Thomas Sia,Wilson Sakan and Bicycles in Tanjong Lobang

A batch of ulu boys, bicycles and a wonderful hill. These are good materials for a great Travel and Living Documentary.

But video recording was not even invented in 1960! All that one could see at that time was recorded in the mind.

My great memory of Thomas Sia was that he was a big boy with a big heart. He kept his hair well groomed like Elvis,he rolled his sleeves up to the shoulders to show his great muslces, as was the style of the day.

And then, he had the luxury of a beautiful bike - high saddled, low handlebars. He was akin the Michael Schaumaker, the Grand Prix driver of today. You know the feeling when Thomas passed by with his bike. He had speed, he had style, he had everything an ulu boy would wish for.

The Tanjong Lobang hill slope, going down to Teman Selera was indeed a steep slope and most students would run all the way down the slope but dread going back up hill. It would be a real drudge.

One day Thomas being the good hearted boy he was he offered Wilson Sakan a joy ride on his bicyle. Thomas put Wilson to seat on the bar and the two giggle as they rode around, Wilson in front and Thomas on his saddle. It was good to see two boys (Form Three, about 16 years old) on a bicyle having a fun time out.

Then without really realising what Thomas was about to do, Wilson found himself floating down the slope. It was a truly free wheeling experience.

When they reached the bottom of the hill, Thomas casually said," That's it. Good ride wasn't it?"

By then Wilson had crumpled into a nervous ball of human tensed up muscles and was weeping away.

"Thomas why did you do that? I almost died of fright!" was all Sakan could say. He had almost stopped breathing by then. He had held his breath when Thomas skillfully steered the bike down the slope at top speed.

Sakan had never been on a bicycle before in his life.

That ride helped him see life and death flashing in front of his eyes. We believed that he must have closed his eyes during the ride too.

One memory that would always flash through my mind was the way the late Taba bin Besar cycled down the hill at tremendous speed and almost killed himself. He flipped over the bike and fell into the drain. His face was very very damaged and that was a traumatic occasion for me because any physical harm was very painful to me.

Bicycles continued to be an important part of our lives. Most of us Ulu boys did not own one as we made do with walking all the way to town, which was about 5 kilometers, hitching rides from our teachers and taking the slow bus.