By Amirah MesawiÂ
Waiting is one thing we cant avoid when using public transportation, be it a bus, train or a taxi. Weve all been there, waiting at a bus stop under Malaysias humid heat, feeling the sweat dripping down our backs anxiously waiting for that means of transportation to arrive; looking around and realising that you are not the only one going through it alone. Finally it arrives and the suspense turns into a sigh of relief.
As you hurry to enter you realise that you have to politely wait for the passengers to disembark first; those seconds feel like minutes before you actually get inside.
It may seem that using a taxi is the easiest form of public transportation because it picks you up from your current location and drops you at your set destination. However, there are situations where the struggle is just as hard as any other means of public transportation. Such as having the fear of the taxi not stopping because there are already passengers inside, finding a long queue for your turn to ride, the taxi driver not knowing the destination or not wanting to go to that set destination, the taxi driver pressing some hidden button that will charge you extra, fear of getting kidnapped, taking a longer route for an extra charge; the list of possibilities are endless.
As you open the door of the taxi you mention the destination expecting a sign of approval. Approval is given and you then encounter the ambience of the taxi. You either sit in a tobacco-scented ambience or an over-perfumed one. Its either very chilled or boiling hot. Trying to overcome what youve just encountered, the thought of using the back gate of the university crosses your mind. The frustration level increases as there is no apparent reason for the usage of the back gate to enter  or leave the university and not the front except for the fact that it will cost more as the ride will be longer.
There are three buses that take us in and out of IIUM: the RapidKL T231, RapidKL U12, and the Metrobus 91, each with its own set destinations. While waiting at the bus stop for the designated bus number to appear, we prepare our money or TouchNGo card to avoid traffic while boarding the bus, especially if it is a RapidKL bus.
The moment it appears we rush towards it hoping for it to stop or just hoping to get in as fast as possible to avoid baking in Malaysias heat. We have all been in that situation where the moment we enter a bus we eye for a good seat to sit in, be it that we want a person from the same gender beside us or we just prey on an empty seat that is not taken.
If all the seats are taken, the start of a long bumpy ride brings out your balancing act while standing. You have to maintain your balance through rough brakes, gear changes, sharp turns, speed bumps, and even through rapid acceleration after a stop. You anxiously anticipate your destination stop, making sure to press the alarm just before the bus reaches it as you would not want to miss it.
Even though the struggles with these forms of public transportation is real, we still appreciate them because they take us in and out of campus for a variety of reasons, be it for entertainment, work, shopping, leisure time, or even just travelling back and forth from home (for those who live outside the gates of IIUM).***
Photo of Malaysian Insider/Najjua Zulkefli