Public Transport

It’s probably worth mentioning about public transport in Sibu.

There are of course a myriad of ways to get around in Sibu. It’s just not that convenient. The bus that I usually take is run by a company called Lanang Bus. The bus companies around here seem name themselves based on roads around Sibu. Another example is Teku Road Bus Company. The fare from the Hospital to the market in town is RM1.80 and I think the conductor auntie in the bus already recognises me. The ride is bumpy and unpleasant because of the age of the buses but the good thing is of course there are few passengers. Plus there is a distinct lack of the smell of body odour from deodorant deficient Banglas. However there is a lot of cigarette smoke smelling Indons. Maybe these Indon fellas should give their cigarette money to all those Banglas to buy deodorants, and then Malaysian buses will smell a lot nicer. (I know that sounded racist but I’m a Malaysian. I’m SUPPOSED to be racist.)

The taxis cost a lot. The starting price on the meter is RM10. However since no taxi in Sibu actually uses a working meter, most of the fare are based on general consensus and negotiation. Of course the price will never be less than RM10, that’s required by law (strange how people seem to obey some laws and blatantly disregard others...). The average cost of travelling by taxi from town to the hospital is RM20. Most taxi drivers will hang around the hospital after delivering passengers to the hospital because the long distance between town and hospital means that they will incur losses if they don’t have a passenger for the return trip. Taxis here don’t seem to operate past 8pm. Which leaves us to the next form public transport available in Sibu – the kereta sapu.

If you walk around the bus station near the ferry terminal you will find people offering transport service via unmarked cars – typically a Kancil with torn seats or a Wira with fading paint (they always seem to be Malaysian cars). These are known as kereta sapu. My first encounter with these guys was when I was waiting for a bus with a few girls at a bus stop when an unmarked Kancil stopped by and asked the girls if they wanted to go somewhere. Initially I genuinely thought that this was how people woo girls around these parts. “Rather archaic,” I thought. However, this in fact was standard practise amongst kereta sapu operators. They are faster than buses, cheaper than taxis and of course totally illegal. This means that it can be rather dangerous since theoretically there is no guarantee that the operators will not just kidnap you and whisk you away to work as a resident prostitute in one of the logging camps up river. However, in real practice most of these guys are well known to the locals and since you can share the journey with other passengers going along the same route, it is actually rather safe. In fact, you are perhaps more likely to get raped in a KL Metro Bus than if you hitch a ride with one of these guys.

The last rather popular mode of public transport in Sibu is the kereta sewa. Despite the name, these are usually vans that act somewhat like buses. Prices tend to be fixed and they are slightly more expensive than buses. I say slightly because the difference is only twenty cents or so. They are faster than buses as they tend not to bother with a designated route once capacity is reached. They have a bad habit of stopping nearly anywhere to pick up or drop off passengers. Once, one of these vans stopped to pick me up when all I wanted to do was cross the road! I didn’t make any signal that I wanted a ride and yet this van just stopped in front of me with the driver urging me to get in. Maybe me scratching my crotch by the side of the road is universally understood as “I need a ride, please stop,”

Kereta Sewa

However, since my car has arrived, I will be using less of these different modes of transportation from here on out.

The bus stop in front of the ferry terminal. This is where most intra city buses terminate. At the end of this covered area is where you can find the kereta sapu operators and in the parking space of a building on the left (which is the market) you can find all the licensed kereta sewa. Tua Pek Kong Pagoda is in the background.