Lambu spotted at the bus stop Sitting alone and looking forlorn at a Jalan Permaisuri bus stop yesterday morning, a woman said she was penniless and had nowhere to go in the city.
Lambu Babang she called herself.
She claimed that she was from Julau, and that if she were to go home, she would have to walk all the way (approximately 500 km).
She said she arrived in a bus from Julau early yesterday morning, but when pressed further, she said it was her nephew who fetched her and let her out at the bus stop upon arriving here.
She called him Jangat.
“I’m looking for Jangat, the son of my sister who works here,” she said when asked where she would go from the bus stop.
She repeatedly said she came from Julau in a bus and that she came here to look for Jangat who had promised to show her around and let her stay with him.
According to her, the Julau-Miri bus fare cost her RM20.
She then revealed that her husband died in June last year and that she has four children (the eldest being 20 years old), but some time later she said she was single.
She claimed that she had applied for a MyKad but it is not ready for collection.
Regarding her age, she said she was 20 years old.
She claimed she was the youngest of eight siblings. One of her brothers was a soldier in Kuala Lumpur.
On the whole, it was hard to get a fully coherent story from her.
She was not even sure of her own background and where she would like to go.
Judging by her condition, she could have been stranded in the city for God knows how long.
When was the last time she had a proper meal? Yesterday, or was it a few days ago? One dreaded to ask.
Her clothes looked unwashed for quite sometime, so she looked unkempt and unhygienic.
Nevertheless, she claimed she had good bath in Julau before coming here.
She had two big plastic bags and one ‘tekeding’ (an Iban basket made of plastic strips) in which she kept her belongings and some kitchen utensils.
She claimed to have lost her purse and money and other documents, and that her bus fare was paid by Jangat.
Hence, she would not have any meal for the day, she lamented.
When asked about returning to Julau, she said as she had no money, she would have to walk.
To her Julau is not far. It’s only at the other end of Miri.
“I will pause for some rest on the way,” she said.
What would she eat?
“I’ll just eat grass or cook some earth if I become hungry. I have a cooking pot here,” she said, patting one of her bags.
Borneopost Online 24/03/2010
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