THE Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah, must be thanked for helping to solve the land matter linked to the building of a new railway station in Kuala Kangsar as a result of the double-tracking project by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) and MMC-Gamuda Berhad.

This matter would not have cropped up if all parties involved in the project, including the land office, had exercised more restraint and given better consideration to the plight of the residents of Kampung Talang Simpang Tiga who had owned the land for more than eight decades.

As long as I can remember the railway station has always been there and I loved going there especially when the trains arrive.

In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, it used to have a bookstore which was my source of comic books and other reading materials.

Even when I was schooling at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar, I used to hang out at the station on weekends and public holidays.
The station has served the people of Kuala Kangsar for decades. It is something very special to us.

If it is relocated to another spot, then Kuala Kangsar would have lost its second identity, its first being its status as a royal town.

The area where the station is located is called Kampung Stesen.

The sultan made it possible for the station to be where it is now. Had it not been for him, the people of Kampung Talang Simpang Tiga would have lost their ancestral land and, most of all, Kuala Kangsar would have lost its famous landmark forever.

Now that the station is going to remain where it is, I would also like to congratulate KTMB and MMC-Gamuda for their foresightedness and willingness to follow the sultan's suggestion.

Taking a step further, I would like to suggest that the present building be preserved for posterity and the new station building be built around and above it.

A totally new building with futuristic design can be built opposite the present building linking them with an underground tunnel.

Kuala Kangsar can be proud of having a railway station that incorporates the old and the new designs. Kuala Kangsar deserves it.