On a recent road trip around Johor with stops and overnight
stays to explore and experience several towns, I saw how less developed,
smaller towns and municipalities like Muar and Batu Pahat were compared with our
state capital city, Johor Baru.
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| Sidewalks at Jalan Petri in Bandar Maharani or Muar are kept clear for pedestrian use and neatly paved with tiles to aid the visually-impaired to use it with ease |
With its well preserved heritage buildings and pre-war
shophouses, Muar, the historic town of Bandar Maharani, struck me as a laid-back
and charming destination.
As in Kluang and Batu Pahat, Muar has its share of physical
amenities like parks and green spaces, specifically those at Tanjung Emas Park on
the banks of the Muar River.
In a chat with the hotel receptionist, I discovered that Muar no
longer has any movie theatres and if they wanted to watch a current movie, they
would drive to either Melaka or Batu Pahat. So their favourite destination for local
outings was still Tanjung!
As I met Muarians, the name Muar folks like to call themselves, I
discovered their deep sense of belonging and pride in its culture and heritage
including the town’s economic development and security, a place where they grew
up in and could raise a family.
Compared to JB which has expanded from Downtown JB to sprawling
suburbs with neighbourhoods like Bandar Baru UDA, Bandar Baru Permas Jaya,
Bandar Dato Onn, Bukit Indah and Iskandar Puteri, Muar remained virtually
unchanged except for the broader one-way streets that traversed the town in a
simple grid.
Driving around Muar was a breeze because the network of one-way
roads took me around the same grid and after a few times, I began to recognise
the roads and landmarks!
Raised to municipality status in 2001, public parking payment in
Muar uses tear-off parking coupons that should be displayed on the car
dashboard.
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| JB City Council traffic enforcement staff doing their jobs in an effort to deter recalcitrant drivers from parking indiscriminately at non-designated areas |
I however, noticed a parallel between most drivers in Muar and
JB: they are either lazy, stingy or simply inconsiderate, because cars are also
indiscriminately parked at non-designated areas. This bad attitude largely
contributed to the traffic congestion.
In JB, I recently noticed that concerted effort is being made to
keep drivers from parking their cars indiscriminately on the side of Jalan Ayer
Molek, particularly the stretch in front of the Istana Gardens and JOTIC
building.
However, recalcitrant drivers still persist in parking there and
risk getting a City Council summons and fined for parking at an undesignated
area. I appears that as long as there was no enforcement, these careless
motorists would just park at their own whim and fancy and risk getting a
summons.
Sidewalks, as its name describes, are pavements for pedestrians
to walk on. But the sidewalks in front of the JB Courthouse are
indiscriminately parked by rows of motorcycles to the point where it was
impossible for pedestrians to walk!
It is also virtually impossible to walk comfortably in Downtown
JB where most sidewalks are occupied by carelessly parked cars and motorbikes
or portable tables from food stalls. This causes cracks and its uneven surface,
pitted with litter and puddles from recent rain, are also safety hazards for
pedestrians and wheelchair-bound people.
In Muar, when I walked around the network of roads near Jalan
Petri on a weekend morning in search of my satay pagi breakfast, I was delighted to walk on the clean and well-maintained sidewalks
without having to avoid any obstructions.
I
was impressed that sidewalks here were properly kept clear for pedestrian use
and also neatly paved with tiles aimed to aid visually-impaired pedestrians.
Walking
back from a delicious satay pagi breakfast, I spied a crowd gathered at the
mouth of a back-lane between rows of pre-war shophouses off Jalan Sulaiman.
Curious
to see why, I walked closer and realised they were in a queue to buy freshly
made apam balik from a stall there. If
this was also a breakfast food popular with the locals, I too must have a taste
of this hot pancake.
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| A clean and uncluttered back lane off Jalan Sulaiman in Muar |
So
I placed my order with the busy vendor, who was working non-stop to serve the queue
of customers. Prepared to wait for my order, I wandered down the back-lane and
was stunned by how clean and uncluttered it was!
As
far as the eye could see, the walls were unmarked and it appeared to be a safe
path to walk. The road surface was properly tarred and its sides clearly
painted while some property owners even maintained potted plants to decorate the
rear of their buildings.
In
another part of Muar, the wall of a back-lane off Jalan Abdullah, was the
choice of a mural artist who created the Ferry Pier 3D mural, a 3-dimensional
design featuring a real sampan to
evoke memories of how early settlers had a livelihood with the Muar River.
This
reminded me of how the back-lanes off Jalan Dato Teoh Siew Khor in Kluang are
also decorated with a series of creative wall mural in themes unique to their
town: the iconic bat and their coffeeshop culture.
It
also brought to mind the back-lanes in Downtown JB, a network of paths marked
by graceful arches that were used by early settlers to walk to various parts of
the old town.
Regretfully,
the condition of these city back-lanes are nowhere near those in Muar or
Kluang.
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| Signs seen in a hotel carpark for designated parking spaces strictly for Single Lady Drivers Only |
Last
year, some of these back-lanes were cleaned up for events in the annual Johor
Baru Arts Festival. But soon after the festival, the back-lanes reverted to
their original state – unsightly and unsafe for pedestrians – a sight for sore
eyes.
Speaking
of unsafe, I’m seeing more signs that read: Single
Lady Drivers Only, in mall and hotel carparks both in Kuala Lumpur and JB,
where they are serious about providing designated parking spaces for unescorted
ladies.
They
acknowledge that ladies are often the victims of ruthless criminals and are now
providing parking lots where ladies are less vulnerable in central and
well-lighted areas.
While
this is yet another positive step towards a more caring and inclusive community,
the reality is that crime is rampant and criminals may even be lurking in the carparks
of malls and hotels.
A version of this was published in the December 2017 issue of The Iskandarian
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