My early years, the way I remember it...2

I was not exactly of schooling age when I was moved to stay with my stepmom.  She was a wonderful lady who had aspired to be a school teacher after completing her year six education.  In a world where girls were seldom schooled, what more completing the primary education, a year six school certificate was a good enough pre-requisite for her to continue to be trained as a school teacher.  But fate was not on her side as she was forced into marriage soon after completing her year six education.  She had a son from her first husband that ended in a divorce.  Circumstance had it that the son was cared for by her grandmother when she married my father.  My father was then a planter venturing into deep pre-logged jungle to farm rubber trees.  That was not a place for a new born.  However, I was of age to join my father and Ma.  My life long lesson as a biologist, ecologist and agriculturist begins here.

I remember then that the settlement was quite a distance from Rantau Panjang town and was only accessible with a 4-wheel drive, the hardy Land Rover, during the dry season.  A few were used as 'taxies' ferrying passengers into the new landholdings.  Normally these were laden with passengers and their provisions for their extended stay in the settlement.  It used to take us about 4 - 5 hrs to reach our destination using this mode of transport.

During the wet monsoon season, we used the passenger boats.  These boats plied the settlements along the Sungai Golok river.  I remember the frothy swollen river and the ride upstream, against the current.  We boarded the boat at about noon at the Rantau Panjang jetty and with the frequent stops along the way for passengers to disembark at their respective destinations, we would only reached ours at about 9 pm.  Then there was another 30 minutes - 1 hr walk to our house.  Imagine a small sleepy child walking in the dark with the parents at that hour in deep jungle!  I can't hope for a ride on my father's shoulder or Ma to carry me.  They we both laden with our needs for the few weeks stay until our next trip to town.

Things have indeed change.  I don't know about the boats, whether they are still in use or not.  But one thing for sure, with the road that we now have, a car ride to the holding now takes us less than 25 minutes!  The decision to acquire the land to farm was indeed a brilliant foresight on my father.