Trishaws in Malaysia
When I look at my photo albums, I noticed that I have some trishaw pictures and decided to write about it. I am no historian but we all know that trishaw was one of the main transporation in Malaysia up to the 70s. Since then, rapid urbanisation has increased demand for more efficient public transport, resulting in the decreasing numbers of trishaws. I try to remember hard but I can only remember that I rode on one during the 70s in Alor Star when I was a child.
Today, they are operated as tourist attraction, mainly in Melaka, Penang, Terengganu and Kelantan.
Let’s take a look at trishaws in Melaka. I prefer it way back when it was in its much simpler state where there were no fake flower decorations. LOL. Less is more. But if fake flowers can attract tourists, so be it. I guess I can live with that. On second thought, I think the creativeness of the trishaw operators somehow made the trishaw unique. I would love to interview one of the operators one day and find out who started the trend.
And this one was in Penang. I love the trishaws in Penang, they were quite an antique! The originality is still there, no fake flower decorations. And look at the back stand; antique and precious.
And this one was in Terengganu when my son, Yassin was 3. Some were undecorated…
…but some were decorated with fake flowers as well. But not as exaggerated as the ones in Melaka.
I don’t have any pictures of trishaws in Kelantan but will definitely take a snap or two if I pass by the town. I did passed by Jeli during my road trip last February but did not went into town.
Last but not least, let’s take a look at the one in the National Museum. Purely an antique, 1950s.
Have you rode on trishaw before? Mind sharing the experience?
38 Comments
HLiza
I remember how my grandma (in melaka) always hired a trishaw to get us all to the market; I was 7 & and my bro 5. She was big so she occupied the whole seat; the kids squat the whole trip. She always paid slightly more because she said she’s heavy; pity the rider. The trishaw back then looked very much like the one with the 3-year old Yassin; and we called it ‘taxi’. I hold this memory dear to me; so I keep postcards, stamps and anything i can find that bears he trishaw pictures. Thanks for this post!
Mariuca
chop
Mariuca
Lama tak naik beca, love your photos here, thanks for sharing and happy weekend dear! 🙂
alyrds
Yesterday i got shock…. trishaws was in Kota Kinabalu too. What? But it’s true story by my friend…..
marvic
yup…. trishaws is in KK already.. as one of the city attraction.. 🙂
emila
Cool! I think dekat Kuantan pun ada tapi tak banyak.
emila
Thanks for the information. I shall take some pictures of it if I visited KK.
emila
Thanks dear. If you balik Boy’s kampung, don;t forget to naik beca. Happy weekend!
emila
Thanks for sharing the story, Liza! I thin kI should collect postcard with trishaw pictures as well.
Razifredz
Tak pernah naik beca .. walaupun biasanya jika ke Kota Bharu, Kelantan memang banyak. Anyway hari tu pergi Melaka pun tak naik juga. Lain kali kena naik nak rasa
emila
Kena naik juga sebab takut nanti lama-lama beca ni akan pupus.
azah
dulu saya pergi sekolah naik beca. dari darjah 1 sampai 3. hehe. sampai dicop budak beca. 😛
azah
ni entri saya tulis pengalaman naik beca. http://artmusiccat.blogspot.com/2011/07/saya-ingat-lagi.html
🙂
azah
eh, gambar yang last tu same la dengan beca saya naik!
azah
😀
azah
Kuantan? Tak pernah nampak pun beca kat sana…
azah
Kuantan? Tak pernah nampak pun beca kat sana…
emila
Dah baca. 🙂 Indah sekali pengalaman Azah.
azah
terima kasih kak! hehe. saya tak sempat lagi nak bukak blog sy, sebab dok busy kat blog akak.. hehehe
emila
Hahahahha…comel!
cikcloudy
kak em, i noticed there’s no travelogue entry on places in kelantan yet, im from kelantan, hope someday u’ll have a chance to visit kelantan n feature it in ur blog.. 🙂 we do have lots of trishaws in kelantan and some of the locals still use trishaw as a mean of transportation not juz for sightseeing. 🙂
emila
Ya belum lagi. I actually went to Kelantan few years back before I started blogging, gambar tu ada tapi rasanya dah basi kalau nak letak. My dad lived in Kelantan before he moved to his hometown in Temerloh. kelantan kampung mak tiri I.
Nanti one fine day, I’ll visit Kelantan, OK. And meet you juga. Kita naik beca.
mazny
A trishaw with fake flowers isn’t that bad!
mazny
Lately in Melaka, they are equiped with stereo. Lagu Bollywood lagi! Sampai kami confused… Eh, kita kat mana ni? LOL
mazny
Hmm, mana komen fasal pengalaman I ni. Tak keluarlah…
mazny
Hmm, I wrote it twice. Tapi tak keluar. Hehe
emila
Hahah LOL
emila
LOL tapi the fake flowers penuh dengan habuk!
Hazural
teringat saya waktu kanak2… my dad suka bawa kami naik beca kalau pulang ke kota bharu 😀
kak emi ada buat drawing berkaitan dengan beca?
jaja
when i was child around 95’s, i used to ride t’ganu beca….
only 50 cents or $1 per ride…
nowadays… still ade kat bandar kuala trg but only the elders prefer to ride it…
and looking at pak cik beca ni, kind of pity.. most of them seems too old but still got strength to kayuh the beca… and the money the get only around $2-$5..
penaberkala
kecik-kecik dulu pernah jugak naik beca ni
seronok
ainur roslan
walaupun org terengganu, tpi x pernah naik beca sebelum ni …
Lya
Kiutnye yassin..
Lya
Aik..kenapa komen xappear ?
Lya
Hehe…suka tgk beca..
imaisha
2 tahun yg lalu, saya naik beca with my friends – the decorated one in Malacca 🙂
Since we are 4 people, so 2 per one trishaw. My other friends were more lucky because the trishaw rider knows a lot about Malacca’s history and jadi mcm tourist guide gitu.. while yg kitorg punya beca pulak, org tu pegi buka lagu entah apa2. kuat pula tu.. stress dibuatnya =_=
So, next time nak naik beca, kena tgk juga penunggang becanya mcm mana. baru la dpt menikmati pengalaman menaiki beca 😉
Libby
Cantik sungguh gambar trishaw kedua (background biru)..alang bagus kalau dapat digunakan untuk cetak sebagai postcard…huhu
Chua Kong Hong
Anyone know where to buy or build trishaw in KL?
please contact me if you do.
konghong@live.com.my
Many thanks~!