A heritage walk discovery experience

 

This season’s monsoon rain that deluged our city on consecutive days and nights in early January certainly dampened the mood and raised some concerns about the weather for that morning of our Heritage Walk.

 

All set at the start of our Heritage Walk

The first Heritage Walk this year was initiated by my friend, Sunita Sothi, who happened to meet me at the same café where I was having a late lunch after my Walk with the foreign students last December.

 

When Sunita heard about my Heritage Walks based on My Johor Stories, she asked if I could arrange a Walk with her family members who will visit Johor Baru in early January 2024.

 

Her sister, Sharmila, and family lives near Birmingham in the United Kingdom and she used to visit her hometown every year since 1985 to spend time with their aged mother.

 

A very attentive group
listening to my commentary

After mother passed on in 2020, their visits here included going to places of interest, so Sunita thought that a Heritage Walk with me in downtown Johor Baru would be ideal for her sister’s family of four.

 

When a date was fixed, info about this Heritage Walk was shared by word-of-mouth and all the slots were quickly filled by friends of MiYeun, a Korean-American who made Johor Baru her home after she married a Johorean, some 33 years ago.

 

MiYeun’s friends comprised Malaysians, including Johor Baru locals, Mr Tai and his wife, Janet, and a Korean couple, Steve and Gloria Jeon, who came to stay in Johor last September.

 

At one end of the Tan Hiok Nee Heritage Walk
next to the OCBC bank

Looking back on that morning, it was simply miraculous how the skies cleared up and even though it remained cloudy, there was no rain throughout our time together!

 

That morning, the Korean couple was the first to arrive at our meeting point and they were followed by the Tai’s before MiYeun and her friends turned up. The group was completed when Sunita arrived with her sister and her family.

 

I observed that MiYeun and Gloria were chatting in Korean while Steve was rather conversant in English. When I asked, he explained that English was a school subject but he became fluent in the language by learning English from a Japanese tutor.

 

Sharing about the strong relationship between the
Johor royal family and the Chinese in Johor

It was after the Walk that I heard Gloria’s encouraging comments from MiYeun: Gloria said, the Walk experience had a very positive impact on her. She felt in love with the city and the group’s friendliness made them feel very welcome. In fact, she felt that they made a good choice to stay here on a long-term basis.

 

As for MiYeun, she declared that although she has lived here for some 33 years, this was her first experience in getting to know Johor Baru’s culture and heritage.

 

When we stood by the refreshed Sungai Segget, I encouraged them to imagine how the river was once the State’s main mode of transport as there were then no roads.

 

A group shot inside the Johore Heng Photo Studio

I asked them to picture the river mouth that opened into the Johor Straits and how people used to travel upstream by small boats, something that MiYeun later admitted that in our modern times, it was rather mindboggling.

 

Similarly, Sunita was fascinated to see the places and hear about the early activities around the river mouth, especially about Johor’s first industry, a steam sawmill from which Jalan Sawmill earned its name.

 

She was also impressed to learn about the strong relationship established between the Johor royal family and the early Chinese, Indian and Sikh communities who came to settle here, a tradition which continues to this day.

 

A brief stop at Think City to share about our
partnership in My Johor Stories projects

Meanwhile throughout the Walk, I made reference to road names and shared the stories behind these names. A rich heritage in road names, was documented in My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now, the third and final instalment in the trilogy of My Johor Stories.

 

“I really enjoyed walking in part of my town with you and to see things properly, and with a view to what it was like in the past. Just made me appreciate it more,” said Sunita.

 

She made me blush when she added, “You are a very energetic and passionate guide… your enthusiasm comes through with everything you say.”

 

In Ruang, Think City Johor Baru:
Book One and Book Two of My Johor Stories
on the table

Sunita went on and said that if she did not bump into me at that café last December, she and her family would not have enjoyed such an interesting Heritage Walk experience with me.

 

[Thanks, Sunita! I am not even a “real” guide but just a storyteller who is keen to connect new generations to the stories of people and places in Johor’s past that I had the privilege to document in My Johor Stories.

 

I believe that we should honour the past so that we can better appreciate the present and then do more to preserve it for our future generations.]

 

When our Walk reached Jalan Dhoby in the city’s heritage quarter, it was my pleasure to share with this group about where it all started by introducing them to Think City Johor Baru.

 

One for the album with the majestic
Sultan Ibrahim Building as backdrop

Briefly, Think City was established as a city-making institution to support the evolving urban landscape, and to look at ways to make our cities more innovative, resilient and livable.

 

Think City started with projects in Georgetown, Penang, and expanded nationwide, first to Butterworth, then to Kuala Lumpur and then to Johor Baru.

 

When Think City started in Johor Baru, I was their first book project and this kicked off a most remarkable and unforgettable journey for My Johor Stories in partnership with Think City Johor Baru and MPH Publishing Kuala Lumpur.

 

Nobody, least of all me, expected my book to do so well but on the first week of its launch in July 2017, My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage, went to the Number One spot in the MPH Non-Fiction Bestsellers list.

 

With Sharmila and her family from the UK

With the support of readers, this book stayed on the Bestsellers list for consecutive weeks and months, and by December that year, my book was counted among the Best of MPH 2017.

 

I was pleased to share about the support from Think City Johor Baru from the birth of my Bestseller book and its sequel, My Johor Stories 2: Interesting Places and Inspirational People, published in 2018.

 

Among the interesting places and inspirational people featured in Book Two were heritage traders who were still doing the businesses started by their forefathers.

 

Mr Tai and his wife, Janet,
pose with the traditional Chinese
characters for Double Happiness
in Johore Heng Photo Studio

They included familiar heritage brands like, Haji Wahid Mee Rebus, Kerala Restaurant, Hiap Joo traditional bakery, Johore Heng Photo Studio, Sin Keng Wah mattress makers and Mee Ho Seng Kee, a business that went from pushcart to a café now opened on Level Six of Johor Baru City Square Mall.

 

My partnership with Think City Johor Baru continued in 2023 when I embarked on a My Johor Stories in Downtown Johor Baru project where my activities included a Heritage Walk and a Book Reading session, held one Saturday for four months from January to April.

 

This Downtown Johor Baru project garnered much interest and even when the project was over, there were still many enquiries to join my Heritage Walks.

 

So it was such a request last December which led me to tailor my Walk to the group’s requirements. One Walk led to another and here we were again…

 

A fun photo for MiYeun and Celine
in the Indian Heritage Centre

I recently heard that the Johore Heng Photo Studio was to close for good in the near future so it was indeed a privilege for this group have an experience of a vintage photo studio, maybe for the very first or last time.

 

It was bittersweet to see that the services of photo studios had long been overtaken by modern technology where mobile phones are designed with quality cameras.

 

The nostalgia was intense when we stepped into the old photo studio and I overheard Sunita speaking to her sister as she recalled that their family used to pose for formal studio shots at the photo studio.

 

The feeling of nostalgia continued when we went to the only traditional cotton-stuffed mattress/cushion/pillow makers in the city, Sin Keng Wah, who continues to serve their customers with readymade items or custom-made orders.

 

In the Indian Heritage Centre, [L to R]
Sharmila, Natasha and Sunita

I noticed that Mr Tai, who was standing next to me, gasped when he saw the price of a cotton-stuffed pillow because it was much higher than when he bought the same many years ago.

 

Third-generation mattress-maker, Stanley Yeow, who operates the business with his father, explained that the cotton was imported from Thailand and their quality products are still very much in demand by regulars.

 

During the Walk, I pointed out various landmarks like the Indian-Muslim Mosque and the Gudwara Sahib Sikh Temple along our unique Street of Harmony, and dropped by to have a peek at the five Chinese deities housed under one roof in the Johor Old Temple, which earned its name as the Temple of Unity.

 

Stanley Yeow giving a demo in securing the 
cotton inside a cushion in Sing Keng Wah

At the Indian Heritage Centre within the grounds of the Arulmigu Raja Mariamman Devasthanam Hindu Temple, I was pleased to highlight the various important Milestones of Life and some of the traditional trades in the Indian community.

 

I was delighted to observe Sunita, her sister Sharmila with daughter, Natasha, considering the exhibits in the Indian Heritage Centre, glad that they could appreciate more about their own culture and traditions from this experience.

 

In her first message to me after we parted ways at the end of the Walk, Sunita said, “Thanks Peggy Loh!! It was so interesting and just the right time and distance.”

 

MiYeun said, “We all enjoyed the outing tremendously,” and added comments from her friends saying, “It was a very enriching and enlightening.”

 

Sama sama Thanks for the privilege to make My Johor Stories come alive for you with my Heritage Walks!

. . .

 

While all the MPH bookstores in Johor Baru are now closed, hardcover and softcover versions of My Johor Stories books are available from MPH bookstores nationwide and online from mphonline.

 

In Johor Baru, My Johor Stories are available from two (2) outlets which carry a small stock of my books.

 

1] Johor Area Rehabilitation Organisation or JARO, at No. 18 Jalan Sungai Chat, Sri Gelam, 80100 Johor Baru, Johor. Open from 8.30am to 4.30pm. Closed on Friday and Saturday. Tel: +607 – 227 5314.

 

2] YSpace, located at No. 2 Jalan Yahya Awal, 80100 Johor Baru, Johor. Open 11am to 7pm. Closed on Thursday.

 

Photo Credit: Myself and Florence Liew