Part II: Mr Saminathan Munisamy

INTERVIEWER: What's his name? SAMINATHAN: I really can't. – Haji – Haji something. INTERVIEWER: He is the magazine seller, right? SAMINATHAN: No, he owns the restaurant. He was a Indian Pakistan. So I spoke to him in Tamil. He was very sad, “What to do?”. That's one thing. And I also interviewed Mr Samsul Bakri, the station master. And he was sad, as well. And for him, it's just like, I remember he said this is where, he point, Singaporeans and Malaysians meet each other. And you don't feel it is Singaporean and Malaysian. They mingle around, and as a place where you don't have an identity of Singaporean and an identity of Malaysian being reflected there. The relationships they have. He also mentioned about the railway friends. So it was his point of view. It was a bit, I should say, not happy. He was not very into the idea that the land had been sold, sorry, given back to Singapore. He was not into the idea. INTERVIEWER: He was not very enthusiastic about that? SAMINATHAN: Correct. So he was a little bit upset. INTERVIEWER: Upset? SAMINATHAN: Yah, upset. INTERVIEWER: And how about the spectators? Were there a lot of young people there? SAMINATHAN: Yah. For the young people, the youngsters, it was more for the fun of it. You know, it's like, if it close down something, they want to be there. To make sure, “I've seen that. I was there when it was closed down.” INTERVIEWER: I've experienced it. SAMINATHAN: Yes.I talked to a few. But didn't want to put it in – substanceless. Not much of substance, that was the youngsters. INTERVIEWER: Did you notice any changes over the years that you took the train? Since you've been taking it since 1981, did you notice whether the train or the station changed over a period of time? Were there any things that you recall, whether in architecture or the train? The interior, the people, the action. I wouldn't say the atmosphere, more like the ambience? SAMINATHAN: The constant, what you call this, plight of the riders, the passengers are being delayed. Because sometimes they say the train will leave JB station at 8 o'clock. And you are there, it's 9, 9.30, 10 o'clock. And the good thing is that I always realise that from Singapore, it was no issue. They leave on time. INTERVIEWER: Okay. So Singapore trains always leave on time? SAMINATHAN: Yes. So in JB then, it started all the delay. Sometimes you have to – but being a youngster, I know at that time, you won't really feel bored. You have things to occupy; you go around. I even – it happened that my colleagues, sorry, varsity friends, when we travelled together, it was to Gemas. And I got down because my stop was Gemas. This friend of mine was supposed to go to KL. So he also came down. I know a coffee shop that served good coffee. And then we went there. We took our sweet time to drink the coffee and everything because we thought it was going to be delayed. And finally we realised that the train had left. INTERVIEWER: With his baggage on board? SAMINATHAN: Yes. So we went to the station master. We complained. Not complained, we told him, told him the problem. So they contacted. So my friend had to take a bus to KL. So good thing was that the train arrived – Eh – . INTERVIEWER: So he beat the train? SAMINATHAN: Yes, he beat the train. INTERVIEWER: So he basically drank coffee, took his own sweet time, the train left, and he still had to find a bus, get on the bus, and he still beat the train. SAMINATHAN: He beat the train. – So you can imagine that. Because of the single track problem. That's why Malaysia is going for double track now. INTERVIEWER: So the single track problem means only one train? SAMINATHAN: Only one track. So whenever you have the Express given priority, the local mail you call that, so you have to wait. INTERVIEWER: So Gemas to KL is considered local? SAMINATHAN: That was local, local train. And then you have what is called first class, second class, third class. And then after that, I realised that, after a few years, they abolished that thing. It's only the standard, economy class. INTERVIEWER: For Gemas to KL? SAMINATHAN: For Gemas. Sorry, JB to Gemas. So they used to have first class, second class, and then abolished, then after that this thing. INTERVIEWER: Was this in the ’90s? SAMINATHAN: It was like late ’97, ’96. Well, talking about comparing ’92, ’93, ’96, ’97. Things that happened. You have air-con coaches. In ’93, you don't have that. The third class is just window. Normally at night, because you have to share the seat with somebody. they like to have, I mean at night they open the window. Sometimes, it's very chilly. Very cold. I used to carry a blanket on the night train. INTERVIEWER: And the night train was 6 hours? SAMINATHAN: More than that. INTERVIEWER: This was from Skudai? SAMINATHAN: No, it was from JB to Gemas. INTERVIEWER: Still 6 hours? SAMINATHAN: No, it was more than that. INTERVIEWER: And when did the benches start changing, too? SAMINATHAN: That was very much later. I would say – ’90s, ’96, ’97. They changed that. INTERVIEWER: Did you ever take the sleeper carriages? SAMINATHAN: I never. I never experienced that. INTERVIEWER: In the ’80s, did you ever recall what the other passengers were doing? Was it very lively in the train? Some people have recounted to me, maybe in the ’60s, ’70s, people used to bring live animals like chicken, or something like that on the train. Did you ever see stuff like that? SAMINATHAN: No. INTERVIEWER: So quite civilised, at your time? SAMINATHAN: I should say. INTERVIEWER: Did you ever use the toilet? SAMINATHAN: Yes. INTERVIEWER: Which leads me to the next question: what is your most favourite thing that you like about the railway and/or the station, and what is your least favourite thing you like about the railway and/or the station? SAMINATHAN: Least, I would say the toilet. INTERVIEWER: Everybody says that. SAMINATHAN: What I like most about the train is when it stops at certain stations. You really feel you want to get down and look for the bikes, or coffee they are selling. You look forward for that, especially Kluang. INTERVIEWER: Kluang? SAMINATHAN: You take from JB to Kluang. Kluang is definitely a stop for coffee. And there's a coffee shop that serves very good coffee. Even today, even if I happen to pass by, I'll stop at that station for the coffee. Of course, the son who took over the business has made it into a franchise. So the concept is a Starbucks kind of thing. They still call it Kluang coffee. INTERVIEWER: Have they franchised out to other parts of Malaysia? SAMINATHAN: One in JB. I've seen another in Kluang itself. INTERVIEWER: But you stop at the original? SAMINATHAN: I'm still going to the original. They still maintain the original Kluang coffee place. So that's what I like most: the coffee, and the toast. You have the thin toast which is very nice. INTERVIEWER: You mention you like to stop at these small stations. Were there other stations that you remember? SAMINATHAN: Other stations like Labis, where I was born in Labis. I have small memory – INTERVIEWER: Labis in Johor? SAMINATHAN: Johor, yah. Whenever you stop at Labis, you feel you want to get down. Just breathe. Because it's a very short –. Because they don't stop long, unless you have an Express train coming. They don't stop long. So most of the time, it's like, you have a coffee, but at the same you also have one eye watching – the whistleblower, the station master and all at. Thank God I don't have the experience of running and catching hold of the door. I've seen people. At that time, it was quite normal. INTERVIEWER: To run and grab the railway? SAMINATHAN: Yah. But if I see it now, I would say it's very risky stuff to do. INTERVIEWER: Did you ever see people getting off a moving train? SAMINATHAN: No. Most people stop – at – stop. INTERVIEWER: I mean, we hear stories as the train was slowing down, they get ready to throw their bags. Then they jump off. They want to get off the train as soon as possible. Before everybody else. Stuff like that. I can imagine. It's like the old MRT where people are jumping on train. Are there any particular people besides the ones you mentioned that you remember fondly of? That have left a memory for you that is related to the railway? SAMINATHAN: First time – going to KL. We live in a small town in Gemas. So KL is a very big city. I still remember. My friend, his name is Prakash. He's here; he's a Singaporean. He was born in Gemas. He gave up his citizenship and he's here in Singapore. And then I got another friend called Selvam. We were from the same school. And then we decided to go for Thaipusam, taking this train. So all the way, the thing is that the group that came with us, all festive, Thaipusam festive. So you have people all dressed up, people make noise. So it was a very fond memory of going to KL for the first time. INTERVIEWER: How old were you then? SAMINATHAN: At that time, I was 16. Secondary Four. INTERVIEWER: But you were by yourself? Without your – SAMINATHAN: Yah. Because I told my mother I wanted to follow this friend. Actually, one of my uncles was living in KL. So I wanted to see him as well. INTERVIEWER: Do you remember the name of your uncle who worked in Gemas? SAMINATHAN: Yah. His name was Parandamun. INTERVIEWER: Parandamun. SAMINATHAN: Parandamun. INTERVIEWER: Has he passed on, or is he still alive? SAMINATHAN: He's still alive. INTERVIEWER: Is he still working for KTM, or is he retired? SAMINATHAN: No, he left his job, and then he went to become security guard. INTERVIEWER: So his relationship with KTM was for a period of time in the .’80s? SAMINATHAN: In the 80s, yah. I think – it was 10 to 15 years he worked for KTM. Quite long. INTERVIEWER: Was he always based in Gemas for that job? SAMINATHAN: No. He has moved to KL. INTERVIEWER: When he was with KTM, he was always in Gemas? SAMINATHAN: Yah, he was in Gemas. INTERVIEWER: Right, We always ask this question towards the end. As you know, Tanjong Pagar and the Railway Corridor where the rail track used to be, there hasn't been any real decision about what to do with the land and the station. In your personal opinion, what would you like to see for that? SAMINATHAN: Definitely a museum. Interviwer: A museum? For the Tanjong Pagar Station. Okay. What would you like to see in the museum? SAMINATHAN: I would love to see photographs of people working there, the station master before, the equipment they used. They used to have the bell –. INTERVIEWER: Bell? SAMINATHAN: Yes. That's the bell they used to, what you call this, before they invented the siren, all that stuff. They used to have this bell. INTERVIEWER: And it was at the platform? SAMINATHAN: No. It was carried by the station master. So he walked and rang the bell, so that you know it's time to go. INTERVIEWER: To get onto the train? SAMINATHAN: Yes. And that bell was given as a memento to the Sultan of Johor. That was like a kind of memorial. INTERVIEWER: You saw it. SAMINATHAN: Yah, I saw it. I have a picture of that as well. So that was given to, that was part of the memory of the train. It was, I can't remember, I used to remember, it was 1930 something. It was in use from 1930. INTERVIEWER: Was it ever in use when you travelled? SAMINATHAN: No. INTERVIEWER: Yours was possibly using whistles, siren. SAMINATHAN: They always use whistles, siren. That kind of thing. So I like to see that as well. INTERVIEWER: How about the Railway Corridor itself? SAMINATHAN: Yah, I think they should preserve part of it. At least, the Railway Corridor and part of the track. I'm not sure, because I didn't visit the place for some time. INTERVIEWER: Did you walk along the track when the Singapore government opened it up for people to walk along the track? Did you ever go? SAMINATHAN: No, I didn't. INTERVIEWER: Was this when they've removed most of the track already? SAMINATHAN: Yah. I saw the picture where they removed the track. I should say that portion of the main building where they house the station, especially the interior, it's very nice. And then for the first time, I see the words Federated States of – Malay States. FSMM. – Because there are Non-Federated States and Federated States. Federated States are Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Selangor and Pahang. These are called Federated States. Non-Federated States are Johor, Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis, Kedah. So I'm not sure why they have FSMM. I remember Raja gave some explanation of it. David Raja gave some explanation on it. But it's just the abbreviation of it. Federated States of Malay States. That's it. So – that word. Once the formation of Malaysia came in, nobody actually remembered that word. We should preserve these things, they are a part of history. And the murals. We have the rice fields, rubber trees. The rubber trees are quite rare to see. Unless you travel far into Malaysia, then you can see it. So all these things should be preserved. Basically, my point of view is that the whole building should be convert into a museum, to preserve all this. Especially that wall, that clock, right? Outside the building. All these are very beautiful things. INTERVIEWER: Do you have any final comments for the interview before we close? SAMINATHAN: That's my wish, to see that again as a museum, so that we have that for the heritage. Left behind for the younger generation to come. To see that that was a part of Malaysia at one time. And that was part of the history. All these things they should leave to the younger generation to see. INTERVIEWER: And to remember by. SAMINATHAN: People used to travel. Another thing I remember, it was very funny to imagine. I know why it was very complicating when during that time Singapore wanted to transfer Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands. Whenever you enter Woodlands, your passport will be checked. And then you've practically not cleared Malaysia. You're still in Malaysian land. Your passport will be checked by Singapore first. And then you come to Tanjong Pagar, then Malaysia will check your passport. It's a reverse thing. So I think that's the logic why Singapore wanted to transfer it to Woodlands, so that, you know, it's according to the system.