A GROUP of primary six school  children from Johor and their teachers were thrilled to get a taste of what we urbanites take for granted - a monorail ride through the city.

The 74 children from the Sekolah Kebangsaan Bakri Batu 5 in Muar had been looking forward to the experience for months, said a teacher, Mohd Ibrahim Daud, who led a group of nine teaching staff accompanying the children.

Arriving at 4pm at Wisma Monorail, the group was first given a briefing of the technology and innovation employed by KL Monorail for its trains.

They were also given the rare opportunity of stepping into KL Monorail’s Control Centre. They were later taken on a chartered train ride to all the monorail stations receiving a history of the city throughout the ride.

Mohd Ibrahim said the school started planning for their year-end trip some months back. “When we asked the students what activities they had in mind for knowledge, they voted for the monorail ride. “Their reason was that they wanted to know what technology is used to operate the monorail.”

The children’s one-day visit to Kuala Lumpur began with an excursion to the National Bird Park, followed by a visit to the High 5 factory, then the monorail ride. After the monorail experience, they set off for an evening of
fun at Cosmo’s World Theme Park, Berjaya Times Square.

For most of the children, it was their first visit to Kuala Lumpur, and their first train ride. “I learned a lot today about how the systems work, and of course, the train ride was a lot of fun,” said Mohd Zarif Samsudin, 12, one of the students.

Another student, Nadia Mahsuri, also 12, said the trip had been educational for her. “Today’s ride was my first train ride. I had been looking forward to it for months,” she said.

The guests were treated to  drinks and milk sponsored by Dutch Lady Malaysia Bhd. The exercise is part of a sponsorship collaboration with KL Monorail in line with the company’s “We Care”  campaign.

KL Monorail marketing and business development manager, Norazah Abd Rashid, said the visit was a rare opportunity for children to learn about the technology being used in their everyday lives.

“This is a chance for young children to get to know how things are done at the monorail. They get to know how the complex system works and to ask personnel about their jobs, particularly about the unique post of train captain.”