Railwayman courts shippers' attention

He may not be working in a shipping firm or port, but Abdul Radzak Malek, general manager (freight services) of Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) is a familiar face among members of the maritime industry as he can be seen in many port roadshows and promotional visits in and out of the country.

For Abdul Radzak, although the railways is not directly linked to the shipping industry, it is part of the larger transportation network responsible for moving goods.

"I believe that the railways is an important link to service the needs of shippers in terms of carrying goods from ports to their warehouses.

"With the Government's move to promote local ports and provide rail links sea ports and inland ports, the role of the cargo trains are becoming more important," he said.

Abdul Radzak's job in KTMB basically sees him in charge of the cargo division for conventional, bulk and maritime containers.

As head of the division, he is also responsible for marketing and promoting the company's business and bringing in new customers.

Abdul Radzak started out in KTMB 27 years ago as a station master in Batu Gajah, Perak, after high school.

Since then he has been promoted as an executive in Land and Property division, before being posted to the Training division.

He was also in charge of the double tracking project before becoming the KL regional manager.

He assumed his current position two years ago.

While working in the railways, he obtained a degree in humanity.

Prior to workingin the railways, Abdul Radzak was formerly a teacher in Sabah for about one year.

According to him, it was by coincidence that he joined KTMB.

"I applied for several other jobs including as health inspector but the railways was the first to offer me the job.

"Many railway workers are second generation in the sense that their fathers were also working in the railways before.

"However it was not the case for me as I had no family members working in KTMB before I joined the company.

"After being in the railways for 27 years, I find that it has a lot to offer and have become part of the working culture here so much so it is my second home," he said.

Abdul Radzak, was born and bred in Gopeng, which is located ......from Batu Gajah station, where he first began working.

Interestingly, he never travelled on a train prior to joining KTMB, and his first journey by train was to the firm's head office in KL for a job interview.

"I was given a second-class coach from Ipoh to KL. It was a wooden coach with only one air-conditioned.

"It was an exciting moment for me and the journey took between seven to eight hours. We left at midnight and reached our destination early in the morning," he recalls.

Abdul Radzak aims to bring the freight division to greater heights, and believes the division must be "business-like" and adopt a business culture.

"We have to go out to market and sell our services and that is why I want all my officers to have keen business acumen and work as in any other corporate outfit," he said.

He also believes in going to the ground to know what is happening, and looking into the needs of the customers

"Until the 80's, transit time to move cargo from one destination to the other used to take about three days.

"Now, we can deliver the goods within 24 hours in the country. Our record time was nine hours and 45 minutes.

"The railways can compliment exsting modes of cargo transportation as we are capable of carrying a bigger volume," he said.

On the role of the freight services division, Abdul Radzak said the industry is moving into intermodalism. Therefore, he says, KTMB cannot live in its own world and be satisfied with moving a selected amount of cargo.

"We must move out and start forging working relationships with others in the transport industry, such as ports and hauliers.

"With the Government's efforts to promote the maritime industry, KTMB can play a more effective role by offering package services to our clients from the moment the ship docks right to their warehouses.

"Thus I have had to learn shipping jargons and have begun talking to bonded warehouses, shipowners and others in the logistics chain to find out how best KTMB can come be of service to them," he said.

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