When talking about Sungei Pahang or Pahang River, one can find all that one needs to know in the sites as shown.
Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pahang_RiverHttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TemerlohHttp://www.answers.com/topic/pahang-riverHowever I wish to relate my own experience with THAT River, an experience which is valueless to me. Though such experience will no longer materialise in the future, and for our future generations but I do wish that maybe someday the River may once again be a source of pleasure for the people of Pahang.
The River was the only 'highway' that we ever had in going from the kampung where I was born to the town, the nearest being Temerloh. When I was a small boy growing up in a riverine kampong, at the bank of Pahang River, about 12 miles upriver, the first time I traveled out by public transport, was on an outboard engined boat which could take about 20 passengers. It took about 2 hours to reach Temerloh Town, the down river 'big' riverine town. The boat then had inverted V-shaped attap roof, and later on as time progresses the roof became flat and made of flattened galvanised zinc sheets. On that first trip, having to get up early in the morning to catch the boat, waiting on a logged floated wooden platform jetty in the cool misty morning. The boat came, we waived and the boat neared the 'jetty', stopped; half-full with upriver people, and laden in the middle portion with chicken or/and dried rubber sheets to be marketed in the down river big town. Along the big river bank the scene were all peaceful Malay villages, and in that period of the Emergency you could even see houses that had been burnt and coconut trees dying due to them being torched by the what the Government at that time called Communist terrorist. You don't actually see these terrorists but they existed and it was their kind that probably burnt those houses, Malay houses they were. Other than that the river was very peaceful and the banks were filled with beautiful scenery of swaying coconut palm trees and areca nut palms, and big tall trees either wild or fruit trees and people bathing or washing clothes in them, and some in small enclosures on these log 'jetties' doing their "business". Occasionally you may see water buffaloes, cooling themselves in the shallower portions of the river. The scenery was beautiful, of peaceful Malay riverine villages, and they were there almost all along the way.
In those days there were many people living in houses built on wooden log rafts in the river bank just below the Temerloh town (
Http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/mylias/Pahang/pahangphotoes028.jpg), and most of these people were migrants from Kelantan. And when the boat neared and being tied to these wooden 'jetty' rakit houses), there were always hives of activities, mostly involving Chinese coolies, some grabbing the chicken to buy and most negotiating to take the rubber sheets to their designated towkeys whose shops were just up the bank of the river. These Chinese coolies were really strong, they could pick up rubber sheets almost equal to their own body weight or maybe more, put these on their shoulders, carry them up the river bank to their designated rubber dealer towkay. And the weighing instruments they used to weigh the rubber sheets were something old fashioned, spring supported, levers using heavy solid cast iron counter weight. How accurate were they? Difficult to tell as in those days as enforcement were not really that visible. I expect that they must have made a lot of profit from the inaccuraciesof these weighing instruments. Anyway in those days nobody really cared as rubber price were then very high, it was the period just after the big wars and about to begin the Korean War. And the kampong people were really enjoying the rubber price boom, buying furniture and jewelry most of them, when they earn their big money. Saving? Nobody really saved in those days.
When do these town goers return after their trip by boats to the town? They reached Temerloh by about 8.30 to 9.00 o'clock And they finish their selling by about 1 hour later, after which they begin their buying. What do they buy? Menfolks buy mostly furniture and some items of clothings but women folks bought mostly jeweleries and plenty of clothings/haberdasheries. But business people buy items to sell back in the kampongs, like dried fish, condensed milk, flour, sugar, sweets, bottled drinks and such likes. By 12 o'clock they all have to rush back to the 'jetty' to be on the boats for the return journey. The return journey is always tiresome, boat going upriver in a slower pace, in the heat of the day and boat full of items just bought. The middle of the boat is usually full of the 'business' men's items, you can hardly put your leg in those areas. So you are squeezed. Safety? There was no lifejacket, no nothing. If the boat sinks, then you either sink or swim. In those days, almost everyone could swim. And when you reach your home, you are almost dead, tired because of the journey and probably with the excitement of going to town.
Slow, but it was all we had in those days. At least the boats had outboard engines. What about in earlier times when there was no outboard engine, only paddles and long poles to push the boats upriver or down river. And yet they managed to sometimes go up river from Pekan, at the mouth of Pahang River up to Kuala Lipis, almost the uppermost point of the Pahang River, and maybe back after a few days. How long did it take? In those days time was never a factor to be considered. .
In this modern day and age, the River is no longer the only 'highway'; and there is more jetty of floating logs (
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/mylias/Pahang/Newrumahrakit1.jpg) or (
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/mylias/Pahang/Newrumahrakit.jpg), instead now we have good roads criss-cross Pahang and one get easily get from places to places by cars in Pahang. Now when travelling along the Kuantan - KL road, via the old road, you reach the Temerloh Bridge, you look down down river from the Temerloh bridge, from you vehicle, you can still see the island formed by the sand bank, all overgrown with tall grass, weeds and some 'ara' (fig family) trees. But when you look upriver, you do not see the flotilla of those motorboats anymore, you do not see the bigger diesel-engine driven big boats, and you do not see the Sultan's Houseboat (this boat was used by the late HH Sultan of Pahang as his 'hotel' for his annual visit to the people -his subjects - of Temerloh District, ferrying him and probably occasionally, his joget girls) being anchored next to the jetty down river of the Temerloh Town anymore. You may however see 1 or 2 old fashioned flat-roofed passenger outboard motor boat crossing the Pahang River,
(photo curtsey of
interestgrouppahang.wetpaint.com) ferrying people from the other side of the Pahang River to Temerloh Town. They are most busy on Sundays, when Temerloh Town has its market day or Pekan Sahari (http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/2006/01/daytrippin_teme.html). Those days of passenger ferrying outboard motor boats on Pahang River are gone. Time has passed us by. Anyway the Pahang River has now become too shallow to safely maneuver these outboard motor boats, the river has silted and the deeper parts of the river are few in between. And motorcars, buses and lorries have taken over the tasks of ferrying people and carriage of goods in Pahang.
I have related some of my expereince with the River in some of my other blogs.
Http://notime.motime.com/tag/boatHttp://notime.motime.com/tag/river_transportPahang River was everything to me then. The river was our sewer, or in the local language then our 'jamban'. Actually its like a floating jetty with 2 or 3 logs secured together. In those days logs were not so expensive so it was easy to get floating logs of say 15 foot long. Secure them together, float them in the river, have wooden board on top, secure them from floating down river by steel ropes, have a enclosure at the downstream of the jetty and you have a toilet. And the floating jetty as whole is where you stand while bathing, if you do not jump into the river, or where women used to wash their clothes, or as a jetty where boat stop for you to get into them to go the Temerloh. And when you do your business, everyone knows you are there but no one disturbs you, not even when people going upriver by dugout canoes passing your 'jamban'. And the river fish normally have a field day when you do your business, especially 'ikan lampang'. And after that you go and fish for these fish, or sometimes you throw cast net over them, after you stuff have long left the 'jamban' already floated down river. Its a vicious food cycle. And we also have to use the river to bathe in and we took the river water to drink. Even the crocodiles in the River knew us, no one got killed by those crocodiles, and we knew that there were quite a number of them in there. We were used to the River and drinking its water then had no ill effect on us.
I think I have share with you this joke, its not funny now but then it seemed funny to uss. One day the Sultan of Pahang was in his house boat (the house boat was like a hotel to the Sultan then, he used it when he visited all the villages along the Pahang River bank) doing his business, as usual at his 'jamban' downstream end of the house boat. And one of the Sultan's bodyguard saw upstream in another 'jamban' someone was also doing business. The body guard shouted. "Hey you there , stop doing your business upstream to where the Sultan is doing his business". And the upstream man replied, :"Why should I? I always walk behind the Sultan so now my stuff can float after the Sultan's stuff". See Pahang people are quite polite, bright and clever really.
But the Pahang river is still as peaceful as ever, now that there is no more passenger boats criss crossing on its waters.
These recent photoes were taken from the new bridge at Kampong Sanggang in Temerloh, on the new Karak(KL) - Kuantan Highway. One showing looking up river,
you can see the spec of blue mountain in the far distant and another showing the downriver scene,
you can see the turbulent water and the big tree at the distance.
Labels: pahangriver
