By Zulheimy Maamor - Form 4 & 5, Setapak High School
My Name is Zulheimy Maamor, I was 17 in 1978. Hair to the shoulders, kemeja collar besar, seluar corduroy. No handphone, no internet. Just a pair of Bata shoes and a 20-sen coin for public phone. No handphone no Internet.
Sekolah - Setapak High School
Our School was called High School Setapak - English name, in Malay Sek.Men.Tinggi (Inggeris) Setapak, KL, English medium school. Some subject in English and some in Malay. Teacher taught Mathematic in English, but we answered in mixed Malay, " Sir, I don't understand lah sir, very susah..." Everyone laughed, even the teacher laughed..... "This Melayu, speak English must have one or two Malay words...."
Morning assembly at 7:30am sharp. Mr. Chia & Cikgu Khairuddin, a Cikgu with rotan. Mr. Chia once scolded me, "Zul, cut your hair a bit, this is school, not a Deep Purple concert."
Lencana sekolah on our chest, but inside we were listening to Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and D'lloyd on Radio Malaysia.
These two photos are the most precious, Mom kept them in a brown leather album. The top photo, is Form 3B Industrial Arts, the workshop class we called ourselves, the noisiest class, full of wood dust. The teacher told us to make a bookshelf, I made a cat hammock instead.
Everyone in a white short, white shirts and green ties, side-parted hair, white Bata shoes that had turned grey from workshop dust.
In 1978, Form 5 Arts 1, completely different, white shirt and green pants. Hair grown long covering ears, teachers complained, but for the photo session, everyone combed it neatly.
Jalan-Jalan KL - Chow Kit & Petaling Street
That photo of me in Chow Kit Road 1978? That was my everyday. Mini Buses number 14 honking, Toyota Corolla and Datsun 120Y jammed, trishaw uncles kayuh, and the smell of Kedai Runcit Eng Huat. Petaling Street with red lanterns hanging, makciks selling vegetables, Chinese signboards handwritten.
My bus from Greenwood Park to Chow Kit is Mini Bus no. 14. When it came, the conductor will shout, "Gombak, Chow Kit, Chow Kit, Setapak... masuk dalam lagi..masuk..masuk...." Fare was 60 cents.
Petaling Street was where you hunted for second-hand corduroy pants. It smelled of satay and drains a little, but it was vibrant. Chinese, Malay, Indian — everyone hung out together. No fights. We spoke rojak — "Boss, how much is this? So expensive! Give discount lah, we school boys."
Gaya Budak 70an
We all had the same look - long wavy hair, sideburns, shirts with two front pockets. You see my blue shirt photo from 1979? That was my favourite going-out shirt. Beli kat Chow Kit for RM12. Mahal masa tu.
Kedai Pak Mat & Se Botol Coke
After school lepak at warung kayu. One bottle Coca-Cola glass share two orang. Behind me - Biskut Roma & Capri Sun. That was our 7-Eleven.
Kawan-Kawan - "Do you think you could go back..."
That group photo of six of us in 1978? That was my geng Setapak - Jasvinder Singh (lost contact), Fanthasir (arwah), Ridzuan (lost contact), Mazahari (lost contact), Sham (Arwah) and me.
We had nothing, but we had everything. No WhatsApp, but if you want to jumpa, you just come to the kedai at 5pm. Everyone will be there.
Our hangout?
Sitting by the drain, feet on the road, Fanthasir with Guitar and Sham is our vocalist.... Watching car passby, talking about our school, about the favourite girl from Air Panas Girl School, who later become Drama actress, forgot her name.... and of my favourite Amoy from nearby stall at Ayer Panas Padang, always smile at me.... talking about what we wanted to be after school.... None of us set foot in university, but we were successful in life too... three of us was in Security Forces, Sham with the Traffic Police, Ridzuan with the Police Field Force and me with the Royal Malaysian Navy.... the other three , not sure what ever they be.....
Not even one said they wanted to be an influencer - that world didn't even exist...
Could I go back to living like we did in the 70's without internet, smart phones?
Honestly - seminggu boleh lah. Rindu zaman tu. Simple, honest, and every day was an adventure from Setapak to Chow Kit.
"Friends in the 70s were different. Fight in the morning, playing football together in the evening. No blocking, no unfollowing. Even if the fight was big, next day you'd bring kuih from your mom's house, and just like that you're good again."
Now I'm in my 65 ... my kids ask, "Father, wasn't it boring without a handphone?
I just smile.
Boring?
We never had time to be bored. If we were bored, we invented our own games, marbles, batu seremban (mostly girls), chasing around the field, Galah Panjang, Konda Kondi until Maghrib when Mom shouted from afar, " Ooii... tak gheti nak balik ke?".......
Without internet, we were closer. Those day, when you're far away and missed someone, you write a letter. It took you one whole day to write a 5 pages letter to your girl friend and only 1 1/2 page to your parents....
That is me and my friends, the Setapak High School boys, who believed friends were more important that grades.
Now KL's has changed. Chow Kit now has a mall, the Mini buses, Leng Seng and Sri Jaya had gone..... but everytime when I close my eyes at night, I can still hear the the roar of the minibus engine and the conductor shouting, "Gombak, Setapak, Chow Kit.... haaa... masuk dalam lagi... masuk, masuk....."
Hj Zulheimy Maamor
23 August 2026: 12.13 p.m
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