On Saturday 27 April, I drove to Tampin, a town on the border between Negri Sembilan and Melaka, to attend a wedding invitation of my cousin's daughter. I passed by that town last Christmas Day on my way to Melaka, also to attend a wedding invitation. I used to go to Tampin when I was staying in Rembau during my days in Standard Six at the Lower School of King George V in Seremban. Every month I had to go to Tampin to buy a monthly bus pass since I had to travel from Rembau to Seremban during the week days to go to school.
It was then in 1957, the year when Malaya became Independent. Compared to now, Tampin is almost unrecognizable, due to the rapid growth , thus benefitting the townsfolk of Tampin. Tampin used to have its share of padi-fields and my late uncle used to operate a small rice-mill because there was a demand for it. Nowadays you can hardly see any padi field around Tampin, and the spread of the town is filled up mainly by housing projects or shop-houses.
The road leading to my cousin's house is so narrow that on my way back, I had to back-track because there were many cars coming in the opposite direction, and the Rela guys simply had no idea of controlling the traffic coming in. I had to take detour and just managed to get out in time before the traffic got worse. I realised that the housing project which was developed by my cousin was on the fringe of what was a New Village. I suppose even Tampin had a traffic jam in town, especially during week-ends. That goes to show the unanticipated growth of a border town.
It is a small village in the kecamatan of Tambusai, Kabupaten Rokan Hulu in the Province of Riau, Sumatra. During the Padri Wars of 1830's , Tuanku Tambusai (aka known as Fakeh Hj Muhammad Salleh ) fought the Dutch forces together with Imam Bonjol and Tuanku Rao in West Sumatra and in Northern Sumatra .The last defence was in Benteng 7 Lapis,Daludalu which fell in 1838. He escaped capture and came to Malaya. He was buried in Rasah in 1882.
2 comments:
A very perceptive insight into the development of a country township highlighting the loss of the rural imagery (green rice field, open space etc), the rise of the brick and mortar edifice, the increase in vehicular movement and the unchanged narrow roads....
The kampung folks don't mind all these it seems. Pnly visitors from KL realize the significance of the changing environment and what is missing.
I like your short and breezy description of the journey.
Akhi,
Thanks for the compliment. Tampin shall always have a special place in my heart. My monthly trip to the town in 1957 always reminded me of the small sleepy town. Not more so now. It is so busy and as aptly described in a popular song by the Ito, starting with the line "Poie Pokan naik basika....", Tampin is now a noisy place.
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