Sweet memories of a salty river in Batang Kali, Hulu Selangor

WHAT? A salty river flowing through the hillside town of Batang Kali, Hulu Selangor?

It can be quite a puzzle for first time visitors passing through Kampung Sungai Masin on their way to a nearby hotspring, considering that the village is located far away from the sea.

Kampung Sungai Masin was founded more than 100 years ago by a group of settlers, who set up their homes by a stream, which was linked to Sungai Batang Kali.

One of the oldest villagers, 75-year-old Zainab Linchah remembers how her teacher, the late Cikgu Kamat, used to relate how the village got its name.

"Cikgu Kamat said one of the pioneer settlers had gone fishing at the stream in the jungle and found a sack filled with salt. This pioneer wondered, who had placed it there?

"Realising that no one could have possibly left the salt there, as the place was far away from the nearest house, the settler thought it was a gift from the spirits," Zainab narrated.

The settler then sprinkled the salt along the stream causing its water to turn salty for a while.

"That's how the village got its name," said the sprightly septuagenarian, who was once appointed the deputy 'headman' of the village.

Zainab said the stream used to be the sole source of water supply to the village, and everyone did their washing and had their bath in its crystal clear waters.

But over time, the stream became murky and dirty and when the government supplied piped water to the village in the 70s, the stream was abandoned.

"Now, no one wants to even step into it," she said.

There are three main villages in the area, the other two being Kampung Kuantan and Kampung Genting Malek.

Zainab explained that the first village was not founded by people from Kuantan, Pahang but by a clan named 'Kuantan' while Kampung Genting Malek was named after the person, who had discovered the ridge.

In the early days, the villagers were mostly rubber tappers who worked on their smallholdings.

"Although my parents were tappers, they pampered me and even bought me a Triumph motorcycle, which was the craze then. I was the first girl in my kampung to own a Triumph!" said Zainab with pride.

Zainab married Abdul Hamid Daran, 78, and the couple was blessed with 10 children.

She said the younger folk in the village worked mostly in factories now.

"We were once a closed-knit community and did everything together, especially when there was a feast or wedding to celebrate.

"If someone got married, everyone would chip in, whether it was to contribute rice, chicken or meat for the feast or decorations for the wedding dais.

"It was a lot of fun. But, slowly, this tradition died. Now the villagers engage caterers and guests donate cash."

Jamilah Ibrahim, 50, remembers fondly the gotong-royong style of weddings.

"The host, then, need not worry about food because everyone would chip in. But all this stopped in the 80s. Fortunately, my nephews who married had a taste of that tradition."

Now, apart from kampung houses dotting the village, there are pockets of housing estates comprising semi-detached and terrace houses.

Come Ramadan, the village is usually the centre of attraction among film directors.

"One kampung house stands out from the rest and has become a favourite place to film Hari Raya advertisements. This year, however, it was rather quiet," Jamilah said.


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