A very big station was built as part of the electrified double-tracking rail project. The new railway station and the accompanying road re-alignment and flyover were to change the face of Tanjung Malim town forever.
Amazingly, the sheltered platform is about 500 meters long. Currently there are only a handful of passengers, even during rush hour. Talk about optimism or building for the future.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 250, f4, 1/250 sec.
The Tanjung Malim Rest House stands like a crumbling monument to an era long gone. There used to be a rest house in every town but only a few have survived or are still operating. Government rest houses are now mostly a British colonial day relic left abandoned and to fade away silently.
This one is unique as it is one of few with the original design from more than a 100 years ago. One of the last caretakers was a Hainanese. Not surprisingly, the rest house was well-known for the food he served.
During its glory days, this rest house not only served as a hotel (or motel) but also as a popular dining venue for royalty, other VIPs and room guests.
Now, the wooden structure is rotting away, the fittings stripped bare and creepers are encircling it in a slow strangle of death. Only thing that will probably remain is the eponymous Rest House Road it stands on.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f11, 1/320 sec.
Nestled within a quiet housing estate in Proton City is a picturesque but deserted park. Risqi, 4 and Rifa, 7, were taking in the the view of the lake from under a gazebo.
Their mother Nani, a science teacher from a school in nearby Kuala Slim, told me the lake was a tin-mining pit. She reckoned the yellowish water was caused by heavy rain the night before.
I was also told by other Tanjung Malim folks that, on weekends, it is a popular place for kite flying and other recreational activities.
Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f6.3, 1/250 sec.
People stop and stare, they don’t bother me
For there’s nowhere else on earth that I would rather be
Let the time go by, I won’t care
If I can be here on the street where you live
The wonderful love song by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner from the Broadway musical (and later the film) “My Fair Lady” sounds creepy in this day and age. Sounds like a stalker anthem. Haha.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f6.3, 1/160 sec.
Homage to the music video and song (If Only I Could) Turn Back Time by Aqua. It was the Danish-Norwegian eurodance group’s only slow-paced song. Nevertheless, it showcased the vocal prowess of Lene Nystrøm Rasted.
It was also the soundtrack of the 1998 film ‘Sliding Doors’ with similar visual treatment. The twin-universe rom-com was about the consequence of Gwyneth Paltrow’s character missing the train.
Photographed at the Tanjung Malim train station.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f4, 1/10 sec.
