Saturday, August 16, 2008

Ah Leong

Near the Tua Pek Kong wharf, one will see wooden and steel boat like this waiting for passengers.

One of the boat operator who I known for years now is called "Ah Leong". Some people also called him "Ah Pek". Ah Leong is about 60+ years old by now. Basically the boat is run by himself (11am-5pm) and his son (usually in the morning, 7-10.30am).

The boat "steering gear system" is shown as above. It is just like driving a car and can be steer right and left. The handle on his right hand is to push the ship forward or astern. NOTE: There is no brake here.

Each boat at the Tua Pek Kong temple wharf has its own allocated destination. Ah Leong's boat mainly served commuters from the town to the sawmill across the Rejang River. The journey takes approximately 7 minutes with RM1 fare only.

His boat also serve the ship at anchorage at Rejang River but at a fare of RM2. Basically this is how I commute to my ship when the ship is at anchorage.

2 comments:

Lifecruiser said...

Hi, I found you via travelerfolio.

Interesting and quite different from our ferries over here in Sweden.

Never the less, it's always nice with a boat trip :-)

Lifecruiser

cc said...

Nice to read about life of ordinary people like this. :)