Gemas

Arrived: 7 April2017, 2009hours

We filled up our thermos flask with hot tea, bought some biscuit, took some selfies at the City Square Mall with the train station in the background before boarding the train en route to Gemas. 

The way the rail lines were organized, I suspected that Gemas was designated to be the rail transport hub of the future rail network of West Malaysia. It is at Gemas that the rail line splits into two lines, one in the east and another to the west. West Malaysia is divided in the middle by a mountain range that joins the ranges of Thailand in the north and continues to Singapore island in the south. The east rail line terminates in Tumpat and the west line terminates in Padang Besar. We decided to explore the small town, document some street scene and hoped to see that it would change due to the changes in the speed of rail network. Perhaps as the exchange point between the east and west line, it should have some impact on the economy of the town. The other reason being that the faster trains, the ETS electric trains which can reach a speed of 150km/h, only start at Gemas. It is claimed that this is the fastest meter-gauge train. We learned that the track width does have an implication on the maximum speed of the train. Most of the tracks in China are Standard gauge and some dual track, the fastest train can reach a speed of 400km/h or more. 

I had not visited Gemas before and it would be a good start to get acquainted with the small quiet town. We departed at about 3pm in the afternoon and when we alighted from the train, it was already dark and we were very hungry. We traveled about 200km and took almost 5 hours. The train was slow. It needed some real upgrading, however, the seats were comfortable and the carriage reasonably clean. We spotted a Pizza Hut and was happy to have a simple meal of chicken burger. We did some browsing, walked less than a few hundred meters, found a small hotel, Hotel Tropicana along Jalan Lintang mend by a young India lady and settled our lodging for the night. 

We came out to roam the town in the night. The streets were dark with lighted spots where people gathered around a wide Light Emitting Diode (LED) monitor playing movie while having their night supper. Different races gather around different broadcast television program of different languages. People chose their seats first and then ordered their food. We ordered the coffee and it did not come for a long time and we could not wait any longer. We left the cafe. We went back to the train station and explored the vicinity. Finding nothing exciting we returned to the hotel. People behaved differently from urbanites, they watched us as we moved about, which made us more cautioned of our movement. It was normal in a small town. Perhaps they were curious and they knew we were not from their town. No harm. We just needed to be friendly and non-offensive. 

We had our breakfast at a small shophouse cafe that was in the same row as our hotel. We noticed that there were a lot of crew-cut hairstyle men roaming in groups. We supposed they were soldiers on their day out. They were well built and well behaved. Somehow they did not look like Malaysian, we suspected that they were mercenary soldiers, possibly from Nepal. In Singapore and Malaysia, we love to employ Gurkha in the royal army. They are steady and loyal. They do their job well. 

I noticed a group of elderly gentlemen having their breakfast. This made a great scene of friendship and happiness. I went over and requested to photograph them. However, they preferred to have a photograph with me instead. Sure, I used the Insts360 Air release a shot. They were very happy when I showed them the 360 photo from my mobile. Later, when we were paying up, we were told that the old gentlemen had paid for our breakfast. We were pleasantly surprised. I went to make a print from my mobile at a humble photographic retail shop a few units down the same row of shops so I could repay his generosity. They have Wifi transfer, amazing! For fun, I asked who was the gentleman in the photo beside me? She said that he is the mayor of Gemas. We were shocked. Wow, we had just been treated to breakfast by the mayor. What a great start! We left the photos and a short thank you note at the coffee shop entrusting them to the shop owner to pass them to the mayor on his next visit. Yes, I uploaded the selfie to my Facebook. It was such an honour!

We roamed the street further to the north and bought some Chinese medicine for flu, in case we felt ill along the way, as my son was coughing a little. There was a huge IMG warehouse with a huge car park where we bought more water and took some drinks at a deserted Nanyang Kopitiam. Across the cafe I spotted some newly built shop lots for sale and rent. Made some enquiry, and was told that they were selling them for 400 hundred thousand Malaysian Ringgit. Not that cheap though. If Gemas flourished because of its newly designated transportation position perhaps the property could rise further. 

I was still wondering after a quick morning survey of this quiet town how would it play out in the next five years. Nothing intuitive had sparked my imagination.