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Train strain(Sunday Mail (Malaysia) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)WHEREVER does KTM find those mattresses too small and narrow for words, which it uses on upper bunks of sleeping berths in the second-class coach? The Malay Mail market survey puts our readers at a level where the majority flies to where they need to go. I'm guessing most of us once relied on trains to get us about and around the country, before and after Singapore became a country on its own. I recently went on my umpteenth trip on Keretapi Tanah Melayu, or its more stylised and corporatised name, KTM Berhad, trains. Even as a child, I never had to share the sleeping space we call berths. This time, however, the busy weekend necessitated each adult in our travelling family to cradle in our arms one child. I was assigned a regular-sized four-year-old nephew but in the upper bunks, shoulder space of ANY breadth was too much taken away. To ensure further comfort of a sleeping child, I had to lie on my side, either side intermittently, to stop blood in my upper arms from clotting. As we rocked our way down to Singapore for the next nine hours, I realised that while my blood may not clot, I could end up with stretch marks on my biceps by the end of the trip. That didn't happen either because I was awaken periodically by the conductor who announced ticket checks each time after the train had picked up new passengers at the various stations along the way. The good part was having cleaner toilets than the ones I remember while growing up. The doubtful part is I'm not so sure I don't miss the nasi lemak or air tebu sellers shouting out their offerings at subsequent stops. The lousy part was having to get up and out of the train at about seven, lugging our baggage and teddy bears with us, at the Singapore immigration at Woodlands, morning breath and all. Sleepy heads had to appear our best for the immigration officials so as not to look too different from our passport photographs. Then we herded ourselves back to the exit lounge where we were held a little while before the doors opened to allow a rush back to our respective cubholes. There was no indication as to the time of departure from Woodlands. At that point, I saw an older lady walking oddly, her legs clutched. She had run out of the public toilet when her husband suddenly called out that the exit doors had opened and we were supposed to get on the train again. Someone in our group was smart enough to suggest getting a taxi to town directly from Woodlands - at the same cost. But that option apparently was not available on our return trip. We were told to board the train home at Tanjung Pagar, the original train stop of Keretapi Tanah Melayu from way back when. Don't forget - Singapore WAS Tanah Melayu and the island nation has no train service. Tanjung Pagar was a head shaker. It was so not Singapore. After a week of traipsing the country and its state-of-the-art everything, the Tanjung Pagar train station seemed to be in the dark ages. As far as I had seen, any other heritage building in Singapore utilised for commercial purposes has been restored, refurbished and its dignity returned. Why, I see more majesty in our old train station right here in KL. Still, we happily cleared Malaysian immigration and customs and the train departed about 45 minutes later than scheduled because passengers trickled in about 45 minutes later than their tickets told them to. I felt at home already. Some, changing into sleep clothes and settling into our beds later, we were rocking again on what was expected to be a semi-peaceful journey home. Very semi. I forgot Woodlands. Why, oh why, do we have to drag ourselves out of bed half-an-hour into the journey to clear Singapore immigration and customs AFTER Malaysia has said we can come in? Hope the arbitrators hurry up and make decisions for Singapore and Malaysia. I'm wondering which is more vital to a country's well-being. Water or a train station? |