On The Train, Sept, 28, 2009

A representative from TRANSIT wrote today in the Malay Mail commended the staff of KTMB of the job well done during the recent Hari Raya exodus home. Mentioned was the sacrifice the staff of KTMB had made in order for their passengers to have a smooth ride home. No taking this away from them I also appreciate this gesture and it should be the norm. However the writer wrote on the last paragraph passengers, especially commuters using the Komuter service kike me should not complaint too much as we do not know the kind of problems KTMB are facing. The writer mentioned about the fact the government did not allocate enough funds and the fact that the government also does not make any announcement to that effect to mitigate our negative perceptions. The writer mentioned that KTMB requires about 60 cars to have a ten minutes interval Komuter service.

Well, I know all these. In fact most suffering commuters know this. THE QUESTION IS WHAT IS KTMB DOING ABOUT IT? Don’t tell us they accepted these facts just like that without thinking of other alternatives and solutions.

Suddenly just before Kajang a hnadphone went off and a very loud foreign voice answered it and in rapid African language he spoke loudly. It was of course annoying for even from the place I was sitting let alone somebody close to him.

On The Train, Sept 13, 2009

It was Monday morning again and the last week of Ramadhan. It was not the fact it was just it was the last week and the normal occurrence on certain things during the last week of Ramadhan but more of my realization of the commuters on my morning ride every Monday. Just like this morning the number of commuter has always been more than the usual and I do not know why. Whenever the train arrives at Bangi station I would be lucky to get a seat and looking at the commuters around me I’ll see different faces that I normally see everyday. I could only speculate really and here are my hypotheses.

1. They went back home to Seremban or any place along the route for weekend and come back to work to KL on early Monday morning from their kampong. I used to have friends who did this every weekend, or
2. Some of the normal commuters just wake up very early on every Monday and take earlier train to work, or
3. Most of them just work on Monday ) and that would be need., or
4. It is the combination of number 1 & 2

Looking at my hypotheses now I would say the strongest would be number 1. If you think otherwise please drop me a line or two.

This morning I observed another thing when we were at KL Sentral. Came on board a group of 4 Filipinos. How do I know firstly it was so obvious from their dressing and demeanor and secondly they started to speak in Tagalog loudly. I observed for a few days already and by the look of it they were not going somewhere near KL. I could be wrong and as they do not look like they were maids I was wondering where they were heading for.

I was dozing off after Serdang this morning and just before Bandar Tasek Selatan with my head still looking downward I opened my eyes and as I saw beautiful colors in front of me. Four ladies in a row in colorful baju kurong were standing right in front of me. What a beautiful sight like colors of Malaysia.

On The Train, Sept 11, 2009

Another Friday evening and the same thing as any other and I was lucky to get a seat at KL Sentral. The composition was really mixed today. There were Arabs tourists onboard talking loudly; presumably because nobody else would understand them; holiday makers going home for the weekends, young gen y going home from colleges and shopping malls; one or two making an early way for home for the EId celebration; and the usual like me going home for the day The average age around me was 27 and could be younger. This morning of the way to work a young lady started to talk to her friend over the phone. Well that was normal enough the problem was she animatedly, complete with giggles, talking as if she was alone in the whole coach. Sometimes I am amazed at how oblivious or rather forgetful some people are. In fact now a guy was talking to his friend loudly in a packed train.

The guy on my left was swaying up and down sleeping soundly so was an old Chinese lady on my right.

On The Train, Sept 9, 2009

The train was on time today and with fewer commuters on board when I boarded. At KL Sentral it was the same old story.

I was looking out of the window and admiring the scenery outside when we on the way to Kajang from Serdang when I noticed the changes to the landscape. Obviously after six years the place changed, in fact most places along the track did. People on the train also changed except for the regular few. The sad part and to my dismay KTMB did not, well they changed for the worse. It is no point in exaggerating my agony further by continuing to talk or write about them so today I wanted just to accept the fact that it is unbecoming of them if they change. Mentally at least that would minimize my stress level.

On The Train, Sept 8, 2009

My 1800 train was latte by 10 minutes. I got a seat at KL Station and I was packed at KL Sentral.

My mind was searching what to write and my eyes kept on darting inside and outside of the train hoping for inspiration. Suddenly, just before Salak Selatan I was surprised by somebody’s phone that sat off with a ring tone of ‘everybody was kung fu fightingggggggg’. That brought me back to 70’s when I was in school. I remember once somebody actually sang that song and when he came to that part immediately after he sang ‘fighting' he gave a flying kick to the toilet door. Lucky for him it was the door not me. If not he would have been flying in the toilet himself. It had been more than 20 years now and I was really surprised by the ring tone. Further more it came from a handphone owned by a gen x. I just wonder whether he knows the significant of that song to people my age or even the baby boomers. It is also interesting to note as if the current artists do no know how to write a new original.

Come to think of it just like fashion songs also being recycled. I wonder if it is the same with management concepts? Maybe the concepts are just the same but being repackaged differently camouflage by different names.

On The Train, Sept 7, 2009

The train service during the Ramadhan was heretic to say the least. So far I was delayed three times already and all of them due to cancellation. When KTMB uses Cancellation it means the train brokedown somewhere and being pulled out of the service. Just this morning when I was at the Bangi station there was already a Seremban train on the track being repaired. There were two engineers/drivers trying to restart the engine that refused to do so. Maybe it was over used and in need for a rest he he he. Whatever it is this is going to be the norm for at least the next three years for me. These days going to work in the early morning I’ll join the rest catching up on lost ZZZZZZZZZ. Going home is like playing Russian roulette with KTMB and if I am lucky on the day the train would be surely sardine can pack at KL Sentral. I was joking one day with another commuter while commenting the late arrival of our train said, ‘Surely it’s going to be a hot packed sardine can after this.’ He remarked, ‘No, I do not think so it’s more like a blended fish or meat,’ We laughed about it. Well, you need your sense of humour to keep your sanity in balance if you were a regular KTMB commuters.

On The Train, Aug 28, 2009

It is Friday and a three day weekend coning in the month of Ramadhan what will you get in KTMB’s commuter service in the evening?

A long chain of sardine can that they called a Komuter train service.

At Bandar Tasek Selatan Station those on the platform started to push in and someone, a lady, inside the train yelled, ‘ Tak tahu sempit ke jangan tolak geramnya akuuuuu.’ I was tempted to sing ‘ Geran jangan enkau geram, Geram, geram, Geram bermacam ragam’. Loudly just to enlighten the atmosphere. He he he the song is an old song by the Black Dog Bone

This year's Merdeka celebration would only be a small celebration due to the fasting month. If not on 31st Aug I would be somewhere with my camera taking photos of the parade or something. So my Merdeka celebration this year would be doing my chores at home and maybe going down to Melaka in the evening

On The Train, Aug 26, 2009

Should we spend time and effort to change a culture if we thing it is the main barrier to progress? Or should we just strategize around it? Or to ignore it and plough through with our efforts? There is no answer to the questions really. As I learned recently we need to continue to converse about this and to get more people to discuss about it. Also with enough people coming from various angle better understanding of the problems would at least prevail. Receiving mix signals from the management is a real issue anywhere. The need for the management to walk the talk is a must to ensure certain change behaviour to really have the opportunity to happen.