Blast From The Past: “Bas Mini Wilayah” Makes A Comeback At The Curve
Time to show your kids this ancient relic that used to transport you to your destinations back in the day.
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Kuala Lumpur has witnessed many things that have all but disappeared today.
Like the famous “bas mini” that is no longer in use, all that’s left of it are display units and photographs of days gone by.
As Hari Raya often makes people indulge in a little bit of nostalgia, the famous Kuala Lumpur mini bus is making a nostalgic comeback at the Curve in Mutiara Damansara.
The pink and white bus is part of the shopping mall’s “Beraya di Kota Raya” theme this year.
The bus sits alongside a replica bus stand and a grand blue house, decorated like your grandmother’s house in the 70s or 80s.
According to The Curve, the Mini Bus represents the people’s journey, connecting travellers who celebrate Aidilfitri in the city with old memories, bringing them to meet their families and friends.
The comeback of this Mini Bus has left netizens reminiscing about the good old days, when these vehicles were still around and operating in Kuala Lumpur.
One Facebook user commented on a post about the Mini Bus, saying that it was enjoyable living in Kuala Lumpur during the era when Mini Buses were still around.
He said that during that time, cost of living was very affordable, unlike now.
Some users described being in the mini bus like being in a sardine can because of how crowded the buses were.
They could still remember the bus drivers shouting and giving instructions for them to fill up the empty seats inside to fit more passengers in.
Some of them had to stand in the bus the whole journey because there were no empty seats left.
Nonetheless they still enjoyed the experience and were grateful that they had the chance to live through those days.
In the past, the popular Kuala Lumpur Mini Bus, or Bas Mini Wilayah, covered Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley areas.
The service started on 23 September 1975 under the Ministry of Transportation.
During that time, mini buses ran on a variety of routes depending on the colour of the bus (blue-white, yellow-white, red-white, purple white and dark green-white).
In 1990, Datuk Paduka Rahmah Osman, the Deputy Minister of Transportation, established pink and white as the standard colours for mini buses.
The mini bus service was then discontinued on 1 July 1998 and replaced by the Intrakota bus service and later, the RapidKL Bus in 2005.
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