Kal El

"Two people were killed and 17 others seriously injured when the express bus they were in plunged into a 20m-deep ravine yesterday. The bus, owned by Genting Bhd, was heading from Genting Highlands to the city with 41 passengers. The accident took place at 6.30pm at Km25.5 of the Karak Highway." - The Star, June 4th 2008

I am not at all surprised this happened, again, for God knows how many times. I've been on these Genting buses several times and each time I vow not to hop into one again but what else can I do? They're the most convenient mode of transport to Genting. The last I was on the red Genting bus via Putra LRT Station in Gombak, it was driven like a 2-seater sports car. I don't know what the driver was thinking to a point he was racing with another red Genting bus. Doesn't he think of his passengers at all? If this is the way they're driving, no seat belts installed on expresses buses would assure a safe journey for passengers. Perhaps the drivers would think that since there are seat belts now, he can drive fasterlah!

KUALA LUMPUR - Dua maut, 17 cedera parah sementara enam hilang apabila bas yang dinaiki 41 penumpang dari pusat peranginan Genting Highlands terbabas dan terhumban ke gaung sedalam 20 meter di Kilometer 25.5 Lebuh raya Karak di sini petang semalam.

Seramai 16 penumpang yang lain cuma mengalami cedera ringan termasuk pemandunya dalam kejadian pukul 6.30 petang itu.

Mangsa yang terkorban berusia 40-an yang dipercayai baru kembali dari Genting Highlands untuk bercuti.

Ketua Trafik Daerah Gombak, Deputi Supritendan Rafiq Mohamed Mustafa memberitahu, siasatan awal tidak menolak kemungkinan bas berkenaan dipercayai hilang kawalan kerana jalan licin akibat hujan lebat.

Bas berkenaan yang membawa 41 penumpang itu sedang dalam perjalanan dari Genting Highlands menuju ke Hentian Puduraya.

"Dua penumpang yang terbunuh adalah seorang lelaki, Lim Chai Tee, 61, dan seorang perempuan yang belum dikenali, kedua-duanya tersepit dan meninggal dunia di tempat kejadian akibat cedera parah.

"Mayat mangsa lelaki berjaya dibawa keluar pukul 6.45 petang manakala mayat mangsa perempuan pula pada pukul 8.10 malam," katanya kepada pemberita di tempat kejadian.

MAYAT dua mangsa yang terbunuh dalam kemalangan tersebut.

Tambahnya, kawasan tersebut adalah dalam zon kemalangan dan pada 30 Mei lalu, berlaku kemalangan maut melibatkan treler enam kilometer dari tempat kejadian.

Sementara itu, Pengarah Jabatan Kesihatan Selangor, Rosnah Hadis berkata, seramai 16 penumpang dihantar ke Hospital Selayang manakala seorang penumpang lelaki dihantar ke Hospital Sungai Buloh.

Mangsa yang terkorban dihantar ke Hospital Kuala Lumpur bersama mangsa yang mengalami cedera ringan.

Sekurang-kurangnya 20 buah ambulans digunakan untuk mengangkat mangsa yang cedera dan yang terakhir dikeluarkan pukul 8 malam.

Sementara itu, seorang daripada penumpang, Ng Kien Wai, 20-an mendakwa, ketika kejadian bas tersebut dipandu laju ketika hujan lebat sebelum dia terdengar bunyi dentuman.

The last time we were here was a zillion years ago in 2004 to celebrate KN's birthday. We've been wanting to return but wasn't able to until the recent public holiday. It was something decided at the spur of the moment, a sudden decision to go to a place we used to go at least once a year.

After breakfast at McDonald's near Taman Melati, we took a bus from the Putra LRT Terminal in Gombak - a package we took that includes return bus tickets, return Skyway tickets and a pair of outdoor theme park tickets. It was considerably cheap as we only had to hop on the bus, take the skyway and enjoy ourselves at the theme park. We were wrong.

Yes the tickets were affordable but deciding to go on a public holiday was not a good idea. As we were early we thought we could do away with the crowd but as we reached the Skyway station we were taken by surprise as the queue was a mile long. So here we are thinking we were smart but there were many who were obviously smarter. It took us an hour before we could hop into a car.

The mishap didn't just stopped there. As expected the queue to most of the popular rides were as long too. So we decided to narrow down to the rides we really wanted to try - well, there wasn't anything new after 4 years except for the signature ride - the Flying Coaster. We've been wanting to go on this ride since it was first here more than 3 years ago.

So let's say that our trip to Genting this time was for the Flying Coaster. With the ticket we bought we were entitled to a couple of rides each. It was indeed a fun ride and how we wished we were able to go on it at least a couple more times but again, as any other rides, the queue was long so being in a line for two rides was enough in a day, but it was worth the wait. We'll just wait for the long overdue roller coaster ride @ Paris Disneyland, if we go there next year as planned, even if a half day queue is needed. We're determined.

Whatever it was, and however bad the experience were, we appreciate the time we had to spend with each other. A lesson learnt though - never go to such places on a public holiday unless you don't mind spending most of your time queuing.