Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd Station@Tanjong Pagar

It took a newspaper article announcing the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd station at Tanjong Pagar will move to Woodlands next year to galvanize me into action. The station was on my list but it was not a priority. However, the recent development bumped it straight up to number one spot as who know what will happen to the building after the move.

Technically, I am now on Malaysian soil even though I am in Singapore.

Spent some time orientating myself and a man sitting on platform 1 jovially greeted me and advised me to head to the end of the station for the Singapura signboards that train passengers will see arriving or leaving the station.

The place is admittedly grungy but it had an old world charm about it. Things moved a lot slower and no one seemed to be in a great hurry.

A check on the departure and arrival board showed a train would arrive in 15 mins.

I went back to Platform 1 and into M. Hasan Railway Station Canteen to order a cup of teh tarik, and settled at a table on the platform to wait for the train.

The train arrives 15 mins late from Johor and as if a switch came on, the platform became a hive of activity as people bustled around. While all this was happening ,the heavens opened up, and I was stuck at the station till the downpour abated. This gave me a chance to feel the ebb and flow of life at the station through my lens.

After the passengers have all gone the carriages sat on the track while staff placed new towels into the cabins and filled up the water tanks with water. Then everything was still again except for the crowd that was at the canteen enjoying their breakfast. Next train departs at 1 pm.