much has been written about the ‘past performance’ of dubai school busses – no safety precautions. rude bus drivers. bus attendant who pinches kids’ thigh. and of course, speeding. also, some the kids on the bus can be unruly, and bullying!
however, khaleef had an absolute opposite experience!
alhamdulillah, the bus moved at an acceptable speed, the driver is friendly, the bus conductor is always smiling and the kids on the bus were behaving well. it was an enjoyable bus ride for khaleef, on his first day of school!
yeap. it’s khaleef’s 1st day of school!
my handsome boy all grown up!
day one started uneventful. which is a good thing!
khaleef had no trouble getting up as early as 6, lounge around watching ben10 while having breakfast, take his bath without any apprehension, dress up in his strapping school uniform, grabbed his school bag and was more than ready to go!
khaleef’s school bus!
when did malaysia school bus changes color to orange? well, as far back as i can remember, it had always been orange! and that was way back in the 90’s! however, for dubai – only by the end of 2008, dubai school busses must be painted yellow, and the windows tinted or supplied with blinds.
gile lambat kan. haha.
khaleef atas bas
on his school bus, there are two adults on board – the driver, and the conductor. for kids as young as khaleef, the conductor will go down, escort him up the bus, sit him down, and will do the same when they drop him off after school.
everyone seemed to be behaving fairly well!
kat dubai pun ada vandalisme jugak atas bas ok! jangan ingat kat malaysia je. hihi.
this sure brings back memories. AAQ bus. TE bus. these are the keramat plate numbers that i must forever remember all through my school years. the chinese uncles who drove the busses are all so lepak and very friendly, especially uncle AAQ (i wonder how he’s doing now).
however, being on a school bus as a school-going teenager, i experienced all sorts – from dangling by the bus door for my dear life in a super-packed bus, to trying not to faint while being in a bus full of sweaty teens on a rainy day with the windows closed! phew!
if you were late to get on the bus, the bus simply leaves (the bus driver assumed that the student had extra-curricular activity)! which means hours of waiting for the public bus at the bus stop in front of the school!
i’m not sure about now, but when i was part of the ‘gang bas sekolah’, it was all about making money. the bus was like a sardine can – packed to the max! i wonder how did i ever survive commuting to school each day?
also an interesting part of taking a school bus – this was where monkey loves blossom!
while the lucky convent girls get to ride the bus with the cute andersonians and st michael boys (because the schools are near each other), we the cute girls from the methodist girls’ school had to accept the fact that we’re sharing the bus with only girls; the raja perempuan girls, and perak girls school. no boys!
oh well, i was a clear-cut tomboy back then, so no exciting stories there. except that, there was this one ‘prince’ who passed me a raya card once…
fat-forward to the present – there i was, now a mom of three, waiting for my 1st born, on his first bus ride home. by 12pm, it was time to wait for khaleef’s bus to drop him off at our condo.
i was worried – did he cry? was he bullied? did he sit properly? but by khaleef’s expression as he got off the bus, i knew my worries were for nothing! he seemed so okay, and his big huge kerang busuk grin spoke volume of how he enjoyed the trip back home from school.
i must admit, i even felt a slight selfish need for him to at least look monyok because he misses his mak. tapi takde lansung! ceh!
* * *
only i can pass my wisdom of bus-riding to khaleef. why? because his bapak had absolutely NO experience riding on a school bus. tsk tsk. rugi. tak rock lah. haha. maklum la. budak asrama. duduk kolej melayu pulak tu. haha.
it’s up to me then to share with khaleef all my adventures on the school bus!
13 comments:
nampak dah besar sungguh dah. good luck khaleef!
yala.. dah boleh pegi sekolah dah.. hehe.. :)
Baguslah conductor bus kt Dubai ni siap hntr sampai ke bawah lg bdk2...
that's normal for a mom to worry so much about her child esp. when he has started to ogo to school. I was worried about Fathini too when I wanted to leave her (only for 2 hours pun) at her kindy when we just recently came back to Msia.
Good luck Khaleef....conteng menconteng kat mana2 pun ada.
yey! dah sekolah anak mak..
>> thanks, aunty arin! ;)
>> aunty ramona, dah besa nak masuk 5tahun dah, xboleh duk rumahhhh je hihi
>> aunty affieza, mmg uncle conductor tu baik & take care suma kids betul2 smpai turun bas :)
>> aunty nur, yes you can never be too careful these days. anything can happen anywhere!
aunty lina & uncle pala maldini - THANKS! ;)
Memang Khaleef mature betullah syigim..bagus syigim bela anak..:)anak kak linda masa first day nangis2 suma.agaknya sebab kak linda pun duduk je depan pintu kelas dia,mana tak mengada,cikgu pun cakap leave je nanti oklah dorang.
kak linda, alhamdulillah la khaleef xde problem :) mak dia garang sgt kot. nk mengada pun takut kena lesing kang hahahahahaah..
saya juga pernah naik Penang Yellow Bus saorang diri dari KOMTAR ke Bayan Baru masa umur 10 tahun. masa tu tiada jenayah. keretapi dari Kuala Kangsar ke Butterworth pun menarik kerna merentasi sawah padi..
~budak kolej
budak kolej, terima kasih atas titipan memori itu... :P
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