When does a city become a home?
May 21, 2011 by admin
Filed under Recreation, Stories, Transport
By Tom Keeble, 4 May 2011.
In a radical departure for this little corner of the web, I’m going to talk about something a little bit abstract – that moment when the place you live becomes a place you feel at home.
Having been in Singapore for almost 4 years now, it’s interesting to observe our changing response to the place. Going from the time where we loved the differences to Melbourne and saw the good in everything, such as; a thriving urban, globalised city that has managed to retain some unique cultural flavour and preserve at least some of its natural and built heritage; cheap, reliable, safe and useful public transport; a young and burgeoning cultural and scientific scene with the opportunity to both observe a generation opening its eyes to the possible, and to leave our own mark; and a government that actually has a view to the future instead of making unborn generations pay for the priveleges the Boomers are enjoying now, to seeing the not-so-good side of Singapore. Read more
Railway Tracks Exploration Part 3 – Bukit Timah to Ten Mile Junction
May 20, 2011 by admin
Filed under Nature, Recreation, Stories
By Jinghui, 24 Apr 2011.
In the continuation of my old and active railway tracks exploration, completing Part 1 and Part 2 that forms the Old Abandoned Railway Tracks, it was now Part 3 and I joined an organised outing by Ivan, hiking from Bukit Timah Railway Station to Ten Mile Junction Railway Track road crossing. Meeting at King Albert Park McDonald with Daphne, Jingwen, Wilfred and Ivan, we had our breakfast before starting off on the Bukit Timah Railway Track Bridge and starting our wonderful “science class†trek up North.
The weather was great, hot and sunny, however, it’s the best for trekking and taking photographs. This is part of the Green Corridor, a long stretch of wildlife, flora and fauna and rainforest, that has been recently getting more attention with the “relocation†and eventual of the active railway tracks and train stations. This is part of our adventure, to document, share and spread the awareness of the importance, relevance and significance of preserving (instead of demolishing) and protecting our greenery, wildlife, forests, history and heritage. It’s like our own mini Red Dragonflies movie too! Read more
(Abandoned) Railway Track (Part 2) Photography Walkabout
May 19, 2011 by admin
Filed under Recreation, Stories
By Jinghui, 16 Apr 2011.
Do you remember my recent abandoned Old Railway Track Part 1? A photography walkabout from Teban Gardens to Sunset Way Railway Bridge? It was a fun, exciting and challenging photography walkabout, searching, documenting and photographing the abandoned Old Railway Tracks of Singapore.
In my Part 2 series of Abandoned Old Railway Tracks, the 2nd leg starts from Sunset Way Railway Bridge, following the Old Railway Tracks along Sunset Way HDB Estate into the Clementi Woodlands before trekking out into the open near the Bukit Timah area, connecting to the active KTM Railway tracks. This stretch of Old Railway Tracks is part of a bigger blueprint of “We Support The Green Corridor“, making lots of effort and awareness tools, sharing and showcasing the need to preserve the greenery, flora and fauna, animals and wildlife residing inside this Green Belt. Trekking through the Clementi Woodlands today, this is something we have to do, to preserve our history, forests, flora and fauna, not just for us, it’s for our future generations. Read more
(Abandoned) Railway Track Photo Walkabout
May 18, 2011 by admin
Filed under Recreation, Stories
By Jinghui, 19 Feb 2011.
The KTM Malaysian Railway Lines in Singapore, goes back quite a long way in history in time and it’s an important and integral part of the history of Singapore and Malaysia. In the early days, there were railway lines from the western part of Singapore, from the industrial estate in Jurong to the main railway line along Bukit Timah to Tanjong Pagar. However, as time and economics changed, the railway was no longer in use for a period of time, while the railway line from Tanjong Pagar up to Malaysia is still in operation.
View KTM Malayan Railway Lines in Singapore in a larger map
With the recent changes to the future of the railway tracks and Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, agreements between the governments of Singapore and Malaysia is leading towards a new era for the railway lines in Singapore, what will happen to them? Will they survive the thirst of land scarce Singapore? Can the railway lines, there are or going to be no longer in use, be turned into Green Corridors?
Armed with the strong interest inside me, I read, followed and researched on various other blogs, photographs and details on a segment of the railway lines in Singapore. Thereafter, I decided to do the Teban Gardens to Sunset Way (Abandoned) Railway Track Photo Walkabout with Sue and Amanda. Using the KTM Malaysian Railway Line Track (on Google Maps) as a reference, we started at Block 9, Teban Garden Road, recognising the landmarks from friends photographs, we hiked under the bridge, into a tunnel and came out on the diagonal side of Ayer Rajah Expressway and Jurong Town Hall Road. Read more
tracks by madeleine lee
The series of 9 poems shared by Madeleine Lee during The Green Corridor Forum:
tracks by madeleine lee
i    railway
at five each day give or take
a trundling rusty centipede
creaking past beaten panels
zinc tokens of sound proofing
awakening grumbling
its steely tiger head suddenly
silenced after a century
background noisy dischord
foreground political jar
in between some elevator music
stepping onto meter tracks
between s and m infinite h’s
now less risky
now equidistant
still wanting perspective Read more
The last train from Tanjong Pagar
By Jerome Lim, 14 May 2011.
On the 30th of June, we will see the last day of operation at the grand old station at Tanjong Pagar. The station, grand not in terms of scale, but in the magnificent style in which it was built, has served Singapore as the southern terminal station for close to eight decades, having been completed in 1932 to provide a city fast growing in economic importance with a station befitting of its status, and being part of a deviation of the railway which had prior to that, run through the Bukit Timah corridor before terminating at Tank Road. With the return of the railway land which has been held on a lease by the successors of the Malayan Railway, Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) and the shift of the southern terminal on the 1st of July, the age of rail travel across Singapore, which has lasted a little over a century, would draw to a close.
Operations at the grand building which has served as the southern terminal of the Malayan Railway since 1932 will cease on 1st July 2011.
In what form the station, which has recently received status as a National Monument, will be conserved following the handover we do not know, but whatever does happen, it would only serve as a reminder of the once working station which had for many years been an oasis of the laid back old world feeling that is missing from the modern Singapore that we have gotten used to. Gone will be the whistles and the drone of the diesel engines, the coming and going of passengers, the popular food outlets and what has become an institution at the railway station, the Habib Book Store and Money Changer. Gone will also be the opportunity to soak up the feel of the mood around the station, and lazily sip away at a cup of tea seated at the station end of the arrival platform. Read more
The Green Corridor: Wildlife, Alive and Dead, along the Tracks
By Daphne, 25 Apr 2011.
Warning: The following post includes gruesome photos of dead animals, which may cause discomfort to some readers.
Long tail macaques. Monitor Lizards. The rare pangolin. The common changeable lizard. Various species of snakes.
Long tail macaques are a common sight at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, of which the railway tracks pass near to the entrance of.
These are but a few animals that can be found along the section of the KTM railway tracks that run from the Bukit Timah Railway Station up till the road next to the soon-to-be-converted-into-a-condomium Ten Mile Junction.
Unfortunately, some of these animals may have fallen victim to “road-killâ€, or rather “track-kill†by passing trains. Read more
Jurong Line: Wildlife and Old Times in the Forest
By Daphne, 11 Apr 2011.
The Jurong Line leading from Sunset Way to King Albert Park, compared to the walk from Teban Gardens to the Faber Hills Estate, is a relatively easy trek as the terrain is flat for most part of it, and the vegetation though dense at certain areas, is easy to navigate. There are occasional fallen trees and branches that one has to be careful of, and extremely muddy areas that one has to cross.
Other than that, however, the walk is an enjoyable one, and also an opportunity to revel in the beauty of the forest and its inhabitants, an experience most people living in Singapore will rarely get exposure to. Most importantly, this section of the Jurong Line reveals little parts of the railway track that have fallen to abandonment – the old signal lights and electrical boxes, items that once controlled the very trains that passed through the area, but now left decrepit, rotting, and useless. Read more
The Green Corridor Forum [14 May]
Saturday, 14 May, 2.00pm – 4.00pm, level 16, POD, National Library
The ‘Green Corridor’ forum is a public discussion on the idea of converting the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) railway track literally into a “green corridorâ€, free of urban re-development plans once the land parcel is handed over to Singapore on 1 July 2011. This includes reasons why Singapore should protect the natural biodiversity already existing along the railway tracks as well as the community benefits that it brings.
The discussion is led by the Nature Society of Singapore and is joined by established local writers including Madeleine Lee, Suchen Christine Lim & South African writer, Melissa de Villiers.
Participants of ‘Bear Fruit: Railway Memories’ will also be presenting their works based on their memories of the Malayan railway.
About the Speakers
Dr Ho Hua Chew is currently the Chairman of the Conservation Committee in the Nature Society of Singapore. He co-ordinates conservation activities of the Society, such as the formulation of conservation proposals, feedback to government land-use & development plans, biodiversity surveys, etc. He has been doing conservation work for the Nature Society for more than a decade, in the course of which he was involved in the formulation of the conservation plan for Sungei Buloh, the Master Plan for the Conservation of Nature in Singapore, the Society’s EIA pertaining to the government’s golf course at Lower Pierce, etc.
His main field of expertise is bird life and biodiversity conservation, for which he has obtained a great deal of field experience in Singapore and Malaysia, and formal training from Imperial College and the University of East Anglia. He also lectures part-time on Environmental Ethics as well as on Biodiversity Conservation at tertiary institutions.
Tham Wai Hon’s interest in the Green Corridor sprang from his final year thesis at NUS Architecture School in 2006-it questioned the future of Malayan Railway Land. Wai Hon has worked in the fields of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, and is currently working on the National ArtGallery, Singapore at studio Milou Singapore.
Neu Wa O’Neill has previously worked on issues of biodiversity and connectivity with the Wildlands Project in Montana and Colorado in the U.S.A., mapping areas of roadless wilderness and habitat for endangered species. Neu-Wa has a BA in Urban Planning from the University of Hawaii and a Master’s in Architecture from the University of Toronto, and currently works as an architecture associate in Singapore.
This forum is open to the public.
Registration is required at the NLB website.
Source: National Library Board
Bear Fruit: Railway Memories [14 May]
Saturday, 14 May, 7.30am – 2.00pm, level 1 reception counter, National Library
Start & end point: National Library (Includes transport & lunch)
The colonial influenced architecture of the Tanjong Pagar railway station stands awkwardly majestic amongst the skyscrapers of a business district and residential area. It runs its own series of offerings including an eating place that lends its weight to blue collared workers in that area during the lunch time crunch & becomes a night hangout place for young urbanites and families dreaming of temporarily escaping Singapore’s hectic city life. Come 1st July, these are all but memories when the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) Tanjong Pagar railway station ceases its operations.
Do you remember your first train ride or have personal memories of this railway station?
Does reflecting on any of your train ride journeys or walking along the railway tracks bring back significant memories?
If you can identify with this topic, have memories to share and would like to relive your old memories with us, we invite you to join us for a nostalgic walk down the railway track with our invited guests from the Nature Society of Singapore.
Relive your memories and hone your writing skills with local writer, Puga, to craft a personalised creative writing works of your experiences through our memory writing workshop and walk home with your very own memorabilia of this trip!
Participants will also be required to showcase and present their works at the forum.
This event involves a walking trail & memory writing workshop and is limited to 30 registered participants.
Interested applicants can e-mail to Nurulhuda_SUBAHAN@nlb.gov.sg with subject header: BF Railway Memories including the following details:
1. Full name
2. Contacts: E-mail address & mobile number
3. Share with us your memorable experience at the train station or of your train ride in not more than 100 words.
Source: National Library Board
