goodbye keretapi tanah melayu

A month ago, it was announced that two KTM railway stations in Singapore will be relocated elsewhere by the end of the year. I was quite devastated when I heard the news. I mean we all know how things are like in Singapore -- everything must look its best -- the old Keppel Railway will be scrubbed and polished to the nines so that even thousand year old rodents will flee for their lives. Sure, the old station will be "preserved", but there's always something very disconcerting about preservation. How is it possible to maintain something in its original shape and size and textures when there will be no more trains rattling to a halt?

vehicle drop-off point

image by G

a small atap house sits in the middle of the hall - an old forgotten advertisement by Tourism Malaysia

Image by G

I'm not sure what "quick baggage" means or it was meant to serve as and the role it played for passengers disembarking. Perhaps it a left luggage room where weary travelers deposited their chunky suitcases before they heading into Singapore with smaller duffel bags.

hungry people savoring Hasan's Prata which used to be very popular in its heyday.

ticket counter

Stesen Keretapi Tanjung Pagar

This is the terminus of the West Coast line. By day, Malaysians fill the halls of train station, waiting for their train that will ply the West Coast taking them home.  By night, a lone staty man sets up his barbecue as foodies descend upon the buidling's courtyard, placing large orders of  satay (meat on a stick cooked on a barbecue),  a savory supplement to freshly kneaded prata from Hasan Railway Station. It is so sad to think that these real people will soon be replaced by tourists and vistors, complete with cameras slung over their shoulders, strolling the compound on their own beat - no prata to woof down before the clock strikes six, no more train to catch  ... only more pictures and more snapshots of another well-preserved monument, filed into their holiday booklets as trophies of conquest, a thousand miles away, to be slowly forgotten.

Part 2: Bukit Timah Railway Station coming up!