Once
upon a time, my dad, my eldest sister and I were registered members who used to
borrow books regularly from Perpustakaan Sultan Ismail or the Sultan
Ismail Library at Jalan Datin Halimah.
As
this library was a convenient drive away from our home in Larkin Gardens, we
enjoyed reading books borrowed from the Sultan Ismail Library, that was
established in 1964 by the Majlis Bandaraya Johor Baru (MBJB) or Johor
Baru City Council.
Hardcover version of the trilogy of
My Johor Stories tied up in ribbons
Around
2007, when the Johor Baru Public Library opened at Jalan Yahya Awal, it made
sense to move our membership to the new library so that we could enjoy reading
a collection of newer books.
With
a healthy reading habit, frequent travels (that included shopping for preloved
books!) and regular trips to bargain book sales, our collection of books at
home gradually expanded to the point where we finally decided to cease renewing
our library membership.
Over
the years, I went from reading books to writing and publishing my own books.
My Visitor Pass to the
MBJB Building, Bukit Senyum
In
December 2022, I shared a letter to my dad to update him on my journey that
kicked off in 2017, that led me to publication of a trilogy of My Johor
Stories.
I
wanted dad, who left us in 2016, to know that my first two My Johor Stories
books stocked at the Resource Centre of Yayasan Warisan Johor or Johor
Heritage Foundation, were often used as reference material and about the
exciting discovery that these very books were also among the titles kept by the
Singapore Library Board.
After we lost two
years to battling the global pandemic, I was pleased to publish My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now, the third and final instalment to complete the trilogy of My
Johor Stories, in partnership with MPH
Publishing Kuala Lumpur.
I
was deeply honoured that the Foreword for Book Three was penned by Dato’ Dr Abdul Rahim Ramli, President of the Johor Royal Court
Council, himself a published author of several books on Johor history and
heritage.
In a simple event
held in December 2022, Dato’ Rahim, as he is fondly called, officially launched
Book Three, witnessed by my family members and distinguished guests that included
most of the Subjects who were featured in this book.
With Tengku Tarmizi [Right]
and Charmayne N. [Left]
Among the important
guests at my book launch was Datin Patricia Lim Pui Huen, a historian by
profession and author of several books on Johor history, including books on her
great-grandfather, Wong Ah Fook.
Not long after Book
Three was launched, I received an email from Datin Patricia who graciously
said:
“Congratulations
once again on the publication of your very enjoyable and informative books on
Johor.
I am sure My Johor
Stories would be greatly appreciated by the reading public and I hope you will
not mind that I suggest that you donate a set of the books to Johor Baru’s
public library for their Malaysia Collection.”
Datin went on to
list the name of the library, Perpustakaan Sultan Ismail and the
Librarian, Tengku Tarmizi Tengku Aziz, along with the library’s full address,
telephone number and email address, essential info for me to donate my books.
Facade of the Mayor's Office in MBJB Building
I noted that her
email to me was copied to Tengku Tarmizi so I replied with thanks and the
assurance that I will make the arrangements very soon.
Soon after my book
launch in December 2022, I went into preparing for the activities planned for
My Johor Stories in Downtown Johor Baru, an initiative under the Downtown Johor Baru Grants
Programme: Arts, Heritage and Culture, a collaboration between Iskandar
Regional Development Authority (IRDA) and Think City, supported by Majlis
Bandaraya Johor Baru (MBJB).
On
one Saturday per month from January to April 2023, My Johor Stories (Yours Truly!)
will host a morning Heritage Walk to Downtown JB destinations followed by an
afternoon Book Reading session to share relevant portions documented in My
Johor Stories books that featured the visited destinations. 
With Tengku Tarmizi in a studio shot captured
at the Johore Heng Photo Studio
With four different
routes planned for the four dates in the first four months of the year, I was ready
to receive registrations to join the first of the four Heritage Walks on
January 14 in the theme, Segget Waterway.
Imagine how
pleasantly surprised I was to see Tengku Tarmizi and his wife’s names among the
list of participants. Closer to that date, he asked if their two young children
could also join.
As our route was
mainly on the comfortable Segget Walk and the children will be escorted (Read:
supervised!) by their parents, I welcomed the youngsters to join our first Heritage
Walk.
Mayor, Dato Noorazman, and I
having a chat in his office
While we were already
e-introduced by Datin Patricia via email, it was good to meet with Tengku
Tarmizi in such a casual setting with an opportunity to chat and discuss my
donation of My Johor Stories books to the library.
With Chinese New
Year safely behind us, the registrations for February activities more than
doubled. I was delighted to note that Tengku Tarmizi was among the participants,
this time to meet our Heritage Traders.
The Walk on
February 18 took us to our final destination, the Johore Heng Photo Studio, a
vintage photo studio where the participants had fun posing for their own studio
shots, either by families, groups or individually – many of them at a traditional
photo studio for the very first time!
Towards the end of
the queue for a turn to pose for the studio photographer, I was pleasantly
surprised when Tengku Tarmizi asked me to join him in a photo shoot and I
quickly obliged to pose for a shot with him, next to the ancient box cameras.
The Mayor and I had a comfortable chat
By this time,
Tengku Tarmizi and I had connected by email and arranged for a date in early
March for me to present the trilogy of My Johor Stories – hardcover version –
to the Sultan Ismail Library.
I explained that I
wished to have a simple photo session at the library just to document this
presentation of my books, and he happily agreed.
Soon after these
activities in February, I plunged into preparing for the next outing planned
for March 18 where I will share with participants, a little about the Teochew
Heritage in Johor Baru.
Dato Noorazman, showing me
an old photograph of a group shot
Little did I know
that Tengku Tarmizi so enjoyed his experience with My Johor Stories in Downtown
JB that he shared it with his boss, the Datuk Bandar or Mayor, Dato’ Haji Mohd Nooazam Dato Haji Osman.
In fact, he went to
Johore Heng Photo Studio again and brought the Datuk Bandar along for a
first-hand experience of this charming vintage photo studio, located in the
heart of the city’s heritage quarter.
Tengku Tarmizi also
mentioned that I had arranged to donate a set of My Johor Stories books to the
Sultan Ismail Library for posterity and they then agreed that it was best for
me to present my books to the Datuk Bandar, who will receive on behalf of Majlis Bandaraya Johor Baru.
While
I was pleasantly surprised when Tengku Tarmizi told me about the change of
venue for my book presentation from the libraty to the office of the Datuk
Bandar at Bukit Senyum, I was also delighted that the Mayor was keen to meet
me.
[It
is not every day that you received an invitation to meet with the city’s
Mayor!]
Since
the re-opening of the economy, I had witnessed two events where the Mayor was
the Guest-of-Honour and then he ushered away to mingle with the VIPs. So it was
my privilege to meet with him over my book presentation to the library.
It was my pleasure to present
My Johor Stories to Datuk Bandar
who received on behalf of MBJB
With
Charmayne N. of BrandCulture PR Marketing Communications, as my official
photographer, we met with Tengku Tarmizi in the MBJB Building at Bukit Senyum
before being escorted to the Mayor’s Office to meet with Dato Noorazam.
Incidentally,
in my recent walkabouts downtown to prepare for my Heritage Walks, I witnessed
MBJB tow trucks in action, doing their jobs in removing illegally parked
vehicles in the congested city streets.
I
had much pleasure in thanking the tow truck teams and shared a blog post to
acknowledge their good work, with a word of thanks to the Johor Baru City Mayor
and the Johor State Government authorities.
I
even added an encouraging cheer in, “Keep up your good work in enforcing the
rules for a better tomorrow!”
When
I posted that piece, I never imagined that I would be invited to meet with the
Mayor – though on a separate matter – so when we met, I also took the
opportunity to thank him for their good work and encouraged MBJB to keep
“educating” recalcitrant drivers.
In
the company of Tengku Tarmizi and Charmayne, the Mayor and I had a pleasant
chit-chat with an exchange of ideas that aimed to preserve the rich culture and
heritage of our city for the benefit of future generations.
The trilogy of
My Johor Stories in the
Malaysiana Collection at
the Sultan Ismail Library
When
our chat drew to a close, we proceeded to the official business of presenting
the trilogy of My Johor Stories to the Sultan Ismail Library, duly received by
the Mayor on behalf of MBJB.
The
Mayor then handed this set of books over to Tengku Tarmizi who was pleased to
add My Johor Stories to the shelves of their Malaysiana Collection at the
Sultan Ismail Library.
The Sultan Ismail Library, Perpustakaan Sultan Ismail, is located at Jalan Datin Halimah, 80350 Johor Baru,
Johor. Tel: +607 – 239 1791.
P.S.
When the next activities in the theme, Teochew Heritage, for My Johor Stories
in Downtown JB happened on March 18, I was pleased that Tengku Tarmizi was
among the participants who joined the Heritage Walk and Book Reading session
that day.
