel ka ini sobab dio laju. Pajang eh macam Komuter kaghang lah. Yang menyobabkan dio laju tu yo lah tiap-tiap koc ado injin. Jadi pikap eh laju sikit.

Tapi se kono ikut kotuo se. Pehak sekolah boghi kito tiket kumpulan (compound tickets) ikut stesen. Jadi kito daghi Soghomban boboghapo puluh oghang tu cumo ado satu tiket dipogang dek kotuo kito, biaso eh budak Tingkatan Limo. Kalau dio tak ondak tunggu di Kolo Lumpo dan rel ka ado kito naiklah rel ka. Kalau tidak besapaulah kito lobeh kughang limo jam. Tapi tak apo, ini Kolo Lumpo. Somontagho tu kito jalan-jalanlah. Muzium kan dokek. Duo-duo stedium pun dokek. Ado yo kawan-kawan se sompek tengok wayang pun.

Lobih kughang puko sombilan lobih kito pun naik keto api ko Tanjung Malim. Daghi stesen ko sekolah ado disodiokan bas. Esok pagi eh mulalah sekolah pongga baghu.

Itu lah boghulang-ghulang sampi se habih sekolah. Apo yang tak boleh se lupo yo lah kenalakan se ni. Ado sobuah teghowong botu botu di bawah Ibu Pejabat Polis Persekutuan di Bukit Aman, Kolo Lumpo. Biaso eh budak-budak naka tomasok se ni bawak botol kosong daghi Tanjung Malim maso balik kampung dan daghi Kolo Lumpo maso balik sekolah. Botol-botol ni bulih dapek cagho sonang daghi mano tompek kito minum. Tapi kono baya lobih lah sikit.

Bilo-bilo yo keto api tu sampai dalam teghowong ni dah tontu dio pelahan sikit. Daghi Tanjung Malim dio nak boghonti. Daghi Kolo Lumpo ko utagho dio baghu nak mulo laju. Jadi kami yang nakal ni hobin botol botol ni kek dinding teghowong tu. Todonga lah bunyi macam talipon bobunyi tak boghonti. Se pun tak boleh nak coghito pasa apo kito buek kojo macam tu.

Sampai sini dulu yo. Ghupo-ghupo eh panjang yo coghito se ni. Nanti se sambung lai yo. Se nak tulih dalam bahaso oghang putih pulak ni.



The Train - Part One.


Last night I met met my fellow members of the Malaysian Railway Fan Club. We had a barbeque function at Port Dickson. I consider myself a train lover. I rode my first train when I was twelve years old. I was then a student of a fully residential school in Tanjung Malim, Perak. Every school term holiday we returned to our kampungs by train. Unlike now when parents fetch and send their kids to such schools by car. The standard of living seems to improve now.

My first train was the steam locomative type with the black coloured engine. We started from Tanjung Malim around 10 a.m.. The train stopped at every station, big or small not only to pick and embark passengers but to replesish its water supply. Water was needed to be boiled into steam using coal to push the train pistons. But I did not notice the train replenishing its coal supply.

I reached Seremban around 4 p.m.. From there I took a bus to Kuala Klawang, Jelebu. On reaching Kuala Klawang around 6 p.m. I realised that the bus to my kampung has retired for the day. Luckily I met my kampung folk named Hamid but called Lamit who operated a pirate taxi service who sent me home. He died years ago. I think that he sympatised with me since he refused any payment from me.

Actually there was another train service which I could use. I had to start from Tanjung Malim around 5 a.m. and reach Seremban around 10 a.m.. After that experience I said goodbye the 10 a.m. steam locomotive train. I got bored in stopping at every station. The train picked-up speed slowly too, a common thing among steam locomatives. The 5 a.m. train was powered by the diesel electrical green coloured engine. It was called a mail train beause it couried mails too.

Normally from Tanjung Malim to Kuala Lumpur we hardly manage to get seats because they were already taken by students of fully residential schools based in Kuala Kangsar and Ipoh. I don't have to tell the schools' names because everybody knows them. But being denied seats was no problem to us. We just walked to and fro for the length of the train.

We switched trains in Kuala Lumpur after an hour's wait. Normally I got a seat here. I reached Seremban around 10 a.m.. So there was no problem of reaching home in time.

The return to school journey started around 3 p.m. from Seremban. At Kuala Lumpur if we were lucky we continued our journey to Tanjung Malim by the rail car. That depended upon my train from south not being delayed because the rail car departed on time. I really loved to ride the rail car since it was faster due to it having an engine for every coach. Its length was about the same as the present KTM Komuter train.

That depended on our leader too. You see the school gave compound tickets based on the train stations. So those of us from Seremban were given only one ticket normally held by a Fifth Former. If he did not want to wait at Kuala Lumpur and the rail car was available we would jump into it. Otherwise we had to wait for about five hours in Kuala Lumpur. Not bad, because we could walk around. The National Muzeum and the two national stadiums were just nearby. Some of us had the time to watch movies.

Around 9 p.m. we caught the train to Tanjung Malim. We were picked at the station by buses. The next day we began our new school term.

Those routines were repeated until I left school. The one thing I cannot forget until now was my naughtiness. You see there is a tunnel right under the Federal Police Headquarters at Bukit Aman. Both from Tanjung Malim on the way home and from Kuala Lumpur on the way back to school the naughty boys including me would carry empty glass bottles. We could easily obtain the bottles from where we had our drinks, by paying more of course.

When we reached the tunnels the train would now be at a slower speed. Kuala Lumpur bound it was about to stop. North bound it was just picking up speed. So we just smashed the empty bottles at the tunnel walls creating a creshendo of sounds. This we did every time we went back home and returned to school. Until now I cannot explain why we did that.

That ended my first part about trains. To be continued....

No comments: