Ticket Not Required

Notice this sign at one KTM Station:

At first glance, the wordings of the notice seem alright. Indeed, it sounds fine for those who do not bother to give it a second glance.

However, look carefully. Passengers are advised to have a valid ticket. It is not compulsory, nor is it required to have one. It is merely advisable to have one, that's all.

Penumpang dinasihatkan memiliki tiket. Ia tidak diwajibkan atau diperlukan, hanya nasihat sahaja.

The correct notice should read:

"Penumpang dikehendaki memiliki tiket sebelum menaiki tren"
"Passengers are required to have valid ticket before boarding train"

No wonder KTM is running at a loss every year. This is the reason. It's not necessary to pay to ride on the train.

Flood Again

Whenever there is a heavy downpour, this particular stretch of road will always be flooded without fail, resulting in serious traffic congestion here spanning over a few kilometres.

Yes, I am talking about the Puchong - Sg. Besi Bypass. For the umpteenth time, I have experienced intolerably slow (and sometimes motionless) traffic as I head from Serdang towards Puchong whenever this road is flooded. From my observation, the surface water is unable to be discharged into the roadside drain at this lowest point of the road. It is obvious that something is terribly wrong with the drainage system here as this has been happening each and every time there is a heavy rain.

This time on 17 March 2008, with my camera ready, I snapped some photos of the incident here as shown below.

KL Flood

10 June 2007: A heavy downpour on a Sunday evening created a havoc at the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Major parts of the city were flooded and numerous roads were closed to traffic. The photos below were taken at around 12 midnight at Jalan Dang Wangi, one of the major roads of the city.

Notice the reflection of the Twin Towers.

This guy here was lost for words.

As can be seen, the water was as murky as tea.

Duh: Intelligent signboard saying "Flood".

It would take some time for the water to subside.

Train Breakdown

23 Nov 2007: At around 7:45pm, a KTM train broke down in the middle of the track on the way from Stesen Bank Negara to Stesen Putra, somewhere at Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. For half an hour, the fully-packed train was stationary, stuffy without air cond nor ventilation. There was no announcement whatsoever of the cause of the breakdown and how long more the passengers were expected to wait.

Anyway to cut a long story short, firefighters arrived at the scene at around 8:15pm and guided the passengers out of the train. The passengers took a short walk along the track to Stesen Putra and boarded the next train.