Setapak, Five Years Later
So it's July. Half the year has gone by. Today marks five years since I returned to Setapak after moving to Petaling Jaya to my wife's family home when I got married. For context, we were the only ones who lived there as all of her family members lived in separate places. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, however, my sister-in-law had to return from overseas. Both my wife and I felt that we would appreciate the privacy, thus we decided to move to our own place.
Why Setapak? There were many reasons that made us choose this area. Honestly, it was not even on our minds at first as we preferred to live in Petaling Jaya. But the rental rates there were well above our means. After browsing the property listings around KL and PJ, Setapak seemed competitive. Also, I had lived there for a while so I was familiar with the area. Another thing was that during the lockdowns, travel was restricted to only within the district. My mum's health was on the decline at the time, so I felt it would be easier for me to drop by her place if I stayed in Setapak.
This month also marks my 18th year of living in the Klang Valley. I was born in Perak, schooled in Penang, but have mostly lived in Kuala Lumpur. It still feels surreal that I have lived half of my life here. If there's one thing I have to say about this place, it's that the pace is relentless. Things just don't stop moving. Tasks just don't end. Time races on and on. It's hard to catch a breath, and the air quality doesn't help. I do miss living in places with a slower pace of life.
But things have to change. Cities change. People change. Friends come and go. Even our loved ones cannot stay with us forever. Both of our mums have passed. When you experience a real loss, life will never be the same again. Grief becomes unseen scars. Even the constant rejuvenation of city life cannot heal the pain inside. The only thing one could do is just to keep on moving.
Eventually, we all have to say goodbye. Move to better places. Calmer places. Where we are truly loved and feel worthy of living. Hopefully at the end of our journey, we can look back, smile, and be thankful for having lived through it all.
