The North Borneo Railways photo here shows the only surviving specimen of an operational steam-engined train in Malaysia. Brings back fond memories of the days of travelling on KTM trains between Butterworth (from Prai, initially) and Kuala Lumpur in the 1960s.
Those were the days when every trip was filled with great expectations. I was always peering out of the windows to catch glimpses of the locomotive in front, with black plumes belching from the top, and steam hissing from the sides. Not forgetting the frequent whistling (I believe was also steam-operated).
KTM has come a long way. Now as more sections of the rail network switch to electric trains, raw steamy love affairs have evolved into more refined electrifying experience (hopefully). (Well, the intermediate diesel-electric locos were totally boring).