Komuter train - ladies only coach

I've only used the KTM Komuter train once or twice in the past, as I rarely travel by train.

This week I decided to check out the new bus terminal, Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (photos) at Bandar Tasik Selatan (TBSBTS). I took the Komuter train.

Had to wait more than 25 mins for the train which was crowded. It was hard to get on as there were several passengers with luggage standing near the doors. The train totally filled up and Polis Bantuan were trying to get people to move into the carriages and not crowd the doors. It was horrible.

So I was quite amazed when an Indian immigrant tapped my arm and offered me his seat, and made sure no one else grabbed the seat before I could sit down. Such kindness is rare in Malaysia and I made sure to thank him. I found the seats were rather narrow and I was in physical contact with the people either side. Maybe this is one reason why KTM decided to introduce the Ladies Coach last year.

The webpage says
Ladies Coach – Ladies Only At All Times (First in Malaysia)

The Ladies Coach is a coach specially reserved for lady passengers as an option when using KTM Komuter train service. It has been introduced in an effort to provide female commuters with a comfortable and safe journey, avoiding the risks of sexual harassment in a congested environment.

Apart from being located in the middle of each train, the colour Pink plays an important part in the Ladies Coach. Special stickers in pink are found on windows and doors inside the train and certain areas of the exterior.

At stations, banners are found at designated areas on poles painted in pink.

The Ladies Coach is located in the middle of each KTM Komuter train made available at all times inclusive of weekends and public holidays unless notified otherwise. Lady passengers of all ages and boys below the age of 12 accompanied by a female guardian / relative.

The Ladies Coach will be operational effective 28 April 2010. For a start, the Ladies Coach will be made available on the Sentul – Pelabuhan Klang – Sentul sector.

Needless to say the rules of Ladies Only are not adhered to, and I did see men in the ladies coach. And when I got back to Sentral quite a few men got into the ladies coach. Read this amusing blog.

I had the impression the ladies carriage occupied a good proportion of the train, but according to KTM, "The ladies coach only makes up 33.5 % of the space available in the train, while the other 66.5 % is still meant for normal passenger coaches".

At Bandar Tasik Selatan I felt sorry for those people with luggage. They had to walk up stairs with the luggage, then queue to exit, as there was only one exit aisle, which was being manned, so everyone had to hand in their ticket for inspection, or swipe the Touch n Go.

Considering BTS station will now be getting heavy use as it is the exit for the bus terminal, they really need to increase the number of exit lanes.

And when I returned to Mid Valley station the monsoon rain was pouring through the roof of the covered walkway.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

email scam "Treat as Urgent", "mugged in park"

The other day I received an email "from" an American friend. The subject was "Treat as Urgent". The email read:

Liz
I am writing to ask for your help. I am presently in Malaysia for a short visit and unfortunately I was mugged at the park of the hotel where I stay.

I am stranded right now having lost my wallet (containing all my credit cards, cash and cell phone) to the muggers. I have reported to the police and made contact with the embassy also and they only cleared me of my traveling documents.

Western Union is the fastest option to wire funds to me. Let me know if you need me to forward the details(Full names/location) to effect the transfer and I promise to reimburse you as soon as I return.

Waiting to hear from you. Thanks

There was no signature at the end. I immediately knew this was a scam, and alerted my friend by emailing her alternate email address. She replied that she had been locked out of her gmail account.

Now I know these scams have been going around for some time, they started by saying there was a fire in the hotel room. Then they changed to these mugging/robbed ones. The first ones were in a park in London, then the scammer moved to N.Wales.

It seems you are asked to send money to a Western Union office and that the scammer is actually in London / N.Wales to collect the money. They use Wester Union cos its so quick and they get the money easily.

So I was intrigued about the email I received, claiming my friend is in Malaysia. I wondered if the fact that I am in Malaysia is pure coincidence. I did some googling and bingo - it seems the scammers have been operating in Malaysia since at least Aug 2010. They are using a WU in KL.  And the IP has been traced to a mobile in Msia.

There is so much on the internet about these scams. One person reported "A quick 'google' on the specific text "unfortunately,i was mugged at the park of the hotel" produced over 45,000 results".

Cameron Highlands - Beauty & the Beast

Why beauty and the beast? Beauty because Cameron Highlands is still beautiful in terms of nature, scenery, landscapes, fresh air etc. Beast because of all the manmade developments which are spoiling the place.

Boh tea plantation -

It has been many years since I went up to Cameron Highlands. On my last visit I used the new road from Simpang Pulai, so it is even longer since I used the old road from Tapah. Luckily both going up and down, the road was amazingly quiet, being midweek, and also one week before school holidays. However it was still nerveracking to see idiot car drivers overtaking on blind bends. Insane lunatics. In comparison the lorry and van drivers were generally good (though not all).

The road has not been widened since it was built in colonial days a century ago. Now it has to take full size coaches, petrol tankers and goods lorries. they are so large they are bound to stray over the centre line on the bends. Even saw a 1Malaysia mobile clinic which is actually a full sized coach.

I was quite shocked to arrived at Tanah Rata and see all the developments, and even more shocked to see those surrounding Brinchang. The Equatorial Hotel is one of the largest -

Many of the buildings are apartments, built to cater for visiting families, mostly from Spore and Msia. I was surprised to see how many are built on hillslopes, but amazingly there have been no landslide accidents.

New bus station -

And all these developements mean a lot more visitors can stay. This of course means a lot more goods have to be taken up - food items, general supplies, furnishings, petrol etc etc. This means an increase of heavy vehicles on the roads.

By staying midweek, CH itself was not congested. I would hate to be there during peak season. The cheap guest houses were empty and it was easy to bargain for a room. Just out of interest, before going, I looked at Agoda and saw one hotel was advertising at RM62. When I got to CH I did check out that hotel, and was offered the same room for RM40 - and that was BEFORE negotiating. I didn't stay there as the hotel was totally empty and slightly out of town. Having checked out several places, and rejecting those that were partioned rooms with no windows, and those that had street and restaurant noise, I took a quiet room for RM25 right in town. And one great thing is parking is free everywhere.

My first trip to CH was as a backpacker in 1988. I paid RM9 for a room. I ate many meals in Restoran Kumar........ and this is still one of the most popular eating places now in 2011 and was packed in the evenings despite there being 3 or 4 similiar restaurants in row. Some of those and also the cheaper guest ouses now employ S.Asian workers and everytime we walked past the restaurant they would try and get you to go in. It seems most of the plantation workers and also construction workers are also from S.Asia.

Food prices seemed quite reasonable, no more than KL. This surprised me as most things have to be taken up to the highlands.

Brinchang -

Nissen hut

The increased development has resulted in brown coloured rivers. Sg Bertam is just a muddy flow, and the lake at Ringlet was red brown in colour.

Muddy but no rubbish

I found that a couple of trails, the paths have collapsed, and nothing seems to be done to repair them. Trail No 4 the path has collapsed and is hard to get around

Some of the trails are overgrown and unkempt. It seems like with other places in Malaysia, that the focus of tourism is more on the commercial aspect rather than nature. I was surprised at the number of farm and market shops all competing to sell fruit, veg, flowers, souvenirs etc. I did buy some strawberries, but they were completely tastless and not at all nice. Local produce -

There is no real tourist office any more. However there are many shops selling tours. Going up to the summit of Mt Brinchang, there was a fleet of about 12-15 minibuses and Land Rovers. I have heard plenty of comments on how developed CH has become and people claim it is no longer cool. I didn't notice this. It was cool enough for me. The clock at the entrance to Tanah Rata registed 22C at 2pm. And up on top of Mt. Brinchang in the Mossy Forest it was definitely cool! Masts on the summit -

The Mossy Forest

Graffiti -

Sg Palas tea
It was nice to see the old Land Rovers

Tourists vehicle
There are still the nice old buildings, such as the convent -

Muslim children at the convent -

and then more highrise.
Bala's is one of the older hotels -

Smokehouse , and the new Strawberry Park

Irish House

The farmers are planting on steep hills
Ringlet construction -

Brown lake

In summary, I was disappointed at how developed CH has become and how the emphasis has changed more to a commercial aspect rather than nature. I won't be in a hurry to go back.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission