I remember (although not distinctly) that I used to gawk in awe at bus conductors. Why? Because they seem to have so much power on a bus. On the wheels, they have absolute authority, their voices command complete obligation while nobody can say no when they demand money. Imagine how I perceive the career then; absolute power. When the conductor say go in, people go in, when he or she wants you to sit at the back, you just do, when he wants you to go off into the street, you go. In short, on the bus, it becomes his kingdom.

Back then, conductors have this small device that goes ‘klik-klak’ (I think) when passengers pay for tickets. This, although I’m not proud to say, really enticed me. I never see that kind of device being sold everywhere back then. This signals that the device is extremely precious, a fact proven to be false, I discovered later. I remember vaguely that I made the request to Mak that I wanted the same thing, so I can play with it at home. Mak said nothing but now, I can imagine her horror.

‘ Why would my daughter wants to become a bus conductor?’

Mind you, I have nothing against bus conductors but even now, a woman conductor is uncommon, she must have taught it to be a very challenging job for me.

So please bus conductors, do not leave me at the side of the road because of this story. Where were we? Oh...

I discovered I was not the only one. A few of my childhood friends have the same adoration for bus conductors. How naïve can we be?

 Do you remember in primary school when the teachers ask about your ambition? I really, seriously contemplated to answer bus conductor during the first three years at during the primary school. But being in a girls’ school, I was never able to do so. I listened to my classmates’ ambitions; doctors, lawyers, accountants (yeah, those were unimaginative years) and decided to take the safe route. When I look back at the files, my ambitions did not vary; doctor, lawyer and teacher. I never had the chance to say tell my teachers the truth that I wanted to be a bus conductor. I wonder, how will she react if I happen to tell her just that?

To this day, I still look at bus conductors as very important figures. Without them, there will be total chaos on the bus. People will be standing anywhere (like RapidKL)  and people will spend nearly ¾ of their morning to wait for the bus.

So, am I the only odd one out, dreaming of becoming a conductor, or you also feel the same thing?