THE penambang and the tambang man have been fixtures along the Sarawak River for as long as many of us can remember. Even way back when the white men first stepped foot on Borneo, they wrote about the little sampans that brought them to and fro across the river from the little Malay settlements on one side to the bustling trade area on the other.
The Eye is not a regular client of the penambang, but compared to most residents in Kuching city these days who have probably not stepped into the penambang for decades, the Eye does occasionally take a ride from one side to the other, to get to friends’ houses situated ‘seberang’ (opposite).
Over the past few years, there were several occasions where the Eye had to take the penambang quite late at night, when the tambang men were resting. There were times when the Eye would have to call out to the tambang man on the other side and hold up a lighted mobile phone to catch his attention, to get a ride.
On one occasion the Eye stayed past midnight and needed to get across the river. It was after some hollering of “oh penambang” (the usual call for a ride across the river) that the Eye realised the tambang operators had stopped their services.
The Eye later found out that the tambang operators stop plying the river route at 11pm. Upon asking why this was so, one tambang operator explained that before, when they had operated into the wee hours of the morning, there were incidences of being robbed by numskulls, who pretended to need a ride across the river. Fair enough.
Imagine, robbing the poor penambang operators of what little earnings they have for the day. The Eye understands that regular users still pay 40 sen to get across on the penambang.
Perhaps it is high time that the penambang operators raised their fees. Not too high, for the sake of the locals who use the river taxi daily, but maybe a two tiered payment system where tourists could pay at least RM1 to get across one way, while locals pay 60 sen.
One evening, while just sitting and observing the tambang operators, the Eye realised that there were no signs along the waterfront or at every ‘pengkalan’ or jetty indicating the operating hours of the penambang.
A friend who was with the Eye suggested that signs indicating the operating hours should be put up for the public and tourists alike. There’s no doubt that the residents of the villages across the river are very well informed of the times that their river taxis operate. However, the information would definitely be handy for less regular users.
Hotels and major landmarks in Kuala Lumpur have beacons to indicate that passengers are waiting for a taxi. The same could be applied to enhance the services of our original water taxis here too.
The Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) and the association of penambang operators could work together to come up with a system where waiting penambang passengers could press a button to light up a beacon and sound a horn or a bell to catch the attention of the tambang man, if he happens to be taking a break on the other side of the river.
Just last week, the modern-looking water taxi was unveiled at the Kuching Waterfront. The purpose of the new water taxi, once it hits the waters, will be to ferry passengers between Kubah Ria and the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK).
The penambang operators have been reassured that this big new water taxi will not affect their livelihoods as it will not ferry people from town to ‘seberang’ or vice versa. It is good to know that people will still need to depend on the good old penambang to get home after work if they live across river.
If you’re a Kuchingite, take the penambang once in a while to get across to Petra Jaya and go for a stroll at the Orchid Garden instead of driving there.