I heard over the TV this evening that the new Highway from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan would not be open until August.... Disappointing indeed, but I hope it is open in August as stated, for I have been getting news before that part of the road would be open in June and the rest would be open at the end of July....Now it is a different story altogether...It would now be open in August.... Anyway after waiting for almost forty seven years... To me it is ok that I had to wait another few months to be able to drive on this new Highway to my hometown of Kuantan.... I had use this road that connect Kuantan on the east coast to Kuala Lumpur since my childhood.... I have travel on the old road by bus and car.... to Kuala Lumpur before the Maran Road was built... And after that I even have cycle to Kuala Lumpur with a group of scout friends, an adventure that I shall not forget..... You know that in the early days of our independence to get to Kuala Lumpur the capital of the then Malaya, one had to drive all the way up to Jerantut, then to Benta, then to Raub and from Raub you have a choice, either to take the Gap Road or the Bentong Road to get to Kuala Lumpur, both ways the road wind it ways on hills side and through dense jungle and at place control by the terrorists we call at that time as the communists...And if you are unlucky get shot at, like one of the British High Commissioner then, was ambush at the Gap and killed... It became an international headline.... A top British Official in colonial Malaya was shot dead by the communist.....Well...Let me describe first the road to KL from Raub to Bentong....One thing for sure that all roads built by the British engineers are not straight, it is always winding...I just could not understand why all the roads built by the British during the colonial era were never straight... May be they want to make it difficult for people to communicate from one place to another.... Perhaps so...I just do not know.... On the road side there are sign board showing caution and a drawing of a winding roads.... It was a joke then when we saw this sign.... Everyone say that the road is for the 'drunk' only....For that matter the only road built straight by the British were in the towns..... Other then in the towns,there was never a straight road built by the British... Some even say that it was construct on purpose so that it would take longer to get from point A to B... It is a sort of a strategies of the divide and rule policy normally used by the colonialist...The roads passes through area where there are virgin jungle and hills and deep gorges... The road winds its ways like snake through the jungle, along side the hills, down hill and up again and some times it would take hours to get from Bentong to Kuala Lumpur on this road... If one take the Gap road it is much longer and very steep and at that time it is infested by the communist guerilla and it is dangerous.... So getting to Kuala Lumpur in those days especially during the colonial era is no joke and it is real strenuous as well as dangerous.... the traveling time including the ferry time at Kuantan, Jerantut and Temerloh rivers would take almost twelve hours or sometime during the raining season it would take fifteen hours to get from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur... And only bus carry passengers at that time and the buses are not like the one we use today, there were no air condition and it rattled all the time... And your body would ache all over on arrival at your destination.... It is not an enjoyable journey,in fact it is rather torturing in the heat and humidity of the tropic.... People travel just because of business and not for pleasure.... And later on after independence a new road linking Maran to Temerloh was built shorting the distance a bit and for a few years it was just a laterite road, red earth in color.... And using this road to KL would reduce the traveling distance about three hours... Still there are ferry to cross one at the Kuantan River and the other at the Pahang river near Temerloh..... And because the road is of laterite, traveling in bus with the window open, the fine red earth would get to your hair and clothing and when you arrived at the destination your hair would be stiff and red or pink in color and your white shirt would be colored.... That was the way to travel then from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur .... As we progress the Maran Temerloh part of the road was paved with tar and eventually bridges were built over the rivers and the traveling time was shorten... But then it was still a winding narrow road all the way making overtaking difficult and dangerous, anyway it was easier to travel and this same road have been upgraded from time to time but it is still the same old road....The same old road that was built by the British long ago...So traveling to and fro Kuantan Kuala Lumpur was never a good journey...You would never enjoy traveling on this road.... Until today the road is the same except that it is now safe to travel to and fro, there are no more communist guerilla lurking on the fringe of the road....They are gone after been defeated by the elected government and their causes rejected by the people after indenpendence....And it has been forty seven years since independence and still the new highway that they start to built some four years ago has not been completed and as yet to open.... As I had said before... I have waited all my life to drive on this new Highway and hope that come August this year this new road would be open to the public..... And I pray and hope that I would be there to drive in comfort for the first time on a Highway to my hometown of Kuantan..... And it would take just about two and half hours to get to Kuantan.... What a way to travel on this Highway... Hope they do not postponed the opening again.....