Hulu S'gor: The lay of the land

Perhaps only familiarity with the spread and sprawl of parliamentary constituencies in Sarawak would prepare one for Hulu Selangor’s girth.

It’s a huge ward - the size of Malacca. Its size has been bruited about in recent days as preparations shifted into gear for the by-election on April 25.

Fortunately the roads, unlike Sarawak where rivers are the main mode of access to the villages in the interior, are good and travel is easy but for the multi-wheeled trailer that gives you an uncomfortable feeling if it’s impatient in your rear.

Even if you get off the North-South Highway at Bukit Beruntong and work your way across to Sungai Choh before rejoining the trunk road that leads just north of Rawang to Serendah, Batang Kali and Rasa before taking the first turn right towards Kuala Kubu Baru town, you would have left out Hulu Bernam, in the northern reaches of this constituency that borders Tanjong Malim.

That’s how extensive the lay of the land is in this constituency in the northeastern part of Selangor state.

And that description would leave out the part that turns left at Batang Kali if you are returning by way of the trunk road to Rawang.

This is the part that can lead to Genting Highlands by way of a left turn and you if keep straight ahead, you are on to Batu Caves, a route which includes some of the more bucolic retreats you could come across, built around streams whose waters have not yet been polluted and where fish are visible in their deeper recesses.

Microcosm of Malaysia

Yes, Hulu Selangor is huge - it’s vast and it has all three races living in occupational-cum-residential enclaves, plus the Orang Asli who are wedged in the interstices.

It’s a microcosm of the Malaysia that has yet to figure in the development plans of socio-economic planners.

That may be a blessing, given the way some areas have gone after planners have foisted their conurbations.

Some parts of Hulu Selangor, especially the views that obtain on the drive by way of the first right turn in from Batang Kali, simply plead against the threat of haphazard transformation into suburban anonymity.

A Buddhist hermitage lies off the road that bisects two expanses of largely untouched land and a fishing pond girdles one stretch, eyries, no doubt, for the harried urbanite seeking a respite.

On the eve of the nomination day for the by-election on April 25, with traffic heightened and flags of the contesting parties fluttering, Hulu Selangor still had the placid look of a large mammal which knows that after the hubbub, things would return to the languid pace of the status quo ante.