With all the raids going on in the Klang Valley lately, it’s
impossible to avoid hearing the term 'Black Maria' being used
in conversations amongst clubbers and ravers. For those who
don't know, in the Malaysian context it refers to the black or
dark blue truck used by the police to ferry unfortunate
punters to the balai (police station). Having had the dubious
honour of riding in one before, I can tell you that the inside
was way too cramped for my liking. There were simply too many
of us in there !
Seriously though, it was a big raid (you know it’s big when
it’s got a name, like, Ops Sasau, for example), and everyone
at the party was to be taken in. Being a truck, the Black
Maria is rather high above the ground and we had to haul
ourselves up into the back (Watch your step, ladies!).
Climbing in, I already felt like a condemned man, and finally
knew how it must have felt to be a Jew back in Nazi Germany,
packed off like a lamb to the slaughter. Ever been in a
crowded city minibus during the rush hour while it’s pouring
cats and elephants outside? Well, it was like that and worse.
The air was thick with tension and dread - probably because we
were sweating fear out of every pore.
A fellow ‘traveler’, who’d probably gone through it all
before, judging by his supremely relaxed state, lighted up a
cigarette (yes, you can smoke in the truck if you want!) and
decided to tell his mates and everyone within earshot that at
the very least the truck we were in was clean. The last one he
rode in was reeking with the stench of urine, prompting
complaints like, “Aiya, Latuk, manyak busuk lah!”
Our little journey ended at the local station where we were
‘processed’ and let out. A word of advice to punters who find
themselves in a situation like this, do co-operate with the
coppers and do what they ask, and you’ll soon be on your way
home. They are usually screening for certain ‘criminal
elements’ and not looking to bag partying ravers.
Not too long ago, I came across a reader’s post about the
Black Maria in the
forum, and
it reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend awhile
back. We were wondering about the origins of that infamous
term, and realised that we've been using it since we were
kids, having picked it up from the older boys, who themselves
learnt it from earlier generations. But none of us had any
idea how the term came about.
Does ‘Black Maria’ actually have a meaning or is it just
modern day slang? Is it known globally or only in Malaysia?
Well, I Googled it and the search engine dutifully came up
with the answers, and some surprises to boot!
The most notable and reputable usage of the term I found was
in reference to a film and video event, The Black Maria Film &
Video Festival. It was named after Thomas Edison's movie
studio (the first in the world), which was built way back in
1893 and said to be designed by the man himself. It was
christened the Black Maria because the building was said to
resemble the wagons (carts) used by the police force then.
It seems ‘the Black Maria’ was the vernacular name for the
closed police patrol vans or wagons that were used to ferry
prisoners to and from jail, and is American in origin. Further
checks with several online dictionary sites also confirm that
general definition and the correct pronunciation is actually
‘Ma-Rye-Ah’ (as in Mariah ‘pitch-machine’ Carey).
In his site www.worldwidewords.org, Michael Quinion attributes
the possible origin of the expression to a story in Boston
about a large Black woman, Maria Lee, “who kept a boarding
house in the 1820s with such severity that she became more
feared than the police, who called on her to help them catch
and restrain criminals”. (Yeah, I’ll bet parents back then
probably told their children to behave or, “the Black Maria’s
gonna come getcha”.)
According to Quinion, the first actual reference to our
notorious vehicle is said to be in a New York newspaper. The
report in the New York Transcript of Dec 24, 1835 carried the
story that, “A man named Henry Stage ... contrived to make his
escape on Saturday last while on his way from Bellevue prison
to the city in the carriage generally known as ‘Black Maria’
“.
Other references found on the net are to a freight locomotive
(that’s train to us Malaysians) produced by General Electric
Company in 1894, and in some places (among stoners, mostly),
it’s another way of identifying high quality cannabis. How
ironic !
Well, having skinned the proverbial cat, we finally see how
the Black Maria came to be, passed down all the way from the
19th century and still surviving in modern day conversations
worldwide. Wot a ride eh?
Before I go, here’s a little bit of movie trivia. In the cult
horror classic the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the lone survivor
of that gore-fest escapes from her tormentors at the end by
waving down a truck and getting the assistance of the driver –
an afro sporting brother. As the truck pulls up, a sticker on
the side door is visible. Yup, it’s the Black Maria !
-Ray Tan
References:
Pronunciation: http://www.bartleby.com/61/wavs/20/B0302000.wav
http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-bla1.htm
http://www.worldwidewords.org/
http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/black
http://www.ceraonline.org/collection/engine1386.htm
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