A week after that, I hit the new road towards Lumut from Ipoh. All along, I could see there were lots of changes. The elevated ‘highway’ at the Siputeh junction replaced what was once a very low lying road prone to flooding, (even after a slight downpour) sometimes as high as your waistline!
I could still recall vividly during those early years (beginning the1990’s) when the Perak Branch Campus of Universiti Sains Malaysia was there. Days of misery…laughter too!
I was on my way to the campus and then discovered that the waters were too high after heavy rain. My car was one of those stranded by the roadside. A few of us were desperate to be at the campus…semester examinations were in full swing.
Then suddenly, “Honk! Honk!”
The sound of lorry laden with timber stopped in its tracks, just at the rim of the brown murky waters.
“Where are you going?” the driver high up on his vehicle asked.
“To the campus!” shrieked my colleague, Dr. F (School of Civil Engineering) and another, Dr. KA (School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering) spontaneously and synchronously. They had to be the invigilators for the examinations that day.
“Come right up! But there is only enough room for two!” said the driver.
“Wah! Thank you!”
Both their panicky faces turned cheerful. The driver’s assistant jumped to the back of the lorry while both my colleagues hoisted themselves up to the seat beside the lorry driver amid cheers and sounds of laughter from the rest of us. It was a delightful sight, watching the lorry braving past the high waters. A dull and miserable morning had turned into something so heartwarming…
“Good thing your friends did not get themselves stuck up there, near the door of the lorry. What with their slim-fit sarongs and high heels too!” a male staff member quipped mischieviously from behind me.
“You and your big mouth!” I said, frowning.
“What next then?” he asked, a hopeless look on his face.
“A round about ride for me! Back to Siputeh junction, to ‘Paris’ (Parit) and from there out to the campus through the town of Bota! ” I said.
“That far?” he frowned.
“Well! It is much better than sitting here, waiting and doing nothing!”
“You know, you are right!”
This was one of the few instances that I quoted in my entry entitled “My Days with USM”, a piece which garnered the third prize for an essay competition in conjunction with USM’s 35th anniversary celebrations in 2005. (..continued..)
I could still recall vividly during those early years (beginning the1990’s) when the Perak Branch Campus of Universiti Sains Malaysia was there. Days of misery…laughter too!
I was on my way to the campus and then discovered that the waters were too high after heavy rain. My car was one of those stranded by the roadside. A few of us were desperate to be at the campus…semester examinations were in full swing.
Then suddenly, “Honk! Honk!”
The sound of lorry laden with timber stopped in its tracks, just at the rim of the brown murky waters.
“Where are you going?” the driver high up on his vehicle asked.
“To the campus!” shrieked my colleague, Dr. F (School of Civil Engineering) and another, Dr. KA (School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering) spontaneously and synchronously. They had to be the invigilators for the examinations that day.
“Come right up! But there is only enough room for two!” said the driver.
“Wah! Thank you!”
Both their panicky faces turned cheerful. The driver’s assistant jumped to the back of the lorry while both my colleagues hoisted themselves up to the seat beside the lorry driver amid cheers and sounds of laughter from the rest of us. It was a delightful sight, watching the lorry braving past the high waters. A dull and miserable morning had turned into something so heartwarming…
“Good thing your friends did not get themselves stuck up there, near the door of the lorry. What with their slim-fit sarongs and high heels too!” a male staff member quipped mischieviously from behind me.
“You and your big mouth!” I said, frowning.
“What next then?” he asked, a hopeless look on his face.
“A round about ride for me! Back to Siputeh junction, to ‘Paris’ (Parit) and from there out to the campus through the town of Bota! ” I said.
“That far?” he frowned.
“Well! It is much better than sitting here, waiting and doing nothing!”
“You know, you are right!”
This was one of the few instances that I quoted in my entry entitled “My Days with USM”, a piece which garnered the third prize for an essay competition in conjunction with USM’s 35th anniversary celebrations in 2005. (..continued..)
2 comments:
Sis - you are certainly born to write!! Keep them coming... I'm one ardent reader of yours!
Assalamualaikum D,
Thank you for being an ardent reader..Alhamdulillah..
Will continue to write..Insya Allah.
Have a pleasant and safe trip home Insya Allah...My prayers for your sister especially and for your family...
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