About the Taiping railway station

Taiping, being a popular destination for the nation’s local tourists, it is sad to note that nothing much has been done to attract the visitors to this first railway station of Malaysia. The station does not even have the year it was built (1885), stated prominently anywhere on its building. The year, itself, would attract some attention and scrutiny. It is disappointing that when the other heritage buildings in Taiping could have the date of their emergence inscribed on them, the famous railway station remains almost anonymous.

I have been staying in nearby Kamunting for over 35 years and consider myself as a patriotic Taipingite, with frequent visits to the railway station. The station doesn’t seem to have changed much all these years. Perhaps the Taiping authorities prefer the railway station to look exactly as it was in 1885. But that is quite impossible, what with the heavy traffic in front of its tarred road and the long stretch of eateries, just opposite the station.

The eateries are also an eyesore. Just entering one will make you wonder if these were also built in 1885.One could easily imagine mice having a hey day at night. The shops, if we can call these as such, don’t seem to have been visited by the health officers.

The ironic fact is that high-rise multistory, condominium type quarters for hospital staff, had been built just nearby, and with an extended town of Medan Taiping just around the corner, the railway station has been completely overlooked.