MEMORIES of yesteryear, childhood fun and forgotten friends flooded the thoughts of Lim Fee Seng, 53, as he took the bus back to Puchong for the last time from Pasarama Kota in Kuala Lumpur (Klang Bus Station) yesterday.
Lim, a former student of La Salle Brickfields remembers the time when the station was just a little stop by the Klang River with very few buses.
“I remember the bus company Kee Hup Omnibus that used to take me home to Puchong. My friends and I used to walk all the way from Brickfields to the station,” he said.
End of an icon: The Pasarama bus station will be closed to facilitate the construction of the underground Pasar Seni MRT station. Lim added that he was seven years old when he first started taking the bus from there. He fondly calls the rickety old buses with manual windows, the ‘Simple Bus’.
He even has a ticket of Bus No. 55 that he has kept as a bookmark till today. He is glad he managed to save a piece of his childhood.
Through his eyes, the old bus station looks beautiful even though it is has seen better days.
No place to go: Most of the traders who have been there for years including R. Mani have to move out. The place was built in the 1970s and through the years the management of the terminal has changed hands many times. It has long been known as a home for vagrants and those looking to find a job in the city.
Pasarama Kota is officially closed from today and its services relocated to Pudu Sentral (formerly Puduraya). The closure is to make way for the construction of a new underground Pasar Seni MRT station.
One of the most iconic organisations in the building, the KL Urban Fellowship — a centre for the homeless — has already moved to a new place.
Stalls and shops that used to operate there were seen packing up and closing their shops for good yesterday.
For many of the traders, they will always cherish bitter-sweet memories of their time at the station.
There is a special place in 79-year-old Siam Thoon Foong’s heart for the Klang Bus Station. He said the bus station witnessed his hard work to make his business a success during his younger days.
“I used to own a business in Tanjung Sepat and would head to Batu Road (Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman) several times a week to purchase my goods.
“I used to walk with a heavy load to the Klang Bus Station from Batu Road and board a bus home,” he said.
Today he comes to KL once a week for his regular check-ups at the Tung Shin Hospital. When he heard that the bus station will be moved to Pudu Sentral, he was relieved.
Siam said it would make his visits to the hospital easier as he would not have to walk too far to the station.
Another passenger who wished to be known as Sham, 46, said the place was nostalgic for him and his wife. Some 20 years ago, Sham and his fiancee would come down from Klang to enjoy a meal together in the food court at Pasarama.
“The place definitely has its charm especially for people like me but we have to give way to modernisation. This place is already rundown, a transformation would be good,” he said.
However, the closure will affect quite a number of people including the traders who have been there for years such as pioneer R. Mani, 60, who has had a news stand there for 40 years.
He took over the business from his mother after finishing his education and is unsure what to do once the place is closed down.
“I was one of the first here with another two stalls and I am the only one remaining today. I hope the City Hall can find us an alternative spot nearby to trade,” he said.
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