Raya '11 - Romancing the Ekspres Rakyat

I am not sure about you, but train travel spells romance for me.

Don't get me wrong; I am not talking about the Orient Express, nor was I talking about love and meeting anyone of the opposite sex on a train, though at one time or so in my life, I was hoping that Sheena Easton would be singing the Morning Train for me! ;-) Mind you, the maharajah taking the train in (Colonial) India would not come into the picture either.

Our trains are less spectacular than that in Europe - and perhaps India, but they are ours anyway.

And unlike driving, or taking the bus, train ride is not just a mode of transportation. It is a way of life of the days gone by. Way back to the year when James Watt designed the steam engine that would allow rail travel in Britain.

No, this is not the steam engine James Watt built
though it surely looks like one, hahaha. This is
a diesel engine still plying the peninsular for KTM. Honestly it should be
in the museum already, but amazingly it is still doing the job

Long before roads were available for travel in Malaya, we have had the Taiping-Port Weld track. That was way back in 1885 - that's more than a century later. And the schoolchildren in remote part of Kelantan would take the train to go to school even today, and to make it more interesting, this was way before train/LRT became a way of life for people in the Klang Valley.

Typicaly, train ride would cross the country side and the view can be spectacular, especially if the train needs to climb a mountain (as in Bukit Berapit in Taiping) as there would be tunnels and it would ply the route on the edge of cliff, and ravine and you would be clinging onto your dear life.

In Europe, the view of a train crossing the arch bridge can be majestic. It is beautiful.

Our bridges are not as spectacular unfortunately. They are typically made of steel instead, but still it can be good view if you can catch them crossing the Perak River.

This is of course not Sg Perak, It is one of the smaller river in the
Kinta Basin. I believe we crossed over the Perak River at dusk.

My only dream now is to ply the Vancouver-Calgary trip and cross the Rockies in a train. I was told the Chicago-Seattle train ride is equally spectacular.

One can buy a car; heck you can even buy a plane, but I have never heard anyone buying a train for one's private use.

So it was on this premise that I decided to take the train back home for Hari Raya. I thought I should try to relive the 70s again with our yearly train ride to and from Taiping. It was the romance of the 70s that lured me to this trip, and out of the blue, took a long and extended office break.

With the help of my new BlackBerry, of course!

This is the driver of the Ekspres Rakyat, South bound to
Singapore, departing on time at 1430 hours from KL

In some ways it was just like old time. The train was one hour late - as usual. KTM simply could never get this right, after all these years. To be honest, their Indonesian counterpart, despite the lack of modern facilities, run their train with clock-work precision.

Or at least for the 10 times or so train-rides I have taken to and from Jakarta to the various parts of Java.

M Nasir wrote of the same thing way back in the early 80s; that the Ekspres Rakyat was already late.

Sorry, I digress.

It was an hour late for my train; I knew I would not be able to enjoy the tunnel at Bukit Berapit.

I am not sure where this is and what this is, but somewhere in Perak,
I guess. Hahaha.

Beyond that, of course trains are all air-conditioned now, and one need not have to fight for one's seat no more. There is no more fans dangling from the ceiling providing much needed respite for the weary passengers. There was not any need for that. I miss those coaches.

I miss the feel of wind in your hair as one sneak a peek over the open windows, and being able to see the coaches through the open windows as the train snakes across the countryside. It is a long and winding track down the length of the Malay peninsular. I long to see the food vendors on the track converging on our coach and melodiously announcing their food for sale. "Nasik lemak, mee goreng, karipap" would be a typical sales pitch and it was pleasing to the ears of hungry passengers.

There was no need for the buffet coaches and the meals were freshly cooked and they were all home made.

They have killed romance out of rail travel. It was a bit sterile for my liking.

But I guess life moves on and waited for no one. Especially sentimental guys like me. This is one guy trapped in time, and he was hoping that everything else would too.

Still, despite the shortcomings, I thought it was a relaxing journey. I need not worry about the traffic, I need not worry about Kancils hogging the right lane, driven like they are the Ferraris.

The views from the enclosed windows are not views that I have seen umpteenth of times while driving up and down the highway. May be I did not get to enjoy them that much, while I was concentrating on the wheels, but I have seen them all. While I would not say it was getting boring, but it could be getting stale. The train, on the other hands, tends to snake its way through the backyard of the country, so you get to see views seldom seen. You see people chatting, people waving to us on the train, sometimes as if they had only seen the train for the first time in their lives - even as their backyards faced the railway tracks.

With the completion of the North South highway in the late 80s, one could now travel the length of the country - from Thailand to Singapore, without seeing anything! They only had the destination in mind, so they missed out on the adventure along the way. 

Cooking up a storm, but I know I am safe in the train. It may rain cats and dogs,
but I need not worry about them. Alhamdulillah.

Now, the trains would let you see everything and laid bare to you everything this country has to offer. You would see the peninsular the way it is supposed to be seen. 

To be precise, the way it is. There was no pretension. There was no prop up for the tourists. It is an honest view of the way we were, and the way we are.

The blues, the reds and the greens going against the dark grey clouds

I remember the old days when the train would stop at practically all stations. Behrang, Malim Nawar, Tapah Road, Kota Baharu (in Perak, mind you), Chemor, Enggor, and Kalumpang are some of the stations that had become extinct in the face of modernization of the train and the advent of the express train.  Some are so small that you would not call them a train station - a 'halt' would be more appropriate. 

And yet the train stops by to pick up, at times, a singular passenger!

All onboard and ready to depart

As kids then with no sense of time, we would be happy to stop at any station. It was an eye opener for us, seeing things and lives beyond our hometown. 

To cherish on what we have, and to be in awe of what we don't.

A relaxing time for the KTM staff on the other side of the track. This is Batu
Gajah (new) station.

The train stopped by at Batu Gajah station, but it is a nondescript steel structure with no soul. I saw the old Batu Gajah station as it pulled away from the new station - it was abandoned and soon it would be in ruins. My heart sank; Batu Gajah is always special for me. It is also an old town, not unlike Taiping, and it is a town we grew up in.

I love this country side view, not unlike of Taiping. Big raintrees and green
padangs would dot the town. I'd like to believe that this is Batu Gajah. May be.
Unfortunately the pix was cut in the middle by the pole

As we started late from KL - late arrival of train from South, we were informed that breaking of fast would be at 1927 hours in the vicinity of Sg Siput. Originally the train is supposed to arrive in Taiping right at breaking of fast time, so luckily I had brought a bottle of mineral water and Kitkat, just in case and it turned out to be my saviour.

Kuala Kangsar station at dusk. I had many stares for having my
big camera and taking pictures of all and sundry. "Abang, abang ambik
gambar apa?" a teenager once asked of me. "Gambar nostalgia, dik," I replied,
truthfully. "Abang is on a nostalgic trip."

We arrived in Kuala Kangsar station at 1945 hours - I was hoping to see the old KK station, but just like Taiping counterpart, it is now a construction site. As day had turned into night, I could not recognize the KK town and its surrounding. The train supposedly traveled near my grandfather's house in Talang, but I have no clue when it did that during the trip.

So as the darkness of the night started to engulf the peninsular, we missed out on the Bukit Berapit tunnels. I tried to, but could not make head or tail of the near pitch black of the night and tunnels. 

I had lost the ultimate experience of the peninsular rail travel. You would know that the train would be approaching a tunnel as they would have switched on the yellowish menthol bulb dangling from the ceiling and soon after the day would turn pitch black save for the dim yellow light.

It was an exhilarating feeling and it is stuff romance is made of.

I arrived in Taiping at 2030 hours and had my proper meal of mee rebus at the train station. No Aya, the mee rebus here was mediocre at best. Good enough to fill up my empty stomach, but not good enough for second helping on another occasion.

Then only it occurred to me that this is no longer the 70s. Time had stood still for me, but time waited for no one.

With a heavy sigh, I made my way out, and started walking towards Sri Kota.

Taiping at last. I decided to have my meal first before proceeding home and
by that time (about 2115 hour),  there was no more cab left. I thought, "Am
I going to do what bapak did 27 years ago (12 Aug 1984) and walk home?"
Bapak did it because he thought the cab fare, at RM2.50, was a ripped off.
As I was walking towards SriKota, near the TNB station, I saw a cab
and paid him RM8 to take me home.

Raya '11 (Eve) - Menziarahi Pusara di Tekah

It is a departure from normal Raya entry.

I thought I should just highlight something that should be a reminder for me (and for all of us).

Cemeteries!

Typical Malay cemeteries in Malaysia are not something worth remembering, beyond the memories of our departed ones. It is typically unkempt, and just like our orchards, it is normally cleaned up once a year, just before Raya day or on Raya day itself.

So this Tekah Malay cemetery is a breath of fresh air. It is green and well-kept. Not yet perfect as at the Taiping War Memorial at the foot of Maxwell Hill, but moving towards that direction.

A view of the Tekah Muslim cemetery with the
(new) Tekah Mosque in the background.
This is facing North.

The view of the graveyard facing South

View facing East. The maintenance crew is working overtime
on the last day of Ramadhan 2011.

They only allow the the tombstone and carpet grass
on the newer section of the graveyard.

Like this one. Immaculate.

There is a directory there if you have forgotten the whereabout
of the grave of your loved one. #136 is the grave of my uncle
PC Usop.

And this is his grave

A row of tombstones at the Tekah cemetery

I seldom would visit the graveyard on Raya day itself. I prefer to do it the day before - cleaning up, read the quranic verses and perhaps just chatting with the departed one. I thought by doing it the day before, I would have more time to be there without worrying if anyone is one the way to visit us.

So as a compromise, I sometimes would visit the graveyard before the Raya prayer itself.

Bapak's grave is in the older section of Tekah
cemetery, so it is not as green as the newer ones. It is still
well maintained.

Arif in a solemn mood at his grandfather's grave.
Of course he had not met him as bapak passed away
long before I was married

My grandfather's grave

The older section of the Tekah cemetery with bapak's
grave in the foregound.

The Tekah cemetery, just a stone's throw-a-way from the Taiping Aerodrome is a major graveyard for Taipingites. For me, there are at least 5 graves that i would be visiting every year, and I am sure many of us Taiping would have friends or relatives buried here.

They are bapak's who died in 1984, Tok Adam in 1986, PC Usop in 2002, Mak Ngah in 198x and Pak Long in 198x - all from Mak's side of the family, except for bapak obviouly. But I can't seem to find the last two as the pohon Melor that demarcated the two graves (they are side by side) are no longer there.

As I have mentioned before, it is well kept and well maintained. One of the better cemeteries in the country, that's for sure.

Alfatihah untuk semua penghuni-penghuninya.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Since I would be going on a 'pertapaan', and not have access to the net, I would like to wish everybody a happy and safe Raya.

Enjoy this performance from the boys, The Brothers Two. It is a beautiful and meaningful Raya song, and I think Arif and Akmal, as usual, did a good job with the arrangement and performance.

Merdeka '11 - Pertemuan di Taiping Aerodrome (SGN-TPG)

Taiping Aerodrome in Tekah, Amelia Earhart and Sukarno Hatta. 

Five seemingly unrelated names, you might add, and what do they have in common?

Tekah is place where nenek and I used to go to, multiple of times, looking for pucuk paku. Yes, we did that in the early 70s. I would bring her to this place in Tekah at the back of my bicycle in the 70s. There were abundant of pucuk paku and it was so easy to pick. No need to go to the pasar to buy and it was the freshest pucuk paku one can get - in the wild!

God bless nenek (Bulan).

In the old days of the 70s, we would always be in awe of Tekah, for this is the place where Taiping Aerodrome is located. With train as our affordable, and romantic mode of transportation, it would never crossed our mind then to fly (for sure we could not afford it), and the Taiping Aerodrome was the nearest thing for us to gawk at the flying thing.

What many of us didn't realize is the importance of Taiping Aerodrome in the history of Malaya and Malaysia. It is the oldest airport in Federated Malay States, and was built by the British in 1929 (Wiki) for non-military purpose and can accommodate Fokker.

Mind you, it is an airfield - not an airport per se, hence to us Taipingites, it is called an aerodrome, eventhough if you were to google it, the name airport would be used. But as far as I can remember, on the roof of the aerodrome building, it is written as Taiping Aerodrome.

As we approach Merdeka day, and with many of us still too lethargic to fly the national flag, I would like to reminisce the importance of Taiping aerodrome in the nation's history.

Source Wiki

Do you know that Amelia Earhart, the famous American aviator stopped by in Taiping for refueling in 1937 enroute to Singapore (from Thailand) on her ill-fated round the world flight attempt?

I am sure the world would have heard of Taiping by then - may be in the footnote of history. It was 7 June 1937. Bapak would have been one year old, and Mak would not have been even born!

You can read all about Amelia here.

But the most important event in the life time of Taiping Aerodrome happened on Aug 12, 1945 - that is just over a week today 66 years ago. Obviously, this is not mainstream history, so it did not get space at all in our history books, and nothing to remind us in the newspapers or telly.

But it is history that needs to be told.

Sukarno and Hatta, the founding fathers of Indonesia had a stop-over in Taiping Aerodrome. They had just met the Japanese Army Commanding Officer Marshall Tereauchi in Saigon to discuss the independence of Indonesia, and they returned to Jakarta on 13 Aug 1945. 

Soekarno and Hatta in Taiping in Aug 1945 - source Wiki.

Mind you, Indonesia declared independence from the Dutch 4 days later. For them to stop over in Taiping just before declaring independence shows the importance of this meeting ("Indonesia pasti merdeka sebelum jagung berbunga.").

The meeting was arranged by non other than Ibrahim Hj Yaakub, the Malay nationalist and founding member of KMM (Kesatuan Melayu Muda). KMM, for the uninitiated, was formed in 1938 in Kuala Lumpur by Ibrahim Yaakub to protect the Malay's right and gain independence from the British.

So it was not UMNO who first 'fought' for independence of Malaya! Much earlier, and if not it were not banned by the British and Ibrahim himself was thrown in jail, we might not have UMNO.

In the meeting with Soekarno (with Dr Burhanuddin Helmy in attendance), Ibrahim told him that the people of Malaya are ready to join the Indonesia for independence under the banner of Indonesia Raya. Unfortunately, the Japanese lost the war within the next two days, and Soekarno was not ready to fight with two world powers then (the Dutch and British) and declared independence on their own - without Malaya, on 17th August 1945.

Please read here about the details of the meeting in Taiping.

I guess there are always two sides of a coin. In hindsight, some may say that we were lucky not to have joined the Indonesia for the Greater Indonesia nation. But who are we to say one way or the other. If only there is a parallel time track that we could observe as an independent observer, then we could say which one would have been better for us. Current political climate in this country is not better than that of our neighbour, and the nation's wealth have been plundered many times over since Independence anyway by our kulit sawo matang brethren.

If you can call them brethren!

Please read about Kesatuan Melayu Muda here. And about the Malay nationalist Ibrahim Hj Yaakub (born Temerloh Pahang, died in Jakarta in 1978) who was buried in Taman Makam Pahlawan in Kalibata.

Anyway, I do not wish to write about the politics of Malaya/Malaysia, as my blood pressure would boil.

Hahaha. That's my laugh to lower my BP! ;))

I took these pictures in 2007 - Raya 2007 to be precise, with my then Olympus bridge camera. It was not the best of pictures - it was a cloudy day in Taiping, and it looked like it was going to rain. But I post it here anyway as an addendum to this entry.

Tekah Airfield, looking West. There was no housing complexes
here in the old days, so it was more saujana mata memandang
than this.

This is my padang lalang as in M Nasir's song. Not because of the lyric, more so for the fact that it was a padang lalang. This place is unlike any other place in Taiping. Here, it is saujana mata memandang if you were to look West. It is flat, and from afar, it is full of lalang (wild grass).

Look at any other direction and you will know that Taiping is hilly.

Tekah Airfield, looking East and the Maxwell Hill mountain range

Another view of the airfield, with the building in the background.

Here is the aerodrome main building. It is made of wood and hence it is now in dilapidated.

It is now in dilapidated state, unfortunately. I think we are a nation
lost on her history. We would like to erase anything that
is not mainstream. The winner takes all.

The radar tower?

Where is the history society? Where is the Jabatan Muzium, the Kementerian Warisan? Where art thou? History could have changed its course on 12 Aug 1945.

I do wish time had split on that day, and that there are independent parallel time with loops and branches, so that we could observe the what-ifs  had an Aug 17, 1945 declaration took place, and how this country would be in 2011.

One track just the way we are experiencing it,
and another track is for what could have been. It is multiple lines running
in parallel, and with another branch ahead, the lines
might join sometime in the future.

Taiping Railway Station - the end is nigh? - Part II

There is not much to see in the old railway station of Taiping,
but my friend and fellow Taipingite Aya can see his dashing dad waiting
for her at this station. I can see bapak, mak and all us taking the train to Penang
in the 60s. I still remember the trip to KL in the 70s, and how I rode my bicycle
along the Taiping-Part Weld track to this station carrying with me MC Bumah's
wedding suitcase that was left behind by mistake. How relief and thankful she
was in seeing me with that suitcase!
This station got character and it is alive!

So there is a hive of activities at Taiping Railway Station nowadays. 

The old building is still intact, but it is in dilapidated state. The officer there told me that if it were up to KTM, in no time it will be torn down. But apparently, my fellow Taipingites, there is still hope.

Especially for sentimentalist like me, and you!

Apparently Jabatan Muzium wants to take over and preserve the building as it a historic building. I guess they could gazette the building to ensure that it will withstand not only the test of time, but to me, more of the greedy power of politicians and their cronies seeing a prime land for development and making millions of ringgit into their pockets.

As eloquently put forward by my friend Aya, in response to Part I entry, "It is an iconic building; being the first railway station in the country and should be preserved. It is heritage to me as Taipingite."

We all have too many memories stashed somewhere at Taiping Railway Station. I am seeing the ghosts of the family past at this railway station. 

I tried surfing to see if there is a plan and drawing rendition of what would be Taiping Railway Station which I presume will be competed in two years' time. But to no avail.

Why weren't we Taipingites consulted over the masterplan of the Railway station? Is there a masterplan in the first place?

NY Grand Central Station

Ipoh Train Station

Will it be as iconic and majestic as KL Railway Station or will it be as non-descript as KL Sentral? Will it have character like Ipoh Train Station or will it devoid of character as in KL Sentral? Will be have a grand dome like Flinder St Station in Melbourne, or will it be squarish as in KL Sentral?

Flinders St Station, Melbourne - the station I used
to frequent to everytime we went to downtown Melbourne

Tanjung Pagar Station

Nondescript Sentral Station - why can't we be
more imaginative in building our station and then
naming it correctly? This station is devoid of character
and it is a dead place.

I have no idea to be honest, if Taiping station will end up like her counterpart in Ipoh, Singapore or Melbourne. Or will be designed by someone who have not been to the grand station of cities well known for its history, and know only how to design matchbox building? To me, the architects of KL Sentral have no knowledge of train and its history or have no passion in his profession!

Taiping is an old colonial town; many of her buildings were built by the British. Many of them might not be Moorish in design, but I want a train station that would blend into other colonial building of Taiping. The characteristics of Taiping have to be preserved. As I have suggested before, Taiping should be declared a Heritage Town by the government!

I don't welcome the unimaginative KL Sentral Station as Taiping Grand Station.

But here is the construction taking place right now. 

I can't imagine.

I cannot imagine what kind of structure that will come up.

Hmmm, not very promising, I must say

View from the bridge. You can see the red-roof old railway station
next to the construction site

Looks squarish to me, no?

Personally, I think the location is unsuitable. It is right at the junction of the Aulong/Assam Kumbang flyover, so I can imagine the traffic it would generate. That flyover is an old flyover and it is an el-cheapo  flyover built by Lim Kheng Yaik (it is not compliment, ok!) and I think it would not survive the heavy pounding of the construction next to it and not the increase traffic.

I demand a stop work be issued to this project until Taipingites can review the master plans.

Taiping Railway Station - the end is nigh? - Part I

Prologue

I decided at the very last minute (sahur Friday) that I will have my bukak puasa with Mak that eve (12th August). So I told Arif that we may leave office early that day so that we can make it by iftar time. But at the same time, I was planning to give away some iftar meals to be shared around at the office and was told that it will be ready by 3 pm.

But in the end it reaches the office by 4.15 pm.

So we rushed out of the office by 4.25 pm, reached the Bukit Lanjan queue - eh I mean, hiway, and drove like a F1 driver and had a pit stop at Changkat Jering to buy some cold drink, and reached Sri Kota by the azan KL time. Phew, fortunately my Ferrari Enzo was willing! ;))

So I had my iftar with mak on the night that bapak returned from KL via train and walked from train station to home, while his son and grandson 27 years later were comfortably driving. We had sahur early that Saturday morning on the very same time bapak had her hypertension attack and passed away.

At the very same place.

I didn't plan it that way, it was by chance to be honest.

The End is nigh? Part 1

So after visiting my cousin on Saturday morning and with nothing else to do between then and iftar time, I decided to visit the Taiping Railway station. I had thought that I want to take the train back home for Raya this time around - for old time sake. I was thinking of taking an early leave/break from work, and return to Taiping on my own earlier than the rest of the family.

Arif is going to be the main driver home, while I will enjoy my train ride. Yay!

My train ticket to Taiping this Raya - for old time sake!

Last train to Taiping, figuratively speaking, I hope.

The track (left) has been
barricaded to denote construction
site

So for one last time, we took picture of my hunting place for Beano and Dandy comics, a place would normally go to whenever we had the opportunity to go on vacation to my auntie's place in KL.

Nothing has changed since the 70s, but there is now a hive of activities on the railway station. Not of commercial activities, but of construction activities.

We are at a point of no return. Progress is coming to Taiping Station, albeit 40 years too late. In fact, I think it was forty years too soon.

So I thought I should be enjoying it while it lasts. I have tracked the Taiping station in previous entry. It is here.

I had a chat with the ticketing officer and was told in no uncertain term, if it were down to KTM, they would have the train station torn down in no time. The maintenance is not something they cherished doing.

I am not sure if I should be sentimental about it, to be honest. While I am all for conservation, the building is in dilapidated state and it is a bit non-descript, and I am not being brutal.

It is not something to be in awe.

Anyway, history is history, and there is little I could do, but to capture it in pictures. All pictures were taken by Arif.

The railway track of Taiping (looking North/East)

The inner side of the Taiping train station looking South/West

The outerside of Taiping railway station looking North/East
(towards Taiping station)

The toilet! It is the only concrete building
within the Taiping station

The 'gudang' in front of the station. It is a normal view
for us in the 70s while waiting for our train. How long
will it lasts?

All pictures were unedited, except for the watermark.