These could be air-conditioned ‘coffins’ unless the windows are larger.
WHEN Ranee Margaret, wife of Charles Brooke, second Rajah of Sarawak (1868-1917), visited Lundu, she described the town as one of her “places of predilection in the country”. She went there by a government launch called Aline but did not tell us how long it took from Kuching to reach the place.
When I saw Kapit for the first time it was my kind of place of predilection too, 50 years ago.
I was accompanying the Federal Minister for Sarawak Affairs, Temenggong Jugah, for a visit to a longhouse. Teo Siang Hai from the Resident’s and District Office, Sibu, had kindly arranged for us a speedboat mounted with a 40hp outboard engine. That took us about five hours from Sibu to reach the Kapit bazaar.
Then the fastest mode of transportation to Kapit from Sibu and back was always by speedboats with outboard engines of varying capacities – from as powerful as 20hp to 120hp. The popular engine brands at the time were the Johnson and Mercury. Later it was the Yamaha.
Then entered the so-called ‘express’ boats, locally manufactured and commissioned. Next, they appeared on the Baram and the Kakus. An express boat used to ply between Sebuyau and Kuching for a short while but the service didn’t last long. I saw one on the Kapuas. Bigger express launches have been plying between Sibu and Kuching all the year round.
Travelling was no longer by the slow chug-steamers the likes of MV Rejang or the ill-fated MV Kijang, or the rather picturesque ‘moto china’. Travelling by modern boats became pleasurable, more comfortable and faster. And affordable.
Life jackets
Not until the late 1970s were there any boats faster than the ‘express’ on the Rajang. As a regular traveller on various modes of transport, I was quite familiar with that river. I knew how to get faster from point A to B. For instance, from Kuching one could reach Kapit within six or seven hours if one caught the MAS flight to Sibu at 7.30am, as I used to do.
From Sibu Airport one would go straight to the wharf, 30 minutes or so – enough time to catch the 9.30am express bound for Kapit. I would be at the town by lunch time. On the way back, hop on the 6am boat down to Sibu and straight to the airport, well in time before catching the next flight at 11am to Kuching, and back in the city by midday.
So much has improved by way of travelling time these days. This is real development; it began in the 1970s.
The introduction of the express boats was a boon to travellers from almost everywhere, from those who live in the upper reaches of each river to people living on the banks of the Rajang and its tributaries. And those living on the Lower Rajang and the delta have faster transport to Sibu.
During all these occasions inside the express boats plying the Sibu/Kapit route, I had one constant fear, which later developed into a phobia: what if the boat should sink.
The windows are so narrow that not even a baby could pass through. No sign of life jackets anywhere. If there were any, they were stored out of sight; the ones seen would not be enough for all passengers anyway.
The whole craft is air-conditioned but what use is the comfort if the cooled ‘coffin’ should go down with its frozen contents. Even if the passengers had life jackets, how would they get OUT of the small windows? Think of new designs for the boats lah. Accidents have happened, and many precious lives have been lost in the accidents involving the express boats on our rivers. And accidents can happen again. Touch wood.
It was 2006 that I saw some jackets under the seat in the boat I was in. But at departure time from Sibu, nobody had told us where they were to be found or when or how to wear them. Nor was any instruction in writing for those passengers who can read.
No safety video on the monitor up front either, it was busy churning out the blood, gore and screams of an action film. Too much trouble for the management to recruit someone to go through a safety drill like the one we see before a commercial aircraft takes off.
I have written complaining about the lack of these facilities in the hope that the boat owners would read the articles and for the SRB to take note of them as feedback from a regular commuter and an ordinary member of the public.
Sources in Sibu whispered to me that it was difficult for the SRB staff to implement use of the jackets because of the strong lobby from the boat owners who would not incur any expenditure on safety measures to the new vessels claimed by the manufacturers as unsinkable. That was what the builders said about the Titanic.
I have been following the development of river transportation and noticed that things have changed recently. Good news: the SRB has really caught the bull by the horns – by being strict with the boat owners and with a properly supervised regime – proper ticketing and proper passenger manifests. In the past, passengers did not queue up for boarding and disembarking. By nature, travellers are kiasu (fear of losing) but they can be educated to be in the queue and everyone would win in the end.
The campaign of awareness of the SRB proves the validity of the saying: “If there is a will, there is a way!”
For instance, the SRB is setting a good example of how a responsible government agency should meet the safety needs of the public travelling by river. Through its roadshows – more appropriately, river shows – its officers impress on the public at large the virtues of life jackets. They also stress on the need for the passenger boat owners to be registered with the board for certain services for mutual benefit.
I must stop lest I sound like a businessman selling life jackets. But I am quite serious: many of the river boats have to be radically redesigned so people can at least get out if there is an accident, and life jackets must be made mandatory. Tell the ship owners, in language they can understand: no life jackets, no operating license.
They’ll be out there buying life jackets tomorrow morning at 7.30am!
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