Jeram di tengah kota (Ravine in mid city)

Ini adalah gambar pertemuan dua sungai (tak tahu nama sungainya) di sebelah bangunan Putra World Trade Centre di Kuala Lumpur. Tergerak saya untuk mengambil gambar ini lalu menyertakannya di dalam laman kerana rasa nostalgia yang tiba-tiba muncul apabila melihatnya.

This is a picture of the meeting of two rivers (don't know the names) beside the Putra World Trade Centre building in Kuala Lumpur. I was moved to take this picture and put it in this page because of the nostalgic feelings which suddenly came upon seeing it.

Adapun semasa umur saya sekitar 18 tahun (sekarang saya berumur 37!) saya selalu "bermain-main" di kawasan ini juga di sekitar Chow Kit. Semasa itu sungai-sungai di KL dikira sangat kotor maka proses membersih dan mencantikkannya baru sahaja bermula, salah satu caranya dengan membina tebing-tebing konkrit juga mengatur batu-batu menjadi jeram-jeram seperti yang kelihatan dalam gambar.

When I was around 18 (I'm now 37-years-old!), I often "played" around this area, also around Chow Kit. Then, the rivers in KL were considered very dirty, so the cleaning and beautification process were just starting, one of the ways by building concrete river-banks and putting stones and boulders to create ravines such as seen in the picture.

Saya sudah lama tidak melalui kawasan ini... Selama ini saya cuma melihat daripada jauh sahaja apabila berjalan menghampiri pusat membeli-belah The Mall. Tetapi pada suatu hari seminggu lalu, saya tergerak untuk menyusuri bahagian sungai yang berjeram lalu mengambil gambar ini. Itulah ceritanya...

It's been long since I passed this area... All this while, I only looked from afar when walking towards The Mall shopping complex. But one day a week ago, I felt the urge to walk along this section of the river with ravinces and took this picture. So there...

Teks untuk Nostalgia Sungai Muar (Text for Nostalgia of the Muar river)

OK... Dua minggu lalu saya telah membuat satu posting gambar bertajuk Nostalgia Sungai Muar (Nostalgia of the Muar river) tanpa menyertakan cerita kerana kesuntukan masa. Sekarang biar saya sertakan ceritanya ya...
OK... Two weeks ago I made a posting of pictures titled Nostalgia Sungai Muar (Nostalgia of the Muar river) without including the story because of lack of time. Now let me include the story ya..

Biar saya berterus-terang. Sebenarnya kebelakangan ini saya terasa amat malas untuk bercerita kerana terasa begitu penat membuat kerja-kerja berkaitan penerbitan buku ketiga saya "Berpetualang ke Aceh: Sirih Pulang ke Gagang?" atau BKA III. Tetapi penceritaan harus diteruskan. Maka inilah dia...

Let me be frank. Actually, lately I felt very lazy to tell stories as I feel so tired working on things related to the publishing of my third book "Berpetualang ke Aceh: Sirih Pulang ke Gagang?" ("The trip to Aceh: The prodigal son returns?" or so) or BKA III. But the story-telling must continue. So here it is...

Adapun, semasa membuat posting gambar-gambar tersebut dua minggu lepas, saya sedang berada di sebuah Cyber-Cafe berdekatan Stesyen Bas Pekeliling, Kuala Lumpur setelah tertinggal bas jam 6 menghala ke Raub. Ketika itu saya bercadang hendak ke Kampung Janda Baik, Pahang tetapi saya akhirnya 3 kali tertinggal bas lalu bermalam di Kajang. Keesokannya barulah saya ke Janda Baik lalu bermalam di sana.

As it is, the picture postings made two weeks ago was done while at a Cyber-Cafe near the Pekeliling bus station in Kuala Lumpur after missing the 6 o'clock bus heading for Raub. Then, I planned to go to Kampung Janda Baik, Pahang but I actually missed the bus 3 times and spent the night in Kajang. Only the next day did I go to Janda Baik and spent the night there.

Sebenarnya, saya ingin bercerita tentang detik-detik nostalgia yang terbit setiap kali saya duduk berehat di tepian Sungai Muar. Adapun saya dilahirkan tahun 1970 di bandar Muar dan rumah tempat saya membesar sehingga remaja terletak sekitar setengah kilometer daripada kuala sungai terbesar dan terpanjang di selatan Semenanjung Malaysia ini. Maka saya selalu menghabiskan waktu petang berehat-rehat di tepian sungai sambil menikmati angin nyaman.

Actually, I want to talk about the nostalgic moments felt whenever I sat beside the Muar river. I was born in 1970 in the town of Muar and the house I grew up at until my teenage years was situated about half a kilometre from the estuary of the biggest and longest river in southern Peninsular Malaysia. So I often spent the afternoon resting beside the river while enjoying the nice breeze.

Hmm... Nampaknya saya memang terasa malas hendak bercerita tetapi memaksa juga diri demi kesinambungan bercerita di blogspot ini sebelum dapat menambah cerita-cerita lain nanti Insyaallah. Rasanya cukuplah jika dikatakan pada suatu masa dahulu, Sungai Muar bagi saya terasa seperti sungai paling besar di dunia. Sebelum saya keluar mengembara lebih jauh dan melihat sungai-sungai lain yang sama atau lebih besar di sekitar Semenanjung seperti Sungai Perak dan Sungai Pahang.

Hmm... It seems I am actually too lazy to continue story-telling but forced myself for the sake of continuity in this blogspot before other stories could be added. So methinks enough if it is said, once upon a time to me, the Muar river felt like the biggest river in the world. Before I went out travelling further and saw other rivers the same size of bigger around the Peninsular such as the Perak and Pahang rivers.

Malah saya juga telah melihat beberapa sudut sungai-sungai besar di Eropah seperti Sungai Thames di London, Sungai Danube di Austria dan Sungai Reine di German. Namun Sungai Muar tetap terasa begitu istimewa bagi saya. Mungkin kerana masa-masa remaja saya banyak dihabiskan di tepian sungai itu... Mungkin juga kerana ada sejarah lama yang berkaitan seperti beberapa peristiwa sebelum pembukaan kerajaan Melaka 600 tahun dahulu melibatkan lokasi-lokasi di sekitarnya?
In fact I've seen Europe's big rivers such as the Thames in London, Danube in Austria and Reine in Germany from many angles. Still the Muar river feels very special to me. Maybe because of the times spent as a youth beside it... Maybe also because of the ancient history related to some events before the opening of the state of Melaka 600 years ago which happened at some locations around?

Apapun, gambar-gambar yang diletakkan di bawah posting bertajuk Nostalgia Sungai Muar (Nostalgia of the Muar river) itu diambil berdekatan Kampung Bukit Treh sekitar 7km daripada kuala. Maka ia bukan bahagian sungai yang terlebar... Sekian.
Whatever, the pictures put under the posting titled Nostalgia Sungai Muar (Nostalgia of the Muar river) were taken nearby Kampung (village of) Bukit Treh some 7km from the estuary. So it is not the widest portion of the river... That's all!