On The Train, Mar 26, 2009

Since I was not going to cycle I left the office a bit late to avoid the crowd. My timing was perfect when I walked down on the platform slightly after 19000 the train arrived. Once seated inside I booted up my laptop and started blogging. It was decent commuters today where most were the usual characters save for one or two. So we did our own things. Some would either have their ears plugged, fingers moving like mad texting, reading or just seating shivering like the young lady sitting next to me on my left. Yes it was a bit cold tonight and just imagine how it was in the morning. The glass panes were actually frosted this morning he he he. Well all the glass panes were misty creating a Siberia inside the coach he he he. Even a Mat Salleh would be shocked.

On The Train (The Economic of Taxonomy?), Mar 25, 2009

Before I left the office I saw the train waiting on the track down below and the train stood there for more than 20 minutes. The service got back to it worst again I said to myself and I was right when reached the platform. The Seremban train was already there on the platform and I knew instinctively I did not have to rush. Once inside, the train had to wait for another 10 minutes or so below it was given permission to depart. No announcement, probably I had missed it, and I just assumed they had a electrical ‘technical problem’. The best and often used taxonomy that KTMB had ever came out with. Soon the term going to be its middle name - Keretapi Tanah ‘Technical Problem’ Melayu Bhd.

Technically, no pun intended, speaking that technical term is misleading term to generalize every problem that they faced. And I would like to suggest for them to break it down further to create better understanding to their stakeholders. Let me suggest this:

Service Interruption (Main Theme)
Breakdown (2nd L evel)
Technical (2rd Level)
Electrical
Engine
SIgnalling
Tracks
Negligence
Vandalism
Service Delay

You see based on my suggestion Technical problem is not even the Main Subject Term. It is only the third level and if we look closely we could even break it down further. Well, based on KTMB’s performance that would not be too difficult to list down. See not only KTMB limitation is their quality of service or competency but their issue is also their classification of issues that must make them difficult to understand the difficulty faced by their stakeholders. How could they understand the problems if they themselves could not classify their problems properly. When they generalize the problem to ‘Technical Problem’ they will think that is normal and because it happens too many times it is no big deal. Analysing the problems also would be difficult that could lead to wrong analysis and eventually decision. This is what I call they have problem with the Economic of Taxonomy. Ha ha ha is there such a term?

Why Am I Cycling?

I have decided to consolidate all my writings about my cycling activities into one blog. So go here if you want to read them.

On The Train, Mar 23, 2009

A colleague of mine asked recently what makes me want to blog. I can understand the question perfectly as to some people it is not comprehensible to think that someone would want to write something almost personal and publish it to the whole world. Yes, why do I blog then?

Primarily I like to observe and write about human behaviour. If you are observance enough you could see a lot of things and I find how people react to certain thing so interesting. Further more I love to write as just like teaching the more I write to more I understand things. Somebody today remarked that when he writes his thought it brings structure to his thinking and understanding. Which I totally agree. However, I do know the limitation of writing that I could not possibly write down all that I know. Today I have also decided to consolidate my writings further by moving all my cycling related writings to another blogsite. Probably I’ll just revamp the one on cycling that I already have. Just watch this space for new updates.

The 1800 train was solid packed again today but most were subdued which told me the majority of people on the train were the usual commuters. A lady who was standing in front of me got to sit next to me after the guy disembarked at MidValley. She was at the last two chapters of her novel. A guy down to the left of my row was talking loudly to his handphone. Well, not really loud but loud enough for all of to hear his conversation. Just after Serdang the lady with the book decided not to finish it and put the book inside her knapsack.

Another thing that I observed today was that there are three types of sleepers on this train. The first type is those that sleep in the morning on the way to work. Second those that sleep on the way home and the third type those that would sleep both ways. They must have their own reason and I could only guess.

On The Train, Mar 19, 2009

It got even worse today. The pathetic KTMB for whatever their short brain think was best decided to take out one of the service run from the schedule making everything else late by 40 minutes. Not only a lot of people left stranded on the platform the commuters inside were suffering cramped. Naturally as the train stopped at the next stations people would want to squeeze in to go home. Tempers flared followed by shouting of angry hot bodies. Who could blame tem to react in such a way? Only KTMB would do so. Yes, I am being very critical now as I have suffered long enough with no chance of things getting better. Year in and year out KTMB ditched out the same reasons and excuses, never seems to be offering solutions. Have all the complaints gone to deaf ears? Or are they all playing deaf? My guts feel say some, if not all, of the complaints and reports are bottlenecked somewhere as if trying to save somebody’s ass. There were promises and certain actions taken but our happiness is always shortchanged not long after that.

Kayuhan Sawah Padi, Sg Sireh, Kuala Selangor, Mar. 8, 2009

It has been slightly more than two months since I had my last serious cycling and the Kayuhan Sawah Padi was supposed to be my reintroduction. So I was a bit unsure of myself the day before the ride. Furthermore it was a three day weekend which I could easily find many good excuses for not going. I nearly did. Deep down I knew I can’t do that as I really needed this ride. I am glad in the end I decided to go.

I woke up at 0500 and straight walked into the bathroom to shower. My wife had been saying that she wanted to go to Kuala Selangor as well days before. But then she also said otherwise few times as she was not feeling too good. So I was not sure if my wife was coming along so I woke her up to ask. She said yes which means Mar had to come as well as we could not leave her with Baqir and Kakcik..

I had everything prepared the night before so I just collected everything and carried Mar inside the Ranger and we were out at 0530. The RV at Elmina R&R was at 0600 and to me it was too early and if indeed that was the intend I was confident I could make it there in 30 minutes. I did not floor the accelerator instead had a nice drive on the ELITE highway towards Shah Alam to connect to the Guthrie Expressway. Of course Elmina is the R&R on Guthrie Expressway that I reached at slightly past 0600. To my surprised everyone was there already waiting. They must be very discipline with timing or excited to be there earlier . My guess is it was both as I knew they are always on time. I came down straight away and said my salam to all. Col Azudin told me they left Putrajaya at 0515. Just a few minutes after I arrived we heard the muaezin calling for suboh prayer not far down across the highway.

After we said our suboh led my Dr Azmi we convoyed to Kuala Selangor and arrived at Sg Sireh homestay 10 minutes before 0800. Without any prompting we got our bike readied and prepared ourselves for the ride. It was a glorious morning at Sg Sireh and we really like it. Dr Taufik, the organizer, had managed to prepare us light breakfast at the nearby stall and all of us sat there to eat. Before we got there I already suggested to my wife, Sam, to follow us at the back. I told her that Dr Taufik’s wife would be doing just that as a support car. So our Ranger became the second support car which proved to be useful later.

As everyone still excited meeting and talking to each other I was already anxious for us to start. I was eager and maybe a little impatient because I just would want to start my ride. Also the day is getting hotter as it would be nicer to start early to enjoy a more beautiful morning sawah padi. But of course we had to go through the customary short briefing, led by Col Azudin and Dr Taufik, as well as our photography session. In the end we rolled off at 0840. Altogether there were 30 or us comprises of the season and new cyclists. About 5 of us were on road bikes (RB) and the rest using mountain bikes (MTB). Out of 30 there were 4 ladies (two of them powerful riders), a thirteen year old girl and a boy age around 10 or 11. We were to cover 30km, I presumed, a flat tarmac and dirt road. 30km was fine with me but I was expecting and eager for more off road track on the paddy ban.

I started at the back with Col Azudin and Bro Samad (I think), the days sweepers, and maintained a normal relax speed. I had to pace myself properly if I were to have a good ride and with that speed I eventually caught up with the last palaton and stayed with them until I saw flocks of cranes on my left in the paddy field. I saw them when we drove in so I was excited to take a few shot of them. When I saw that I turned to my left at the next ban dropped my bike and stooped low to get a good angle and frame. There and then I wish I had a long lens with me. Looking at my collection after the ride I decided to buy one soon. I managed a few shots before the cranes realized I was there and flew away. I got back on the main track just to discover a few meters away a group of cyclists resting under a shade not sure whether or not the immediate junction was the one we supposed to take. At the same instant Dr Tauf8k zoomed in from behind to indicate it was the next one. So I continued cycling until the right junction and I think I was the first. Ahead of me was a long stretch of road with new planted paddy on my left and empty just recently cultivated fields on my right. On my left also was the water ways making up the irrigation system (tali air) for the fields. I really just was enjoying my cycling most of the time and looking for opportunity for nice shorts. A quarter ways I stopped by to photograph the fields and the places around me. I thought I had enough but later I realized I missed a lot other opportunities. Again making the mistake of not being observant. Soon few riders started to come into view and I started to photograph them. After the last rider in the group passed me I got on my bike and cranked hard to catch them. I stayed at the back of the group until we reached our first official rest point. As usual I photographed them riding from the back as well. Then it was 0917 and due to the open plain very hot already. When we started out we were riding against the headwind and I was surprised it was almost a still air on the second stretch. Or was I really hot and did not notice the wind blowing.

We waited for the last group to join us and added few more minutes before we rolled off again. As I was cycling earlier I noticed that the ban on my left was running parallel to the road and made up my mind to ride off road style on them on the next one. As soon as I got to the next turn to the ban I turned left but not before the two ladies from the Gedebe gang turned first. So I was not the only one having the idea. Soon a few more followed suit and we were like kids again having fun on the ban. I was so intense cycling on the ban I forgot about stopping by taking few photograph. Luckily Dr Taufik did me a favour by taking a few nice shots of us. The third phase before the last home stretch was a long straight cycling in between paddy field and planters houses. The heat was even worse than before and I was just cycling to finish. I initially rode that stretch with Col Azudin but he decided to crank his Bianchi RB and left me behind. I rode alone almost the whole stretch maintaining a constant speed. Since we were cycling the route in one round back to where we started I thought we were cycling straight back without any more stop but once I approached almost the very end of the paddy fields I saw a group waiting by the roadside. So I eased in knowing another big group still far behind me. Since the earlier group was already happy chit chatting among themselves I did not join them instead concentrated on looking for good scene to photograph.

The best thing about this ride was the willingness of everyone to help each other. Well, a lot of time people would say it was expected and will take things for granted. More so the ride of this nature tends to be cliquey. Not this one as it was obvious in all our conducts. I for one should do a lot more. As soon as the last two riders were in they decided to continue so as to keep the momentum. When I looked at them I knew they were spent and only their grit and will power would take them home. Alhamdulillah there were more than enough riders to prod, encourage and push them. At that point the MTB riders decided to take the inner ban route back and the RB riders favouring the even clean tarmac went ahead as per the original planned route back. I followed the other MTB riders. The thought of riding on a rough surface disappeared as soon as I saw the route ahead. It was the same as the main track only narrower with trees and houses close on both sides skirting the paddy fields. At times we were riding under the canopy of big mango trees. I though I wanted to crank up all the way back but starting from the back I saw a young rider struggling. I decided to accompany him and we rode side by side talking about, what else, cycling. He told me he was more the off road rider that do a short but tough terrain run. I agreed I love to do that too occasionally. Riding under a canopy of trees shielded you from the sun and with more oxygen it is a bit easier and cooler. With that kind of ride the terrain will be your challenge. As for this one it was the distance and speed. We rode slowly until we joined the RB riders on the original planned track home. At that point I saw a group trying to help a lady rider by the road side but seeing there were already enough capable people helping I continued riding and finished the ride at around 1045.

I rested a bit and asked Dr Taufik what was the next plan. He said nothing special just maybe the group would like to go somewhere for a drink or maybe to eat. Since Sam and Mar had been waiting for quite a while I decided to go first.

Thank you all for the enjoyable and memorable sawah padi ride.

You can view most of the photos from the ride by going here, here and here.

Friends Like These

I am reading Danny Wallace’s Friend Like These when all he writes struck all the right chords with me. I have written somewhere before as far as friends are concern I have a few classifications or groups of them that by themselves are special to me. The obvious first group is my childhood friends when I grew up in Bukit Galing Camp which includes my primary school mates at Sekolah Kebangsaan Galing, Kuantan. Second is my SDARAs, a residential school that I went, lived, grew up and learnt about life for seven good years of my growing up. The third my college mates and the fourth group of friends that I made during the many years I worked in at least 5 organizations. As I said all the four groups has it own specialty and peculiarity. If I were to rank their importance I could not be fair to all but probably one that stands out most is my SDARAs. Now without realizing it I am back tracking my life.

Slowly and without having specific plan I search and visit my friends to reconnect, especially my secondary school friends that once in my life I was willing to die for. My endeavor eventually went on to my childhood friends and finding and tracking them are really difficult. In my days growing up in Bukit Galing Camp there were the Kaliman’s Noi, Inang (arwah), Yah, Zaha, Ecah, and Alin. Their parents are residing in Kuantan now. Ecah and Alin are staying with them. I visited them few times already. The Wan Long’s sibling of Awie, Ama, and Tipah. I can’t remember I met them but I heard about them MA being a successful businessman. Ama from his early days had shown the entrepreneur side of him os I was not surprise. The Kusai’s Nor and Chik. Cik married and I was told living in Subang Jaya. I met Nor when we visited his hometown in Temerloh years ago. But he was a change man then hardly talking and non committal to my jokes and conversation. And many more that I have forgotten. The only person that I have been in touch all this while and closer than anyboy else is Zaha. From my primary school Tajuddin (a medical doctor now at Balok), Shamsuddin, Faridah, Nor Bainah… wow that’s all I could remember. Even sadder I do not have any old photos of them only powerful memories.

Current generation has all the technology in the world to remain connected. They could have a database full of stories, images and narratives. Me, I can only hope and my effort trying to create my virtual present and being a virtual resident wanabee is really just trying to reconnect most of the time. However, I would not expect my generation to be that IT literate to participate and create opportunity for them to be visible. Not once I met my old primary school and childhood friends through the Net. Still I am ‘virtual’y present most of the time and hoping.

On The Train, Mar 18, 2009

Alhamdulillah the train was only late by two minutes today. I got a seat in a coach that was not an ikan sardine tin can.

I have been thinking of resurrecting my life as a PhD student lately and today I made a promise to do just that ASAP as I walked down the stairs. After all I will be doing it as part of work as well.

On The Train, Mar 17, 2009

I am going to adopt a bad attitude of ‘they come when they come and they arrive when they arrive’ as far as KTMB Komuter train is concern. I am that fed up and believe that KTMB really do not have the capacity to improve. Not even an ounce.

I wanted to be early today and came down for the 1800 train but it never came. Instead a second P Klang train arrived after 15 minutes wait followed by an announcement that a technical problem, what else, occurred between
Putra and Segambut stations. As I was very tired I was lucky I got a seat at KL Sentral when somebody seating in front on me disembarked.

On The Train, Mar. 16, 2009

It started to rain at around 1630 and it continued until few minutes past six. Not wanting to take the risk of KTMB’s failure once again I decided to stay back and go home after maghrib. From my office I could see the train service was like doing it’s normal run but knowing KTMB that could mean an ounce of thing.

I walked down to the platform with just a right time for the 2020 train but what came immediately was the Ipoh shuttle train and with that I knew instantly my train would be late. It rolled in at 2042. Again despite my good intention and trying not to worry about it KTMB still prove to be unreliable. This seems hard if you are reading my runt for the first time. That’s this is not the first time I’ve through this motion of KTMB disservice for the last six years. Can you imagine that, I myself could not believe it had been that long. I am not trying to be dramatic but that is the fact of life. Even now the train is waiting at KL station without us being informed as to what we are waiting for. So it looks like I am going to be late home everyday now.

On The Train, Mar 13, 2009

Again with people cramped in worse then a can of ikan sardine and with a lot more on the platform I could not really understand of how inconsiderate KTMB is. Of course it got worse and worse as we reached the next station. How could they fail to learn as this happen almost every Friday evening. Of course today is worse because of their ‘technical’ problem. But they knew this already as it had been a two-week long ‘technical problem’ for us.