EXHAUSTED and sweaty after her night shift as an office cleaner, Malaya Janting, 49, still had one more task left — an hour’s walk home.

Although only 9pm, the buses had apparently stopped operating, leaving Malaya no choice but to walk home alone … along a dark and deserted road from her workplace in Pending to Sungai Apong where she lives.

She wished things could be better but there isn’t much she can do because both she and her husband depend heavily on public transport.

She was late to work recently and nearly lost her job because the bus she was waiting (from 10.45am to 1pm) never came. She had to call her colleague to inform her boss that she would be late.

“My employer wasn’t sympathetic and told me to quit if I didn’t take the night shift,” she said.

When first employed in 2000, Malaya had no transport woes because buses then operated till 10pm and there were three serving the Sungai Apong area. Now there is only one.

She said her family depended on public buses to get to work, do shopping and for outings. Her children walk to school.

She prefers the bus to the chartered van or kereta sewa because the fare is much cheaper and she can save some money.

A bus ride from her home to her workplace costs RM1.10 while the kereta sewa charges RM1.50 one way.

However, on Saturdays or public holidays, she has to use other transport because during these times, there are no buses plying her area from 6am to 1.30pm. Also, from Sunday to Friday, buses only operate there from 6am to 6pm.

We from thesundaypost recently took a bus ride to get a ‘feel’ of public transport in the city.

A five-minute walk took us to the bus stop. As we sat there waiting, heavy vehicles zoomed by, shaking the simple bus stop structure.

About noon, a bus showed up but the driver waved his arm to signal he was not taking any passengers. Probably, he had lunch in mind.

Another bus going the same way did not stop either but this was understandable since it had a full load.

Finally, after waiting for two hours, we caught a bus. It was operated solely by the driver himself — there was no conductor and passengers could only use the front entrance to get on as the rear door was kept closed apparently to prevent people hopping on for a free ride. If there were many passengers to pick up, the driver would wait a little longer at the bus stop … and vice-versa.

While the bus was not air-conditioned, the windows were, at least, not stuck and it was airy inside. There was a timetable at the front, and checking with our watches, the bus was on time.

The seats were in good condition generally except for some with visible tears. The windows were covered with dust and there were several discarded bus tickets on the aisle.

Our impression was one of riding on an inflatable bed in a swimming pool, swaying from left to right and back as the driver navigated the bends. The turns and the bumps made you feel as though your heart was going to leap out of your chest.

If we, being younger, had found the ride bumpy, imagine how uncomfortable it must have been for senior citizens on board.

We saw very few bus stops along the way but our bus did stop at places not designated as stopping areas. Altogether, the bus made 14 stops to pick up or drop off passengers.

Near a secondary school, the bus waited five minutes for students to cross the road and come aboard. Half an hour later, we reached our destination at a road junction. There was no bus stop here but the driver pulled up anyway and we got off. The bus arrived on schedule, according to its timetable.

After alighting, we crossed the road to wait for the return city-bound bus at a poorly-maintained covered bus stop with holes in the ceiling and rubbish strewn around it.

Several rented vans (van sewa) passed by but no bus. After over an hour, one finally showed up. It was more or less the same as the one we took earlier except older, rattling as it ground along — even the driver was bumping up and down in his springless seat.

Clearly, the bus had seen better days. The interior was clean but the seats had big cracks patched up with masking tapes. The carpeted floor was well worn, exposing the metal underneath.

There was no timetable to indicate the bus’ stopping points. In all, it made nine stops en route to the city. We got off at Jalan Masjid after a 26-minute bone-shaking ride.

According to Malaya whom we spoke to earlier, breakdowns are nothing unusual. Once the bus I was taking broke down half-way up the hill at Chung Hua School No. 1 at Jalan Pending and I had to walk up the remaining slope to catch another bus. “The bus was shaking and jerking badly before breaking down. I got out quickly and had to carry my lunch box and water bottle while walking up the hill. Needless to say, I had to wait some more.”

She said she was not overly concerned about the fare — as long as there was a bus to take her to work and home, she was happy.

“However, the authorities concerned should do something to improve our public transport. Get more buses … and newer buses are certainly a blessing to senior citizens. I hope the service hours could be extended to 10pm to help people on late night shifts,” she suggested.

In the same situation is 42-year-old Missiah Mostapa. Even though her husband has a car, he is unable to send her to work because they work at different places — she in Semariang and he in Demak.

The distance between their workplaces is vast and as teachers, they have to be in school on time.

“I wake up very early because my husband has to drop me off at Satok before 6am. My bus will arrive around that time and if I miss it, I have to wait for the next one due at 7.30am. If I miss the first bus, I will definitely arrive at school very late because the second bus only reaches the school at 8.30am,” Missiah said.

She finds her daily routine quite tiring because she not only has to lug her teaching materials home but also walk some distance from the bus stop to her house. Then it’s preparing dinner for the family after a short rest.

All this while, Missiah has been putting up with inconsistent bus services but what choice has she as one who depends heavily on public transport.

She finds waiting at the bus station a most trying experience. She has to stay alert so as not to miss her bus and her legs would ache from standing because there are no seats around.

Despite her predicament, she still prefers the bus to the van sewa because the former is much cheaper. Since the fuel price hike, the van sewa is charging more.

Apart from work, Missiah uses the bus to do shopping when her husband teaches on weekends.

“On public holidays, the bus arrives very late and when it does, it’s usually full,” she noted.

After relying on public buses for 17 years, she agrees it is time to revamp the system, and the first step, according to her, is replacing the old jalopies.

“The buses plying our streets are very old — the seats are cracked and the cushions worn out. They are not comfortable for long journeys.

“The engine is very loud and the bus vibrates uncontrollably when it moves. Over short distances, it is all right but if you have to travel a long way, you can get a headache,” she said.

Moreover, most of the bus stations are small and can accommodate only a certain number of buses at a time.

“The Kuching system should emulate that of Sibu where the bus stations are bigger. The buses park according to numbers — for example, all No1 buses in one row, regardless of the company. This makes it easy to locate the right buses.

“In Kuching, buses parked in the same row can have different numbers. You have to check every row to find the right bus to take,” Missiah noted.

She also suggested more waiting areas with shades and seats be built. The bus station at Mosque Road in Kuching, she observed, did not provide any seats.

Since hiring private school buses is more expensive, her children take van sewa to school.

“It used to cost 60 sen per person — now it’s RM1. So they spend RM2 a day on transport. They also have to walk to the main road because the vans do not go into housing areas. But the vans are still preferred because the bus service is ‘tak tentu’ (uncertain),” she said.

A bus used to go into her housing area but not anymore — so her children now have to walk to the main road to take a bus or van sewa.

However, from her own experience, she admitted that compared with before, the bus service had improved in the sense that people were now not rushing to board.

“Last time, buses had a driver and a conductor. Now the driver doubles as a conductor. Since only one of the bus doors is opened, passengers queue up to pay before finding a seat. This is good.

“Previously both doors were opened and people would jostle for seats. Now, even graffitis on seats are rare — maybe the teaching of morals in school has helped.”

Missiah said breakdowns were also less frequent now.

“Two years ago, they were quite common — punctured tyres, running out of fuel and the like. Now, it is usually the ticketting machine that breaks down.

“One welcomed improvement is that during a breakdown, the driver takes the responsibility to help passengers by flagging down other buses on a similar route or even van sewa because he doesn’t want passengers to reach their destinations late. This is very good.”

On bus colours and numberings, she is quite happy with the current system.

“Buses that go to different areas are painted differently and one only has to look at the colour to get to the right bus. The Petra Jaya buses, painted bright yellow, are very easy to spot early in the morning,” she added.

For 43-year-old factory hand, Hassanah Murshidi, life has to go on despite the hassle of taking a bus.

“The problem is the buses are often late. I work in Bintawa and I have already waited 30 minutes for the bus to arrive at this bus stop at the Kuching Waterfront,” she complained.

According to her, the waiting time depends on the traffic situation — the bigger the congestion, the slower the arrival.

Hassanah also said one reason for the poor bus service could be the lack of competition … with just one company serving one area. In the peninsula, she noted, there was usually more than one company operating in one locale.

“I have worked in Johor Bahru for one year and the service there is so much better because it’s systematic and the buses are cleaner and all air-conditioned. Above all, they are punctual,” she said.

A 22-year-old student from Betong, Teresa August Abang, does not have much to complain except old buses that emit excessive fumes and are bumpy to ride in should be taken off the road.

“The arrival times vary, depending on the operators — sometimes early, sometimes late. Fares have remained much the same — reasonably cheap — but buses no longer road-worthy should be changed.”

She suggested that apart from acquiring new buses, companies could also upgrade their ticketting systems to digitalised payments at booths to match those in cities like Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

thesundaypost also approached a tourist at the Kuching Waterfront.

“Oh dear, I don’t know anything about the buses here because I never went on one. I wouldn’t want to because they look so old and I’m afraid I may get stranded at an unknown place and don’t know how to get back to my hotel,” said the English retiree on condition of anonymity.

“In Malaysia, few things run on time and the people don’t mind if they don’t work. The buses too come and go as they please and when you do get on the bus, many a time the ticketting machine doesn’t work.”

He pointed out that the buses in England and western countries were mostly new … with reliable timetables and different methods of paying fares.

According to him, the buses run on time and he depends on them to get around — so there’s no need for him to use a car.

“We don’t have bus conductors because we use ticketting machines or show the driver our weekly or monthly pass.

“Conductors were around when I was born back in the 1950s but now, we mainly use ticketting machines. In some places like Denmark and Sweden, people can pay via their mobile phones but it will be a long time before this comes to Malaysia.”

He admitted vandalism and graffitis on buses were quite rampant in the west but said they were nothing new.

Meanwhile, Sarawakians studying or working in peninsular Malaysia say public transport there is more advanced and reliable.

Kenneth Lee, a 23-year-old student, takes the bus to university and to go out with friends. There is one bus going to his school every 10 minutes and if he is really late, he will opt for a taxi.

“I also use public transport to go shopping but if I need to buy many things, I will use a taxi because it is more convenient,” he said.

At night, buses (operated by two companies) to his area run till 10pm and he has no problem catching a ride home. He spends about RM45 per month on public transport.

Overall, the conditions of KL buses are good compared to Kuching’s and he also seldom sees any acts of vandalism in the buses.

“I used the buses in Kuching a few years back — they were shaky, noisy and basically very old. I never use kereta sewa here because it is very expensive,” Lee added.

Norhidaya Othman, a 25-year-old assistant project manager, agrees public transport in Kuala Lumpur is of a different level compared to Sarawak because buses there — apart from being air-conditioned and clean — also keep strictly their schedules.

“Peninsular bus companies have a comprehensive network of routes serving most of the city — so it’s very convenient … without paying so much too. Moreover, one area is served by more than one company.”

She pointed out that the payment system was also more advanced, saying a return ticket to one place cost only RM2.