Stories from my dad - KTM

My dad was born in 1909, in an area known as ‘sar soo koo’ to the local Hokiens. Literally it means ‘tiga suku’ or three quarters in English. No, it was not meant to be derogatory like ‘half past six’ but it was shortened from ‘sar ki sar soo koo’ which referred to 3 ¾ milestone, Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur!

In terms of locality, it was near to one of the oldest golf courses in Malaysia - Sentul Golf Course, which was unceremoniously closed when Taiping Consolidated Bhd got the deal to develop Sentul Raya. It got into financial difficulties and the project was taken over by YTL Land Bhd. YTL tried to develop the golf course into more condominiums but was not approved by City Hall. Hence, the much touted park similar to St. James’s Park of London.

When I became a member of Kinta Golf Club, Batu Gajah, I made use of its reciprocal arrangement with Sentul GC by having lunches there and making use of its swimming pool. It was within walking distance from my mother’s house, which at one time was used as our housing development office, and adjacent to my brother’s!

My dad, through an introducer, managed to work as a caddie at Sentul GC, which in the ‘20s, was used mainly by British and local engineers and management staff of KTM workshop. His admiration and respect for the British were so ingrained that when he and mum visited me in UK in the ‘70s, he just could not get used to seeing British rubbish collectors! The trip was made possible when a former KTM worker, who used to work for my dad and whose son was a MAS pilot, offered to accompany them all the way and back.

As a caddie, my dad made friends with some engineers and he managed to get a job as an apprentice in the workshop. His job took him to various parts of Malaya and one of his mentors was a Mr. Wong, grandfather of Dato Wong Seng Chow, a former Deputy Transport Minister. Dato Wong’s father, Wong Swee Chew, used to visit our workshop either out of necessity or for a chat. His second wife even drove their station wagon to help transport a roast pig during one of my sisters’ wedding in 1959. I still remember that later in the ‘60s, in need of a car, we lent her an old Riley (similar to those longish cars used by Germans during the war) and she enjoyed it so much that she kept it for a while! I used to be embarrassed when my brother used it to take us to school. Now, I regretted that we have not kept it!

My dad’s experience in KTM and later at Yuen Company car workshop in Batu Road (now Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman) gave him confidence to start on his own at the age of 20 in 1929! The early start meant few competition and he made enough to be able to buy a piece of land just after the Second World War.

It is uncanny how we had this affinity to KTM, not that I travel by train often, but that after I moved to Batu Gajah, it was announced that the KTM workshop will be moved there!

Before I post this, an ex-classmate since Primary 1, who is now an Australian citizen, happens to read my blog too. Anyway,his father used to be an engineer with KTM. Recently, he had been looking up old friends in Sentul and visited his former KTM house which had been demolished, leaving behind an unkempt compound overgrown with lallang and other plants. In fact, majority of those studying in my former school were from KTM families.

While on this topic of KTM, it is generally agreed among residents of Batu Gajah that the new train station site is at a most ridiculously inconvenient place. Instead of expanding the old station, which was next to the main road and within walking distance of the town centre, the present site is well hidden and off the main road. It will be avoided by most people if the scheduled arrival times are during the night or early morning. Sometimes, I used to wonder what the planners were thinking.