6. The Night Express to a New Life

Sleeper Berth in KTM Train - Ekspres Senandung Malam

The first time I stepped into the old Taiping railway station was in November 1968, when I left for Kuala Lumpur to attend an interview at the Royal Military College (RMC) in Sungai Besi. Leong Moon Loong and Sallehuddin were waiting for me, and together we boarded the KTM Night Express.

A couple of months later, in January 1969, I was back at the same station. This time to begin a new chapter of my life at RMC. I had been accepted, and with my free KTM ticket in hand, I stood there with the only luggage bag in my house. My parents were there to send me off, as were Sallehuddin’s parents.

Altogether, five of us from SGI and KE VII were bound for RMC. From KE VII there were the late Tengku Marzuki, Johan Abdullah, and Philip Lyn Chong Woon. Back then, I thought I was escaping home for freedom - not knowing what truly lay ahead.

In my first year at RMC, whenever the train whistle blew at the old Sungai Besi crossing in the early hours of the morning, my tears would flow. It was usually around 4 or 5 a.m., and I would be up washing my own clothes. At home, this was something my mother would have done for me.

The railway station, that train, and that whistle marked the end of a boyhood - and the beginning of everything else.

Cheah Eng Seng

7th September 2025