In Memory of Tanjong Pagar KTM

It is very sentimental to many that KTM has ceased operating from Tanjong Pagar Station, Singapore. I won’t make any political nor racial statements here today about this historical event. I trusted Tun Dr. Mahathir. If he says okey to what Najib’s administration is doing, I’ll say okey too.

I remember taking KTM train twice to Tanjong Pagar when I had to finish my masters thesis. I had to go to NUS and NTU to extend my literature review as requested by my external examiner. Those were my sentimental memories with Tanjong Pagar Station. Now my thesis feels like incomplete again.

I took the chance to experience the last KTM train heading out from Tanjong Pagar on June 30^th 2011. The trip started in KL Sentral 9am to Singapore, arriving at Tanjong Pagar a little after 5pm. Then coming back to KL at 10pm and arrived at 6am July 1^st 2011.

Enjoy some pictures I took from the training starting from JB Sentral until Tanjong Pagar. In some of the pictures I don’t really know what I was snapping at, but those snaps can never be taken from a KTM train anymore.

RTM TV crew interviewing passenger for a documentary of this historical event

New JB Sentral Station

A view of JB from the train just about to enter Selat Tebrau

A view of Singapore from the train just about to enter the island. Can you see the controversial big fresh water pipes below?

Traffic at Tambak Johor

The border in the middle of Tambak Johor

Woodlands Checkpoint from a distance

At Woodlands Checkpoint

Singapore MRT track crossing KTM track from above

Singaporean lifestyle - condominiums

More condominiums

West View Primary School

Some famous building?

A glimpse of the crowd in Bukit Timah Station that I managed to catch. At night there was a much bigger crowd.

A few Singaporeans taking pictures from outside of Tanjong Pagar Station

One of KTM locomotives at Tanjong Pagar

A proof that I was actually there

The other side of Tanjong Pagar Station

A view of the old Malaysian Custom checkpoint area - with an unwittingly posing (Malaysian) policeman

KTM Tanjong Pagar sign board

Front view of Tanjong Pagar Station

From Tanjong Pagar KTM, I walked to Tanjong Pagar MRT, from where we can find Masjid Al-Abrar just a walking distance away. It is now, sadly, just part of a terrace shop lot along Teluk Ayer Road:

Masjid Al-Abrar

Masjid Al-Abrar and Tanjong Pagar MRT in Google Maps

This historical event has sentimental value to the Singaporean as well. On the way to Tanjong Pagar, I have a Chinese Singaporean lady sitting behind me, taking the train just to take some last pictures of Singapore from the train. On the way back there were so many Singaporeans lining up along the road and highways to snap the last train coming out of Singapore. In Bukit Timah Station there was a huge crowd.

Night crowd inside station

Night crowd along the track

The old Malaysian Custom checkpoint, again

I thought my train was the last KTM coming out of Tanjong Pagar, but the very last one was the one operated by His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, The Sultan of Johor. They had a special marching out of the last train to be piloted by him.

The very last train heading out covered by a long banner

KTM even gave certs to those who ride the last train, but I didn’t manage to get it. So I took its snapshot to share it with all of you.

The certificate of history

Next, you may want to,

• read this article from Singapore Straits Times about Sultan of Johor driving that last train, or
• if it is not in their archive anymore, you can read from my local copy of the same article, or
• enjoy a YouTube of the farewell showing the long crowd line-up at Bukit Timah:

...oooOOO000OOOooo...

The Quest Continued

It has been tough and miserable, but the quest for Andalusia at West goes on. May be you don’t understand what I’m talking about. It doesn’t matter I’m just saying it.

My first attempt for the quest failed terribly due to some unforeseen crash of the world economy. I’m back in Malaysia now, resuming my life as an academic, now in The National Defense University of Malaysia. Hoping my next attempt, by the will of Allah s.a.w. will be fruitful and less unorthodox.

The fight will continue. Either I reach The Andalusia at West or the end of my life.

This blog too has been left un-updated for so long - more than two years. That’s how frustrated I was. But life goes on. This blog accompanies me with the quest. The plan was to write this blog from US, but plan can change, not the destination.

More details and stories in the coming flashbacks. For now, here is the picture of the entrance of my current university.



And the picture of the Sungai Besi Camp gate, where the university is in.

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Back to Midwest

It has been long since I last updated this blog. The posting on the Indonesian restaurant was the last one. It was hard to write in a tough situation in California where I tried my best to look for a job placement for my CPT for MUM Compro degree.

Now I'm back in MUM campus in Fairfield, Iowa. Let's talk about the hardship of job seeking in California some time later after I actually get a job. I have to set my mind away from the hardship in order to continue focusing on job search.

Now that I'm back in campus, the Computer Science Department has given me some job to do so that I don't accumulate too much debt in my loan. Having to do the job just means that I'll have free food and place to stay, but nothing will be coming into my pocket. After 2 weeks or so doing some support jobs at the Computer Science Technical Support, the department gave me a teaching assistance job. Perhaps they realized that I have 10 years of teaching experience.

I was given TA job for the 2 preparatory classes for MUM's Compro program - FPP (Fundamental Programming Practice) and MPP (Modern Programming Practice). FPP is basically Introduction to Java Programming, and MPP is Java programming with some flavor of enterprise level programming. I couldn't disclose how much the TA pay is, but I can just say that, converting to Malaysian Ringgit, it might be more that what I used to make as a full teaching lecturer in MMU - the MMU lecturing job was 40 hrs a week minimum, while this TA job is 20 hrs a week maximum. The sad thing is that half of the pay has to be used to pay for my room and dining hall meals.

Check out some pictures in the class. The first picture is me in the class with one of the student (Compro grad student), Ramzi, from Jordan [Facebook]. I took one picture with him because he was in the best recommended dressing code for MUM students - long sleeve shirt and tie.

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