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| Most of the shops in Kluang have the year they were built painted on the top, as seen in these shops along Jalan Ismail |
It all started with our Big Birthday Bash
class reunion two years ago.
After having
left Convent Johor Baru for many years, former schoolmates reconnected again and because of our
common interest to explore local sites, we made plans for day trips in and
around Johor Baru. My friends may be
well travelled but I’m glad they have a keen interest to see some sites in our
own backyard.
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| Kluang's coffeeshop culture is aptly depicted in this wall mural |
So it was worthwhile to take a walking tour of
at least part of the town, to discover charming sights and enjoy a touch of
nostalgia which is lost from most cities.
Many businesses have moved into modern malls but markets and traditional
family-run stores are still fun to visit.
Maybe all the reminiscing about bygone
days at our class reunion had sparked off a nostalgic quest to explore and have
some fun together.
So with our feet shod in good walking
shoes, we set off in a car pool for weekend walkabouts on two separate
weekends, first to Kluang and then to Kukup.
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| Generations of Kluang folks grew up playing on this slide in the Merdeka Park playground |
After we exit the toll to turn to
Kluang, we see new shops nearby that stock a wide range of ceramic pottery
along with cane, fabric products and other souvenirs.
This may be the spillover of traders from the
original market centre in Ayer Hitam.
It
also reminds us that Kluang is irrevocably linked to Macap and Ayer Hitam for
the quality ceramic pottery and tiles produced under renowned brands like
Malaysian Mosaics, Guocera and Claytan.
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| Check out this multi-lingual sign! |
Back in 1910 when Central Johor was developed
with rubber and oil palm plantations, Kluang was the administrative centre and
the railway line was established since 1915 to transport fresh produce and
labour to cities and ports.
The Kluang
railway station remains virtually unchanged to this day and the Lim family, who
runs the kopitiam here, continues with the business under their Kluang Rail
Coffee brand.
From the railway
station, we walk along Jalan Dato Syed Abdul Kadir to Taman Merdeka, the park
where generations of Kluang folks must have enjoyed the playground.
Old fashioned concrete benches line the edge
of the park at intervals and we can see how the back rests are inscribed with
the town council logo and the name of each bench’s sponsor or the UMNO logo and
words that commemorate the organization’s Silver Jubilee in 1985.
In the adjacent Dewan Jubli Intan Sultan
Ibrahim, we see a tall structure with a square space, believed to be designed for
a clock but to this day, no clock was ever installed.
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| A section of Jalan Station, Kluang |
Along Jalan Ismail, one of
the oldest buildings dated 1926 for the Eng Choon Association, is distinguished
by its well maintained façade while other shops there and along Jalan Lambak not
only sport the year but also a prancing lion figurine atop the buildings.
The presence of several ancient hotels like Man
Ten Hotel (1941) Mang Cheong Hotel (1952) and Hwa Lam Hotel (1956) suggests
that Kluang was a former trading post where planters and traders came for
business and needed a place to stay over before they returned to their
respective plantations.
Living Heritage
Shops along Jalan Station were built
around the 1920s when the railway station started to transport goods to and
from Kluang.
But since the 1970s, businesses
here turned predominantly Indian and that is probably why our presence in their
shops gave the merchants some amusement.
This is Kluang’s Little India with garment, jewellery, provision shops,
stalls for fruits, flower garlands, fresh meat and goat’s milk, restaurants and
even a toddy shop.
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| From this signboard, we can see that this business is well established because its original telephone number only has three digits! |
The
contrasting shades of beans, corn kernels, dark dhal, rice and other nuts and
pulses are not just attractive but it gives us an idea about the ingredients
that go into a typical Indian diet.
Among
food products like spices and ghee, we discover an interesting range of beauty
products including ayurvedic and herbal bath soaps, some created with milk and saffron.
With their permission, I
went for a peek and met the father and son grinding team who told me that they
have been producing a range of spice blends for recipes to cook briyani rice, fish and meat curries,
since 1969.
Their spice grinding
business continues in the traditional step-by-step method to peel and cut,
slice and chop fresh ingredients before grinding them into a powder blend of
spices, ready to be packed and sold for cooking.
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| Goh Tian Hock, Executive Director of Cap Televisyen Kluang Coffee Powder |
We stand mesmerized, soaking in the fragrance of a toasted blend of
Liberica, Robusta and Arabica beans as we watch the workers turn the beans over
and over in a huge tray before moving the toasted beans to the cooling
area.
In the lobby, we help ourselves to
sample cups of freshly brewed Television brand Kluang Coffee from a flask and
dip crispy cream crackers into the hot coffee to savour with great
satisfaction.
Before we leave Kluang, there is just
one more stop to look at street art in the lane behind one of the town’s main
roads, Jalan Dato Teoh Siew Khor.
As we
admire the wall murals, two obvious themes that emerge are Kluang’s coffeeshop
culture and the creative ways the bat (Malay word, kelawar) is illustrated in various drawings.
It is very encouraging to see how local
youths have expressed their creativity in the wall murals and captured the
essence of Kluang and what is dear to them, in their art.
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| Visitors to Kukup Laut village |
Kukup, the laid-back port
It is the weekend and we are prepared
for the crowds because on weekends and during the holidays, there are usually
more visitors in Kukup.
Most come to
shop for fresh or dried seafood and dine in the many waterfront seafood
restaurants that are built into the sea.
I remember the town is uniquely situated at the edge of the coast and
the road simply ends at the jetty which is now renovated into a ferry
terminal.
From far we can see the traffic and
pedestrian congestion that marks the heart of Kukup so we wisely park near the
rows of new shops before going for our walkabout to Kukup Laut village.
The
area around the terminal is always the most congested as Kukup is also the
hop-off point for visitors to nearby Kukup Island and the floating fish farms that
form part of local tours.
The ferry
terminal is also another reason why the town is full of travellers who are
either heading to or from Singapore and nearby islands.
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| Most of the wooden walkways have been replaced by concrete paths [Left] |
While most of the wooden walkways have been
replaced by concrete paths, this is still an amazing network of paths in a
village uniquely built entirely on stilts.
We remind each other to be careful on the narrow paths lest we
accidentally slip and fall and it turns out that this is not a far-fetched idea
because we soon discover that pedestrians share the paths with motorcycles and
bicycles.
The locals, of course, have the right
of way but it is quite shocking to suddenly hear the nonstop ring of a bicycle bell
and before we can dodge into any doorways, the impatient biker is screeching to
a halt right next to us.
This is an early warning for us to be aware of riders,
so while we are walking or browsing, we should stay out of the way of any oncoming
bikes.
By now the locals are familiar
with visitors in the village and many enterprising ones have set up stalls in
front of their homes to sell souvenirs, snacks and drinks.
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| With a modern toilet built within the concrete house [Right], the wooden outhouse [Left] is no longer in use! |
In the restaurants, some tables
are occupied by groups of men, some of whom are tanned and topless, and chatting
over bottles of beer.
No, they are not
our regular beach bums but fishermen who are winding down with a drink after
their day’s work.
Among the old wooden houses, we spot big
double-storey buildings that are also on stilts but from the compressors
installed outside, we can tell that they have air-conditioning facilities.
My friends are certain that these are holiday
homes for hire and to satisfy our curiosity, we went to inspect the
premises. The proprietor happily shows
us around the property and gives us relevant information for full board
homestay packages.
Before we leave, he
made sure that we each received a copy of his name card with contact details so that
we can make our reservations!
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| Stop for local delicacy, Pin Fen crystal jelly |
We cannot
help feeling impressed at how a new generation of enterprising villagers in
Kukup Laut is building on their tradition as fisherman to serve guests the
freshest home-cooked seafood as holiday home operators.
While new concrete buildings are replacing
rickety wooden houses, the future of the village looks good as they also offer
visitors a unique holiday experience here.
After discussing food choices for homestay
catering, we are feeling rather hungry but before going for our seafood lunch,
we pass a house with a sign for Kukup Pin Fen Crystal Jelly and see a
refrigerator outside but nobody was around.
We keep calling out, “Hello! Hello!” while helping ourselves to boxes of
pretty oval pieces of jelly in a variety of pastel colours, until someone comes
out from the house.
We are totally charmed
by the laidback attitude of the villagers and are determined to return for a
homestay experience where life still goes on at a leisurely pace.
Fast Facts
The 107km drive to Kluang via the Plus
Highway takes just under an hour from Skudai to the toll exit at Ayer Hitam
(RM9.10). Then follow the sign to Kluang
where most of the roads are dual carriageways.
The 66km route from Johor Baru to Kukup takes you past Skudai to Pekan
Nanas before you bypass Pontian and follow the signs for another 20km to
Kukup. Tip: Do not park illegally in
Kukup or you may end up with a hefty fine.
A version of this was published in The New Straits Times, Life & Times on 11 December 2014
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