A Ride On A Selangor Bus

ESTABLISHED in 1937, Selangor Omnibus Co has been traversing the outskirts of the city, ferrying passengers from rural towns and small villages in and around Kuala Selangor to Kuala Lumpur for the past seven decades. The red and white buses are still popular with city folks, especially the older generation, who see them as a symbol of consistency and loyalty.

Regulars: Many of the customers are elderly and have been taking the bus for years

THE Batang Berjuntai Bus Station is located midway between Kuala Lumpur and Kuala Selangor.

The word station is something of a misnomer as bus stations are supposed to be modern a hubs like KL Sentral. But there is nothing modern about this place.

It was basic, there were one or two buses parked along the dusty road and a few children were spotted climbing in and out of the empty buses playing hide and seek.

Gopi, 42, stopped for a few minutes to allow Ang Liong Sian, 52, to tapau (pack) some lunch.

There's no stopping even for a cup of coffee, they can only break for lunch once they reach their destination at the Terminal Bus Melawati in Kuala Selangor.

Final destination: At Kuala Selangor, the buses stop at the Bandar Malawati bus and taxi terminal.

Selangor Omnibus Co employees are strict about keeping to the schedule. The company has about 10 buses that ply the KL-Kuala Selangor route, and it takes two-and-a-half hours to get to Kuala Selangor from Kuala Lumpur, hence there is no room for short breaks if you want to keep to the schedule.

Gopi has been driving the old red and white buses for five years now.

Old school: Lockers at the company's headquarters in Kepong.

Ticket master Ang, however, has been with the company since 1977, starting off as a driver but had to give it up when his eyes started failing.

As Ang got in with the packed food and Teh O Ais, which looked tempting inside the oven baked tin can, and continued the journey into Kuala Selangor – 60 km from Kuala Lumpur, one wondered how could this company have managed to survive all this time with no air-conditioning, old and uncomfortable seats that can be quite painful especially if the journey is over two hours.

The answer was written on the faces of the people who took the bus with us – they spoke volumes.

The aunties and uncles who were clearly way past their 60th birthdays, smiled and greeted Gopi and Ang like old buddies.

Tickets, please: Ang says the older folks seem to prefer having a ticket master.

Apart from familiarity, there was the comfort and security that comes with the years of knowledge that they are in safe hands.

At a derelict bus stop near Sungai Buloh, an Indian lady boarded the bus and chatted with Gopi for a couple of minutes in Tamil.

Her knowing smile and enquiry about his family in Kuala Selangor showed that she was a regular and knew him well.

"It's safe and cheap and they are always on time," said Norasni Idris, who often takes the red and white bus to go to her home in Rawang.

"We also prefer having a ticket master around instead of a coin machine because the machine doesn't give your change back," said 57-year-old K. Annama from Kundang.

Old hand: Station master B. Prakash, 60, has been with the company for 25 years and operates the mini station at Bangkok

Ang was quick to say that the older folks prefer having a ticket master so they could just sit down and fish for the fare instead of having to queue up and pay money via the machine.

"Comfort, security, trust, reliability – that's what people who take Selangor Omnibus feel about us," said Selangor Omnibus general manager Tan Choo Hoe, 63.

Indeed, even after 70 years, the buses are still popular even though the company had lost many lucrative routes to newer competitors over the years.

Established in 1937, Selangor Omnibus was the first bus operator in the country and has managed to survive all this while with only the KL-Kuala Selangor route which is exclusive to it.

According to Tan, before the Second World War there was no such thing as public service vehicles.

Those who owned vehicles would convert it into a carriage and operate like buses and these vehicles, according to Tan, were called Mosquito Buses.

The British colonists saw the need to regulate these vehicles and hence laws were passed and the hackney carriages were the first to emerge.

"Slowly, the bus industry evolved and more and more bus operators came into existence, Len Chee, Tong Fong, Leng Seng, Foh Hup, and Sri Jaya" he said.

"We were given the monopoly to operate certain sectors and KL-Kuala Selangor was one of the routes," said Tan.

According to Tan, there was no such thing as the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board (CVLB) back then, but only an RTD officer who doubled up as a licenser.

As time passed, more and more bus operators came into the picture and Selangor Omnibus had no choice but to relinquish many of their routes.

"We were at a loss, our daily collection was drastically reduced. We wanted to phase out our old buses but we had to think twice now," said Tan.

"Our buses may be old, but they were fit, like our drivers," Tan joked.

Indeed, the grounds of the company headquarters located in Kepong was a like a scene from a 1960s movie.

There is no mistaking the old world charm evident in the building, old lockers, old safe boxes, spiral staircases and, of course, old buses.

But there was something else that was about the place - The employees were all way above 60-years-old, most having started working with the company when they were in their 20s.

It is indeed rare to see such loyalty in workers especially when job-hopping has become a norm today.

Selangor Omnibus has certainly managed to survive turbulent times and come out unscathed.

Of course, Tan attributes this to being a bona fide operator that runs the A to Z of a bus business.

"We offer no frills bus services to the public. It is an essential service to those who rely on public transport to go to work. We do the best we can. Of course, it is hard to provide an ideal service, we try our best to strike a balance and satisfy everyone," Tan said.

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