Sitting all the way home on a train

'Balik kampong' translated as 'going back to the village' is a common move for most city dwellers. Most of those who work in the cities hail from kampongs and during festive seasons such as 'Hari Raya Aidilfitri' (New Year Day for the Malays) and 'Xin Nian' (New Year for the Chinese) city folk will go back to their hometowns or kampongs to celebrate such yearly events. Buses and trains will be packed with home-bound passengers then.

When I was teaching in Jerantut, Pahang, I had to walk to town, took a taxi to Kuala Lumpur and boarded a train to reach Penang, my hometime on such occssions. Many a time, the train was packed like sardine and I had to sit on the step or any vacant place available. The soot from the train would settle on my face and those who were in the same boat with me.

My mum would laugh at me when he saw my 'sooted' face when I finally got home after twelve hours' travelling.

Those were the days when North-South Expressway was not built and traveling took a lot of time.