My home town.....

Parit Buntar, the biggest town in Perak’s Krian District, is surrounded by paddy fields and rubber estates.

Pagi2 ni tiba2 teringat kampung halaman, yang lama juga tidak dijengah. Kalau berada di Tanah Melayu pasti ku jejaki dalam 3bln sekali, walaupun ia terletak 350km ke utara. Apabila merantau ni terasa rindu juga utk merehatkan minda, at least utk sejenak. Sebab kadang2 tu pelbagai hal perlu diperhalusi dan kehidupan easy going semakin terhakis. But itu lumrah sebuah perjalanan.

Mungkin sejak kebelakangan ni blog sedikit terpinggir kerna perlu fokus ke tugas2 harian. Apa ke benda yg sibuk tu, betullah... org yg dekat mungkin sedikit nampak but ini merupakan sedikit aje memikirkan yang perlu diharungi di hari mendatang.

Kalau idak dipecahkan ruyung manakan dpt sagu nya......

Mari layari tulisan anak PArit Buntar yang sempat terbaca dari Star newspaper... silakan

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GROWING up in a small town was fun. My hometown, Parit Buntar, has been dubbed a cowboy town. It has a main street with a clock tower as its prominent landmark.Parit Buntar is the biggest town in Krian District, Perak. It is surrounded by paddy fields and rubber estates in the outskirts. The nearest coastal town is Kuala Kurau which is a fishing village. In Parit Buntar, life is slow and leisurely. Many people from the city complain that it is dull and boring here. If you have grown up in a small town, you will appreciate the convenience of living in it. Everything is easily accessible, so the cost of living is low. And people are friendly and helpful.

My primary school was just across the road from my house. Everyday my nanny would bring me a big mug of Milo and biscuits during recess. I only learnt to eat canteen food when I went to secondary school. The market, post-office, resthouse, police station, the town council and the town library are all within walking distance. I used to cycle everywhere. You can cycle round the town in 15 minutes. During weekends my friends and I used to cycle along the Krian River which separates Parit Buntar from Bandar Baru in southern Kedah. We chatted happily as we cycled along. There were very few cars on the roads. Cycling two or three abreast was common.

I remember enjoying the boat rides across the Krian River when I was a kid. The bridge was only built after the ferry tragedy in 1975 in which 57 people died. Today there is a well-landscaped walkway for people to relax along the river bank.What makes the town unique is that it is a border town sandwiched between two states. A railway line separates Parit Buntar from Nibong Tebal which is in Seberang Perai Selatan, Penang. Across the river is Kedah.

Over the years, due to undercutting by the Krian River, Parit Buntar has become low-lying and prone to floods during the rainy season. The town dwellers have gotten used to this problem and they know how to put up with the floods.

Being a small town, everybody knows everybody. The camaraderie among the townfolks is such that neighbours exercise together, go out together, go for holidays together and do marketing for one another. Such camaraderie is hardly found in big cities where the people are impersonal. They do not even know their neighbours.Some of my classmates lived along my street. We did many things together. We studied together and played together.

In a small town, it is easy to get things done, because you know most of the people. One night, I was even allowed to go into the cinema halfway through a movie to look for my mother and sister, as they had a visitor. The usher was our friend. He willingly obliged as my mother and sister patronised the cinema almost every day. It was the only form of entertainment available.

I love my hometown because it is self-contained. I just step out of my house, and I can get everything I need. There are coffee-shops, a stationery shop, tailor shops, hardware shops, medical halls, a hair-dressing saloon and even a bank. Across the road from my house is a big playground with a skating rink. My friend and I used to roller-skate there during weekends.

Now that I live in a busy city, I long for the peace and quiet of my hometown. It might be a sleepy hollow, but life is hassle-free. There is no rush during peak hours, hardly any thefts, and no work pressures to make us feel stressed or burnt out.

Parit Buntar is still untouched and unspoilt by progress. The skyline is very much the same.

There are more houses and some decent restaurants now. The USM Engineering campus is situated nearby, and some new schools have sprung up.

I enjoyed growing up in Parit Buntar. Growing up in such a closely-knit community has taught me to bond with people easily wherever I go.