Downtown Heritage Walk Discovery

 

This group was made up of five students, joined by their lecturer, Kelly Kee, and her friends, a couple who were visiting from Hong Kong, along with two culture-heritage enthusiasts, Maggie and Jenny, as well as Consul-General of Singapore in Johor, Ng Kuan Khai, with his wife and young son.

 

Gathered at the Meeting Point on a 
cloudy morning for our Heritage Walk

I recall that when I met the CG of Singapore to Johor in March 2024, he expressed interest to join my Heritage Walks so I was more than delighted that he found the time out of his busy schedule to participate with me in November.

 

In September I the pleasure to meet students and lecturers at the SUS Academy for their Open Day & Graduation Exhibition 2024 dubbed Oh Shift! that showcased Final Year Projects presented by some 20 final year students.

 

This showcase celebrated the creativity of students in the Graphic and Multimedia Design programme that featured work from various disciplines like Illustration, 2-D and 3-D Animation, Photography and Visual Communication.

 

All set for the start of our Heritage Walk

While reviewing their projects, I learnt that SUS Academy aims to offer hands-on learning experiences with real-world insights and in guiding their students’ creativity to shape the future. For their “City Branding” project where final-year students are encouraged to bridge heritage, culture and designs in meaningful ways.

 

So their lecturer encouraged the students to join my Heritage Walk in downtown Johor Bahru for a discovery experience that may spark some inspiration.

 

A time of briefing before the start of our Walk

It was much later when I learnt that among them, was a final-year student who was keen to participate in the logo design competition for the Visit Johor 2026 campaign.

 

While we were understandably concerned about the monsoon weather during this time of the year, the skies were bright and clear that morning when we gathered at the Meeting Point to start our Heritage Walk.

 

I was pleased that this group of participants were not only properly attired in comfortable clothes and footwear, and (very important!) punctual but also attentive as I gave a briefing before we started out.

 

At the foothill of Bukit Timbalan

While some of the participants were familiar with me and My Johor Stories, I still introduced myself to the group and told them that this Walk will cover much of the contents in the trilogy of My Johor Stories books as well as My Johor Stories, the blog.

 

I always emphasized on punctuality because a timely start will allow the group to linger a little longer at various sites – if necessary – then comfortably cover all the destinations in the itinerary and end on time without feeling fatigued.

 

I had also advised everyone to have a good breakfast before coming because they will need the energy to walk and pay attention to my commentary so as to benefit from our time together.

 

A brief commentary along Jalan Segget,
the site of the first wet market here

So in the next four hours, this group walked the heritage streets with me as I shared with them, the stories behind the city’s identity in street names, iconic designs and architecture as well as the strong relationship established between the Johor royalty and our multi-cultural community since the 1800s.

 

Our time together ended with an opportunity for participants to chat about their Walk experience in a casual Question & Answer session, for answers to any burning questions and for me to know which part they found most interesting or what they discovered for the very first time.

 

In the Johor Bahru Chinese Heritage Museum

The students agreed that the Walk experience opened their eyes to many discoveries in downtown Johor Bahru, in particular about the Pepper & Gambier heritage in Johor.

 

Meanwhile, the majority of participants considered our visit to the Johor Bahru Kwong Siew Heritage Gallery especially fascinating as its building was carefully preserved from a bygone era.

 

This building – a gift from Wong Ah Fook – was once the clan house of the Cantonese community and after a recent renovation, the original floor in its ground level has now been ‘revealed.’

 

A live demonstration of drumming in the art of
the 24 Festive Drums at the Drum Museum

It was to me, a special experience to step into this building onto the very same floor where generations of sinkhek or san-hak (Cantonese) arrived in this new land to seek their fortunes.

 

At this gallery, our friends from Hong Kong were especially helpful in reading an exhibit of an ancient single-colour printed flyer distributed by movie theatres to promote a movie.

 

[I am familiar with such flyers which we often received in the letterbox while we lived with our grandparents at No. 154 Jalan Ngee Heng, during our school-going years.]

 

The art of the 24 Festive Drums, 
a proudly Johor-born art of drumming

Those conversant in reading Chinese said that the flyer featured a very popular Cantonese opera played by leading Cantonese actors of that era including female actors who played the part of male characters.

 

Names like, Thum Pik Wan and Yam Kim Fai, struck a familiar chord because they were female actors who effectively portrayed male characters in Cantonese operas that our grandmother used to enjoy.

 

It was funny that while we gathered around that exhibit, Jenny went online to Google for names of popular Cantonese opera actors like Lei Heong Kum who – those familiar with classic Cantonese shows agreed – earned a reputation for playing the role of an evil mother-in-law.

 

That single-colour printed poster
for a popular Cantonese opera that
sparked interest in familiar actors!

At the last destination of our Walk, we sat comfortably in Mee Ho Seng Kee, a heritage trade which is still doing the business established by their forefathers that developed from a pushcart to a modern café.

 

As I listened to the participants, I was thankful for the fine weather for our Walk that morning and very pleased with the encouraging comments.

 

When we bade farewell to each other, it marked a wonderful end to our time together but this was not over yet.

 

Later on, I was more than delighted to read some of the positive feedback and kind compliments that participants shared on social media and with me. It read like this:

 

“I wanted to express my heartfelt thanks to Peggy Loh for organizing such a fantastic walk! You truly perfected the route – it was the ideal blend of history and culture. It felt like everything was planned with great care.”

 

At the entrance of the Johor Bahru
Kwong Siew Heritage Gallery

“I had an amazing time. Organising something like this is challenging but you made it seem effortless. Thank you once again for all your effort you put into making it such a fun and memorable day,” said Kelly Kee.

 

“Another enriching Sunday morning spent with Peggy Loh, author of My Johor Stories, at a Heritage Walk around downtown Johor Bahru, the old city center.”

 

“Peggy was in her element as usual – bringing the history of Johor Bahru alive with her passionate and excellent commentaries and storytelling.”

 

“It was my second heritage walk with her this year – delighted to share this experience with friends who are keen to learn more about Johor’s rich culture and heritage.

 

I came away with new nuggets of Johor’s fascinating history, especially the visit to Johor Bahru’s oldest clan house – the Kwong Siew (Cantonese) Gallery which has recently reopened after a long period of closure for renovation.

 

“Looking forward to join Peggy for another Walk in 2025 to discover more aspects of Johor Bahru’s culture and heritage,” said Maggie Ng.

 

With Kelly Kee and family with her
friends from Hong Kong 

“Today, I had the pleasure of joining Peggy Loh, esteemed author of three books on Johor stories, for a captivating heritage walk. It was an eye-opening experience that deepened my understanding of the fascinating history of Johor Bahru,” said Jenny Chan.

 

Ng Kuan Khai, the Consul-General of Singapore in Johor, said, “Thank you for the informative tour today. I liked the Chinese Heritage Museum.”

 

“My wife and I also liked the Drums Museum. Prior to this, we had had assumed (incorrectly) that the 24 Festive Drums originated from China when in fact, it was people in Johor who adopted that Chinese drum, turned it into a performing art and exported it to the world, including China,” he added.

 

It was my privilege to point people to the wealth of culture and heritage in Johor and am glad that they have benefited from my Heritage Walk in downtown Johor Bahru.

 

Note: For further reading, go online to My Johor Stories at www.peggyloh.com or get the trilogy of My Johor Stories from MPH bookstores nationwide and online from mphonline. In Johor Bahru, some of my books are available from JARO, Johor Area Rehabilitation Organization. Thank you.