In the modern world, everything should be fast. That is including transportation. Since that, many modern vehicles have been made, and many other which considered traditional have been modernized, so they can move faster and safer. Such efforts, however, make the environment suffer, because many modern transportation modes resulting more pollution.
In many countries in Asia, however, many traditional transportation modes are still being used up till now, especially in the rural areas, and also in some tourist areas.
One of the so called traditional transportation modes is an environmental-friendly and pedal driven vehicle which is known as ‘becak’ in Indonesia. The ‘becak’ is a modernization form of the human pulled rickshaw which was originally found in the ancient Japan.
As for the name, I found two versions of its origin. A version said that the name was derived from the Hokkien term ‘be chia’ which means horse carriage. The other version said that many Chinese who came to Medan in the end of 18th century were so poor and did not have anything except the clothes they wore; so in order to get food they had to work hard which many of them chose to be the driver of a kind of vehicle that similar to nowadays ‘becak’. When people asked how come they did such a hard work, they said ‘bo chia’ which means cannot eat or haven’t eaten. The term ‘bo chia’, then became ‘becak’.
In Indonesia, ‘becak’ can be found in many rural areas across the country even-though they are become extinct nowadays. ‘Becak’ usually has three wheels; those are a pair of wheels at the front part which is also where the passengers sit, and one wheel at the back. The ‘becak’ in many parts of Indonesia are similar, and yet they also have their unique form which is differing from one area to the other. ‘Becak’ is suit comfortably for two passengers, but it is depends on the size of the passengers of course
- becak in bandung
- waiting for passengers in bandung
- becak in bandung
- becak in cimahi
- becak in madura
- becak in lasem
- becak in cirebon
- becak in lampung
- becak in kudus
- becak in palembang
- becak in medan
- becak in semarang
- becak in solo
- becak in tangerang
- becak in tegal
There are also motorized ‘becak’ which can be found in North Sumatera. They called ‘betor’ or ‘becak motor’. The ‘betor’ in Pematang Siantar, North Sumatera, even more unique, because they use old motorcycles to be attached to passenger carriages.
Ringkasan:
Kecepatan menjadi kata kunci di era modern seperti sekarang. Ini berlaku juga untuk urusan transportasi. Untuk urusan kendaraan, sayangnya kecepatan berarti juga semakin tingginya tingkat pokusi karena semakin banyak pula kendaraan bermotor yang dipergunakan.
Meskipun demikian, di beberapa Negara Asia, beberapa jenis kendaraan tradisional masih tetap dipertahankan. Salah satunya adalah sebuah kendaraan ramah lingkungan yang kita kenal dengan nama becak. Menurut sejarahnya, becak merupakan pengembangan bentuk dari kereta penumpang yang ditarik manusia dan dikenal dengan nama rickshaw yang pertama kalinya muncul di Jepang pada jaman Shogun.
Untuk nama, ada dua versi yang menjelaskan asal-usul nama becak. Yang pertama mengatakan bahwa istilah becak berasal dari istilah Hokkien ‘be chia’ yang berarti kereta kuda. Sementara versi lain mengatakan bahwa pada akhir abad ke 18, banyak orang China miskin yang datang ke Medan untuk mencari kehidupan yang lebih baik. Karena mereka tidak memiliki apa-apa kecuali pakaian yang melekat di badan, mereka bekerja mengandalkan otot untuk mendapatkan makanan. Kebanyakan dari mereka memilih untuk menjadi penarik kereta penumpang yang merupakan cikal bakal becak jaman sekarang. Ketika ada orang yang bertanay mengapa mereka mau bekerja seperti itu, hampir semuanya menjawab ‘bo chia’ yang artinya tidak bisa makan. Kata ‘bo chia’ ini lama kelamaan berubah menjadi becak.
Di Indonesia, becak dapat ditemukan di hampir semua kota. Bentuknya boleh dibilang sama, meskipun beberapa bagiannya sedikit berbeda di suatu kota dibandingkan dengan kota lainnya. Semuanya punya tiga roda dengan penumpang berada di depan si pengemudi, kecuali di Medan, dimana pengemudi mengayuh becaknya di samping tempat duduk penumpang. Di Medan dan sekitarnya, dikenal juga adanya becak bermesin yang dikenal dengan nama betor. Bahkan di Pematang Siantar betor-nya unik karena mempergunakan moge sebagai penggerak.
Pada umunya becak cukup nyaman jika ditumpangi dua orang penumpang. Tapi itu tergantung ukuran penumpangnya juga sih
Suka foto “sleep well… sweet dream” becak… 🙂
– lokasinya dimana mas ?? #lucu –
Terimakasih, Mas.
Foto yang itu aku dapat di Tegal. Kebetulan lagi motret bangunan tua di dekat situ, eh kebetulan lihat si bapak lagi tidur nyenyak di becaknya 😀
The last picture is so funny 😉 Nice post!
Yup, I agree with you Jenny. That was also in my mind when I took that picture 🙂
So bright and colorful and representative of keeping our environment healthy. My two favorites are in Bandung and Tegal. Thanks for sharing Chris! Blessings, Robyn
Hi Robyn, thank you 🙂
Suka semua fotonya mas, bikin kangen pulkam
foto yg terakhir itu terlihat nikmat sekali ya cara beristirahat bapak pengayuh becaknya 😛
Termakasih, Mbak Ely.
Iya Mbak, mungkin dia kecapekan dan gak sempat pulang ke rumah. Foto terakhir itu aku ambil pagi hari soalnya.
pengen naik becak yang di medan deh om. kayaknya lucu 😀
Aku juga belum sempat coba naik becaknya di Medan, padahal sama seperti Masya, aku juga pengen 😀
Becaknya unik-unik :). Kayanya kalau sekarang cuma muat satu penumpang deh, maklum makin besar2 badan orang2 jaman skrng :D.
Kalau gak terlalu besar sih masih muat berdua, Mbak, meskipun terasa agak sempit 😀
Becak di medan nyumbang polusi juga mas hehe
Iya Mbak, yang betor memang nyumbang polusi 🙂
Kalau di Jakarta, becak dah gak ada mas…
hilang ditelan aturan:)
Sebetulnya di daerah pinggiran masih ada sih, Mas. Cuma memang sudah jarang banget.
iya sih. tapi di daerahku (yang juga pinggiran) dah gak ada.
Memangnya tinggal dimana, Mas?
wih kompilasi foto becak dari segala daerah.. Dan saya baru sadar bentuk becak itu beda beda yah 😀
Iya, meskipun belum bisa dapat kumplit dari semua daerah di Indonesia.
Secara umum sih memang kelihatan sama, tapi kalau diperhatikan masing-masing daerah ada keunikannya sendiri-sendiri.
Koleksi foto2 becaknya oke juga pak. lengkap banget tp yang becak jogja kok kaya’ e ndak ada. 🙂
Ada koq Mbak, malah aku taruh paling atas tuh.
Ops, maaf pak. Saya malah tertarik liat yang bawah ya 🙂
Tadinya malah aku kira fotonya gak muncul, Mbak 🙂
Iya yang bawah memang menarik, padahal waktu motret sempat kuatir kalau sampai dia kebangun dan marah-marah gara-gara aku potret.
Nggak berani naek becak. Takut:D
Pernah kebalik becaknya? 😕
Nggak pernah naek becak. Takut kalau kenapa kenapa yang kena penumpang duluan:p
Kalau keseruduk dari belakang, penumpang kenanya belakangan koq 😀
Yes, that last photo is very interesting!
Thank you, JK 😀
becak Jogja paling gede.. tapi isinya dikit 😛
Tergantung yang ngisi sih, Jo 😀
hahahahahhaha….
😀 😀
hahahaa paling asik foto terakhir dah 😀
Wah hampir semua suka foto yang terakhir rupanya 😀
posisi tidurnya itu loh mas, uenak tenan, pasrah lah pokoke hahah 😀
Betul, justru posisi tidurnya itu yang bikin lucu 😀
Di Medan hampir saja aku dapat satu lagi abang becak tidur yang gak kalah lucunya, sayangnya waktu itu aku kurang beruntung. Begitu aku siap motret dia bangun 😦
Bermacam macam modelnya…
Tapi tetap ada kesamaannya 🙂
Great post Chris! Thanks for the information and the photo’s. I especially got a good chuckle at the last photo.
Thank you 🙂
foto pamungkasnya unik banget Pak Kris 🙂
He he he . . . kebetulan nemu 😀
You’ve been tagged, my friend….:) Please visit this link :
http://cristimoise.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/ive-been-tagged/
Thank you, Cristi 🙂
Interesting article! 🙂 Marsha 🙂
Thanks, Marsha 🙂
Pengen naek mamang becaknya saya mah.
Hah . . . gak salah nih? 😯
Chris, sustainability at its best! Excellent post 🙂
Thank you, Judy
ah ^ – ^ in my place,there is a kind of transportation which has so many things in common with the Becak of yours – we call them “xích lô” (you may ask mr.Google to know more about it 😛 ) this transportation used to be very popular before, women catched them to go to the market, childens on xích lô to school….., now they are mainly for foreign tourists…uhm…bittersweet feeling ^ – ^
I heard about your xich lo, Yin. Yes they are very similar with becak. You know, once becak was also the vehicle used by women to go to the market and by children to go to their school like the xich lo in your country. Nowadays becak is still in use in many small towns in my country
it’s so happy to hear that Becak is still popular in your country,Chri13jkt ^ – ^ and happy to receive this reply of yours as well- to know that you are ok 🙂 hope you will get well and feel better soon!
Thank you for your kind attention, Yin 🙂
Environmental Vehicle on EARTH. Tukang Becak should consume GOOD Nutrient, but Would we pay for higher price? Really Funny the Pictures and Surprise me Collect from different places in Indonesia.
SUCCESS Pak Christ
That’s the problem Pak Kharis, I think nobody want to pay a high price to ride on a becak 😦
Becak is not only ‘environmental friendly’ tapi juga sangat bagus untuk kesehatan jantung tukang becaknya.. he he.. Serius.!
Betul, Mbak. Buat tukang becaknya memang bagus buat kesehatan jantungnya, tapi buat penumpangnya kadang-kadang bikin jantungnya hampir copot karena kadang cara jalannya yang serampangan 😛
Blog yang menarik 🙂 Yuk, teruskan berbagi ide kreatif lewat blog-blog menarik. Kunjungi juga http://malumaluin.wordpress.com/ Salam malu-maluin!
Terimakasih 🙂
Would you like to visit my blog? I write there about you.
http://wandamichalakdomkuncewiczow.wordpress.com/
Hi Wanda, thanks. I will visit your blog right after this.
tetanggaku ada yg jd tukang becak di Malioboro loh om 🙂
Oh ya? Wah pasti tetangganya itu hafal tempat-tempat yang sering dikunjungi turis dong ya? Bunda sendiri sering jalan-jalan di Malioboro kah?
Gak lengkap.. masih kurang Becak in ‘Kompleks Rumah Nita’ :p
DI Tidore aku pernah naik bentor ajeb2, sama seperti angkotnya, bentor juga berisik,,,
waktu itu aku sempet video-in dan sempet heboh2, eh salah mencet tombol ya sudah ilanglah tu video 😦
Itu dia, Nit, tadinya memang mau kesana motret becaknya. Yang jadi masalah Nita gak kasih alamatnya, jadinya muter-muter gak ketemu 😛
Itu soal salah pencet, aku juga ngalamin tuh Nit waktu di Penang, obyeknya juga becak. Becak Penang kan unik. Gara-gara salah pencet, jadi deh hilang semua 😦
Nyesek ya Mas pas kejadian begitu.. 😦
mau naik bentor lagi demi video kan gak lucu, ya udah diikhlasin deh,,
Iya lah nyesek banget. Apalagi buat aku kejadiannya pas setelah balik dari sana 😦