Sun Yat Sen trail with Friends of the Museum

 

In March 2024, I met a group of docents from Friends of the Museum (FOM) Singapore, when they were in Johor Bahru for an exciting live experience of the Johor Chingay, an annual tradition of the Johor Old Temple.

 

With Friends of the Museum (FOM) Singapore
at the Johor Bahru Chinese Heritage Museum

Thanks to Susan Chong, who arranged for this interesting experience, I had a pleasant meet-up with this FOM group over a hearty lunch.

 

In January 2025, when Susan sent me greetings for a Happy New Year, she told me about another plan with a small group of FOM docents who were keen to explore the Sun Yat Sen heritage trail in Johor Bahru.

 

Susan went on to say that they were trying to locate his followers in Johor Bahru and reminded me that I had written on this subject in My Johor Stories.

 

It was good to share Johor stories with
a keen and attentive group of visitors

This certainly sparked my interest because I have covered many subjects on Johor culture and heritage so I quickly turned back the pages of my blog to see which subject Susan was referring to. She was quick to provide a hint and said, “Johor Bahru Ngee Heng Kongsi.”

 

This jolted my thoughts and I instantly figured out why this FOM group was keen to discover more about the Ngee Heng Kongsi or society, here.

 

As I pondered over Susan’s request to arrange a Heritage Walk with this group of FOM docents, I was happy to welcome them to Johor Bahru to discover the interesting link between the Johor Bahru Ngee Heng Kongsi and Sun Yat Sen.

 

The FOM group with a much
cherished portrait of Sun Yat Sen

We know Sun Yat Sen as the paramount leader of the 1911 Revolution and was credited for overthrowing the Qing (Manchu) dynasty.

 

Sun served as the first president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China in 1912 and as the inaugural leader of the Kuomintang. He was married to Soong Ching Ling (1915 – 1925), one of the renowned Soong Sisters, three prominent women in modern Chinese history.

 

As for the Ngee Heng Kongsi, it is believed that this society was derived from the Hong Men or Red Door society, a Teochew group that developed from the Tian Di Hui or Heaven and Earth society. Ngee Heng is the Teochew version of, Ghee Hin, its name in Hokkien dialect.

 

While people may walk or drive along Jalan Ngee Heng and students and teachers went to the Ngee Heng School – now known as Sekolah Kebangsaan Ngee Heng – few may know about the origin of this name and its rich heritage in Johor Bahru.

 

Reading a template for a form used to
pledge support for the revolution cause

As I joined the dots between Sun Yat Sen and the Johor Ngee Heng Kongsi, I was able to tailor my own Sun Yat Sen heritage trail to meet the requests of this FOM group.

 

There was no better place to start than in the lobby of the Johor Bahru Chinese Heritage Museum where I introduced myself and My Johor Stories and kicked off our time together in an enjoyable time of storytelling and information sharing.

 

I started with saying that the Teochew made up the majority of the Chinese dialect groups who responded to the Johor Ruler who invited Chinese planters to open up land to cultivate pepper and gambier in Johor.

 

Photo memento with the portraits of pioneers
Wong Ah Fook, Tan Hiok Nee, Lim Ah Siang
  

Led by Ngee Heng Kongsi leader, Tan Kee Soon, the Teochew arrived in Johor Bahru, then known as Iskander Petrie, in 1844 and settled mainly in the area known as Kangkar Tebrau.

 

While kang means river in Teochew dialect, a kangkar was the disembarking point, usually its middle or upper reaches along the river.

 

When the Chinese came to Johor, they not only brought along their culture and farming skills but also their own brand of justice, gangsterism and vice.

 

At the archway for the
Tan Hiok Nee Heritage Walk

As revolutionaries, the Ngee Heng Kongsi activities were largely underground, with a tradition of covert activities that used secret codes and languages. After a period of anarchy, they agreed to surrender their secret society activities.

 

Even though the Ngee Heng Kongsi started as a quasi-military revolutionary brotherhood that was opposed to the Qing dynasty, their activities here gradually evolved into valuable social, political and administrative work which contributed to Johor’s early economic growth.

 

The Johor Ngee Heng Kongsi had a significant role in helping Temenggong Ibrahim settle the unrest in Muar and his son, who ascended to the throne as Sultan Abu Bakar in 1885, continued to tap on the strength and spirit of the brotherhood of this society.

 

Having fun at the top of the Segget Walk

Sultan Abu Bakar acknowledged that a brotherhood like the Ngee Heng Kongsi with its combination of muscle and moral authority, was the best barrier against unwanted infiltration and the best way to unite the Chinese to remain loyal to him.

 

After Tan Kee Soon died around 1864, the identity of the Ngee Heng Kongsi changed under the leadership of Tan Hiok Nee and became an organization of kangchu or River Masters and revenue farmers who successfully developed Johor through the cultivation of pepper and gambier.

 

In 1870, Sultan Abu Bakar appointed Tan Hiok Nee as Mejar Cina of Johor as well as Council of State to look after Chinese community affairs.

At the entrance of the Johor Bahru
Kwong Siew Heritage Gallery

When the clans agreed to stop their secret society activities, the Ngee Heng Kongsi was legalised as an association in 1873, assigned by royal favour to take charge of Chinese community affairs. This association was the forerunner of the present-day Johor Bahru Tiong Hua Association.

 

In 1914, when Johor became part of the Unfederated Malay States under British colonial authority, the kangchu system was abolished and the Johor Ngee Heng Kongsi was disbanded.

 

The society’s assets were dissolved and contributed to charity, with a sum set aside to build a tomb for the burial of their ritual and sacred objects as well as ancestral tablets.

 

This grand tomb, simply adorned by two Chinese characters that read, Ming Mu which mean, Ming Tomb, is the resting place of the Ngee Heng Kongsi’s ritual and sacred objects. As a mark of respect, Johor Bahru Chinese community leaders will perform ancestor worship ceremonies at this tomb, twice a year.

 

A Sun Yat Sen memorial plate

As a benevolent ruler, Sultan Abu Bakar continued the goodwill relationship started by Temenggong Ibrahim and encouraged the Chinese community to live in peace.

 

He played a vital role in uniting the Chinese by providing them with land to build a common place of worship and land for burial grounds, with respect to their tradition of ancestor worship.

 

United with the other Chinese dialect groups as a legal society in Johor, they built the Johor Old Temple, established a common cemetery dubbed, Kongsi San and started the Foon Yew School.

 

Located along Jalan Trus, the Johor Old Temple bears the word, Johor in its name, attributed to the strong relationship between the Johor ruler and the Chinese community in Johor.

 

Photo of Sun Yat Sen with his
wife, Soong Ching Ling

This is also known as the Temple of Unity as it uniquely houses the five deities worshipped by the five main Chinese dialect groups – Hokkien, Hainan, Hakka, Cantonese and Teochew – all under one-roof.

 

Sun Yat Sen was Cantonese so I was pleased to acquaint the FOM group with the Johor Bahru Kwong Siew Heritage Gallery, housed in the property donated by Johor pioneer, Wong Ah Fook, that was once used as the Cantonese clan house.

 

His name is familiar not only because the main road through the heart of Johor Bahru, was named after him, but also because Wong and the Cantonese community in Johor were also strong supporters of Sun Yat Sen and his effort towards the revolution in China.

 

At the Kwong Siew Gallery, I was pleased to point out that the first Chinese school in Johor Bahru was the Yok Choy School, founded in 1907 exclusively for the Cantonese community that used to occupy the upper floor of the former clan house.

 

 Inside the Johor Old Temple, also
known as the Temple of Unity

In 1911, when the Qing dynasty in China was overthrown by the revolution led by Sun Yat Sen, the Chinese in Johor Bahru held a celebration procession through town.

 

The outstanding performance by the Yok Choy School band caught the attention of community leaders who were so impressed that they started discussions to form a school that was open to all the Chinese students in the community.

This led to the founding of Johor’s renowned Foon Yew School in 1913, where Wong Ah Fook was appointed Head of the School Board with Lim Ah Siang as his deputy while Wong Hee Coo held various important roles in the Board over 40 years.

 

The FOM group each holding a copy of
my book, My Johor Stories 3:
Proudly Johor, Then and Now

Our time together on my Sun Yat Sen heritage trail in Johor Bahru came to a fitting close with a delightful lunch on Johor specialties served at Sedap Corner.

 

Over luscious servings of Laksa Johor, Roti Jala, Soto Ayam, Lontong and Nasi Briyani, the group discussed some of the new things they discovered that morning, among them was the Ming Tomb and the support Sun Yat Sen received from the Chinese community in Johor.

 

It was simply a pleasure to observe that this FOM group not only enjoyed our time together but have even gained new knowledge from this experience.

Note: My Johor Stories books are available from MPH bookstores nationwide and online from mphonline. In Johor Bahru, some books are available from JARO.

Calling all Convent Johor Bahru alumni...

 

“Here’s a rousing cheer for our Convent dear, in fair Johor Bahru…” This simply sounds familiar to alumni of the Johor Bahru Convent school because it is the first line of the School Song.

 

The last time I quoted this familiar line was in January 2022 in a blog post to document a meeting with Mrs. A. Oliveiro in her home to verify information about the Johor Bahru Convent school in my manuscript.

 

My story about the school was documented in My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now, the third installment that completed the trilogy of My Johor Stories, a book that was launched in December 2022.

 

Mrs O was my go-to-person to discuss about the school as she is the Chairperson of the Secondary School Board and also the Chairperson of the Convent Association of Past Pupils (CAPP).

 

Aerial view of the Johor Bahru Convent, 1970's

Also present at this meeting were Elizabeth Anne Louis, Chairperson of the Primary School Board and fellow alumnae, Yvonne Loh, a Member of the Secondary School Board of Governors.

 

Our appointment was delayed due to the Covid-19 global pandemic and lockdowns, so it was significant that we had the opportunity to finally have a physical meet-up.

 

Meanwhile, I was already aware of a fund-raising initiative to help the school with necessary repair and replacement projects. The building was old and over the lockdown years, the premises had fallen into a sad state of disrepair. So this meeting was also an opportunity to discuss about these maintenance projects in detail.

 

After my manuscript was reviewed, I learnt more about the depressing condition of the school building, particularly in the Primary School, premises that were virtually left abandoned during the long periods of lockdown in the past two years.

 

As I listened to the dire needs outlined in the discussion, I decided to join Mrs O and Elizabeth on a visit to the school to see the situation before writing an appeal for funds.

 

“At our lofty building on the hill

Where Malaysian sunshine smiles…”

 

Wooden windows [Right] were being 
replaced in December 2024

When we arrived at the school on that unforgettable morning, the above familiar lines in our School Song simply did not ring true because the building looked forlorn in the persistent monsoon rain.

 

With funds slowly trickling in an on-going fund-raising process, it was encouraging to see the school premises gradually being upgraded step-by-step, from electrical wiring systems, deep cleaning, repairs and replacements.

 

I regularly pass the school on my way to the city and often stop to look at that lofty building on the hill to see the changes to its façade but one thing remains consistent – the grandeur of the old building with its landmark marble sculpture – carefully preserved through generations.

 

When the sculpture of the Virgin Mary was refurbished in 2007, it was covered by a glass casing to protect the marble sculpture from the elements.

 

The wooden windows have been replaced
by glass panel windows

In December 2024, I observed that the upstairs wooden windows – that were literally falling off its hinges – were being replaced by glass-panel windows.

 

Recently, I was pleased to see from the building façade that the job was completed and all the upstairs windows have already been replaced.

 

Just like many of our alumni, generations in the family, ranging from grandmothers and mothers to aunts, cousins and sisters, all share a common bond of enjoying an education in the only Convent school in Johor Bahru.

 

While I was contributing Johor news in the mainstream media, I had the privilege to publish pieces about the school and some teachers, often in cover and centerspread features.

 

Plaque in front of the school with
the present-day school badge design

One of the earliest features, published in October 2008, shared my experience of witnessing the school’s annual Christmas pageant. I can recall how we used to start to practice singing Christmas carols as early as October and that students of all races enjoyed taking part in this annual event.

 

In 2012, I was in the school again, not for any fun event but to witness an extremely serious dialogue between relevant people concerning the proposal to relocate the Convent Primary School to Iskandar Puteri, a district then known as Nusajaya.

 

Parents, teachers and students heaved a huge sigh of relieve when the Johor Sultan, His Highness Sultan Ibrahim, stepped in to say the final word that the Johor Bahru Convent will remain where it is.

 

Fast-forward to 2025 which marks 100 years since the Johor Bahru Convent was established on a piece of land gifted by then Johor Ruler, Sultan Sir Ibrahim and his consort, Sultanah Rogayah, to build the school at Jalan Yahya Awal in Johor Bahru.

 

School Motto on the school badge
in its original design

From its inception in 1925, the Johor Bahru Convent has been blessed by Johor Royal support to run a school that not only provides academic but an all-round education to mould and mentor young girls into confident ladies who can successfully contribute to the community. 

 

To celebrate the school’s 100^th anniversary, a series of activities are lined up to bring the alumni together, if not possible physically – due to distance – but virtually through social media.

 

Dubbed the Convent Johor Bahru 100^th Celebration, alumni are invited to join the official Facebook social media page by the same name to stay updated on the activities happening throughout the year.

 

Among the activities planned is a Reunion Dinner with members of the Convent Association of Past Pupils (CAPP) and school alumni. This dinner will be hosted for 100 banquet tables at Restaurant Pekin Daiman 18, Johor Jaya, on August 30, 2025.

 

The school's iconic sculpture of
Virgin Mary was refurbished and
protected within a glass case

Tickets are rapidly being taken up while a few tables are still available. Ticket bookings are welcome through the official Facebook page.

 

It will be pretty unique for multi-generational alumni to participate in the Centenary Celebrations so do not hesitate to share this with your family and friends.

 

One of the souvenirs planned for this celebration is the publication of a 100^th Anniversary coffee table book that documents interesting information about the school through the years with sections for Memories and a Photo Gallery.

 

Work on the manuscript is in rapid progress and alumni are invited to contribute Memories about:

 

1] Your experience with Principals and Teachers that highlights the teachers and principals who have impacted your lives and to shine the light on how they have nurtured students. And/or,

2] An interesting experience in the school – your own or what you saw – that inspired you on a career choice or inculcated a moral value that you still apply to this day in your work and family.

 

Memories of 500 to 700 words max should be sent as attachments in a Word document by email with your Full name and Form Five year.

 

If you have clear photographs that capture fond memories of schooldays in the Johor Bahru Convent, do submit your photos with brief caption with date/year that describe contents of the photos.

 

Photos should be sent as attachments by email in .jpg format with your Full name and Form Five year, for photos to be credited to you.

 

Please submit your contributions by email to: write2jbconvent@gmail.com

Due to a very tight work schedule, submissions must be received strictly, on or before 10 May 2025.

 

Now turn back the pages of your mind for fond Memories and dig through your photo albums to find interesting Photos captured in your schooldays.

 

This 100^th Anniversary coffee table book will be sold as a souvenir and valuable collectible to raise funds that will go towards the school maintenance projects.

 

Feel free to share this with Johor Bahru Convent alumni in your contact list as we welcome alumni contributions from every generation to be a part of this 100-Year Anniversary souvenir book.

 

Together, we can make the 100^th Anniversary celebration of the Johor Bahru Convent a meaningful and memorable milestone in the school’s history.

Fourteen years ago, today...

 

Fourteen years ago, when My Johor Stories the blog, was launched on March 11, I did not know – until later – that this date on the calendar coincided with the day when a horrific earthquake and tsunami happened in Japan.

 

Two cover pages of Travel Times, a pull-out
section of The New Straits Times 

While this cataclysmic natural disaster had such a devastating effect on the affected nations, this also made it easy for me to remember the significant date when my blog went ‘live’ on social media that very same day.

 

My blog aimed to store pieces that were first published in the print media so that readers who follow my stories, may go to my blog to read at leisure.

 

More than 14 years ago, I was contributing pieces to mainstream media in the Travel section of The New Straits Times, called Travel Times, a pull-out section that was later rebranded, Life & Times.

 

Centerspread of Travel story of
the Cover page at Left [Above]

This allowed me to share Johor stories to a wide reading audience because this pull-out section of the newspapers was distributed nationwide.

 

In 2008, when the Editor assigned me to cover an excursion through Melaka and Johor to meet with craftsmen and women who were keeping our culture and heritage alive, I was pleased to publish their stories in a two-part series.

 

I was deeply encouraged to see these two pieces, On the handicraft trail and They cherish their crafts, in the Travel Times but felt that it was a pity that such good stories about local craftsmen were published only once.

 

Two cover pages of JB = Johor Buzz, the
Southern section of The New Straits Times

I strongly felt that culture, arts, heritage and human-interest stories like these about traditional craftsmen, should be shared with more readers.

 

This led me to take the bold step to approach the then Bureau Chief of The New Straits Times office in Johor Bahru to introduce myself and seek his permission to publish my stories on the Johor craftsmen again.

 

At that time, The New Straits Times had another pull-out section for the Southern region, first called J-Buzz or Johor Buzz, that was published daily on week days.

 

Cover story in Johor Streets;
Photo features baby Peggy with
mah-jie, a maid from China

This section of the newspapers, was rebranded as Johor Streets and later evolved to Streets Johor.

 

The Bureau Chief was familiar with me as the Johor-based writer for the Travel Times and welcomed me to contribute regularly to Johor Buzz. And because I am a true-blue Anak Johor, he also invited me to share more about Johor in opinion pieces for the, Your Say, Your Johor or My Johor page of this pull-out section.

 

I am always grateful for this opportunity to share news and events in Johor, draw attention to destinations and good food as well as meet a host of colourful characters to write exciting stories to inform and interest readers through the pages on Johor Streets.

 

When the Bureau Chief encouraged me to consider the Johor that I grew up in and to share it against present-day Johor, this sparked off a series of stories that were supported by old Black & White photographs from my dad’s collection.

 

Jalan Dao' Wilson was part of the
Johor Bahru General Hospital
compound, my first home address
in Johor Bahru, when I was born
 

My dad had a hobby in photography and his collection of photos became a valuable resource that supported my recollections and made my storytelling more meaningful.

 

I learnt from the Bureau Chief that readers connected very well to my stories in the opinion page and started to fondly call them my grandfather stories.

 

I did not know it yet but I was steadily attracting a following of readers who thoroughly enjoyed my Johor stories published in this section of the newspapers.

 

Then the Bureau Chief told me that he was receiving calls from readers to talk about my grandfather stories and he had fun replying their curious questions about me.

 

Deeply encouraged that my stories resonated so well with readers, I worked hard at crafting more interesting tales about Johor which I believed, readers could easily connect with.

 

Mugshot published with my byline

At one point, the newspaper required that that writers not only had a byline but must also insert a mugshot (Read: portrait photo) with each published article. While I was very reluctant to do so, I had no alternative but to comply. So readers could then attach a face to my name.

 

By then, the local community was already familiar with me because I was contributing to the Travel Times, published nationwide, as well as Johor Streets, a daily weekday publication.

 

With my feet firmly planted on two boats, I sailed on to share Johor stories, both nationwide as well as locally in two publications, much to the delight of the stakeholders.

 

I received plenty of invitations and had fun covering both community and private events that highlighted Johor people and places, published with photos in front page and centerspread pieces of the Travel Times and Johor Streets.

 

Our family home at No. 154
Jalan Ngee Heng, Johor Bahru

While I was out in the malls, readers sometimes stopped to chat with me. And when I heard that they were buying the newspapers just to read my stories, I was both happy and humbled.

 

But when they failed to get a particular issue of the newspapers, they were very disappointed. They did not want to miss any of my stories and I was often asked, “What was yesterday’s story?” or “What is your story tomorrow?”

 

My reply was, “I don’t know,” because my pieces were submitted to the Bureau and they joined a queue to be published. So I did not know when my pieces would be out.

 

What I did know was that people liked to read about themselves and their events.

 

My readers’ keen interest made me consider how they may enjoy reading my stories at their own leisure and convenience. In 2011, My Johor Stories the blog, was then created to store published stories as well as stories written exclusively for the blog.

 

Cover page of Johor Streets...

When Johor Streets ceased to be published in 2015, I continued to contribute to a page dedicated to My Johor Stories in The Iskandarian, the official newspapers of Iskandar Malaysia, with the published pieces also stored in my blog.

 

The contents of my blog have connected people to Johor and I had my fair share of exciting adventures, both local and from abroad, who came to Johor because they had read something from my blog that mattered to them.

 

For instance, in 2018 a researcher with Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Centre for Chinese Language and Culture, in Singapore, wrote to introduce herself and said she enjoys reading My Johor Stories blog, especially the stories on author, Han SuYin.

 

Zhang must have read, Our Han SuYin Connection, first published in Johor Buzz in 2008 and then stored in my blog. This researcher asked if I would meet her for a chat about Han SuYin when she visited Johor Bahru.

 

... and Centerspread feature on
lefthanded Johor rockstar, Man Keedal

My experience with Zhang on her visit to Johor Bahru was documented in, Han SuYin, the ‘missing period’ in Malaya, as a typical example of how My Johor Stories connected others to Johor.

 

In March 2019, a collection of such exciting experiences was presented in my TEDx Talk titled, Connecting People through My Johor Stories.

 

While presenting a TEDx Talk was a whole new experience, another exciting discovery was when two people – at separate occasions – who told me that my blog was the inspiration for them to start their own social media adventures.

 

I could not help but basked in the reflected glory, aware that My Johor Stories had inspired Tony Boey of Johor Kaki fame and Sonny Cosme of Jomtaralets as they developed their content and firmly established their brands in the community.

 

At 2017 Meet-the-Author event hosted at the
MPH bookstore in Johor Bahru City Square

Meanwhile, Think City, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah Malaysia, has been reviving cities like Penang and Kuala Lumpur and when Think City came to Johor Bahru around 2015, they discovered My Johor Stories and me.

 

When Think City Johor Bahru encouraged me to publish a collection of My Johor Stories in a book, I finally accepted the challenge to embark on this book project.

 

My Johor Stories was Think City’s first book project in Johor Bahru that was published in partnership with MPH Publishing Kuala Lumpur.

 

On the first week after my book, My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage, was launched on July 15, 2017, this title reached the Number One spot in the MPH Non-Fiction Bestsellers list.

 

A page dedicated to My Johor
Stories in The Iskandarian

The collection of stories in this book comprised some of the most popular posts in my blog with sections on Johor culture and heritage, Johor people who have impacted other lives and Memories, some of my best-loved grandfather stories.

 

My book stayed on the MPH Bestsellers list for consecutive weeks and months, and in December 2017, My Johor Stories was counted among the Best of MPH in 2017.

 

I am ever grateful to readers who are homesick for Johor because it was their support that spurred me on to publish two more books to complete the trilogy of My Johor Stories books.

 

My Johor Stories 2: Interesting Places and Inspirational People, was published in December 2018 while My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now, was published in December 2022, after a delay due to the global pandemic.

 

My collection of stories in the latter two books – as their titles suggest – are a mix of interesting stories about places in Johor and people whom I met, along with carefully researched exclusive stories to document a slice of Johor heritage.

 

The trilogy of My Johor Stories

Since 2021, I have had the pleasure to share My Johor Stories ‘live’ in events like, Storytelling by the Sea, Stories by the Sea with German Journalists, and Meeting Media from the Middle East.

 

In 2022, My Johor Stories was featured in Let’s Talk, one of the English television shows on Astro Awani and in 2024, I had the privilege to be featured on BFM Radio.

 

To celebrate National Day in 2022, My Johor Stories was featured in Bicara Karya, a Facebook ‘live’ event hosted by the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Library.

 

Needless to say, I was more than pleased that My Johor Stories popped up in the MPH Non-Fiction Bestsellers list again in August 2022.

 

Another unique development was how some hotels and resorts share my sentiment that People liked to stay in a Place with a Story, and placed My Johor Stories books in their better rooms, suites or lobby for the guests’ reading pleasure.

 

My Johor Stories, still on the MPH
Non-Fiction Bestsellers list in August 2022

From reading My Johor Stories during her stay at the One & Only in Desaru Coast, a guest reached out to me to help her family publish a book as a tribute to their father. This book project was particularly meaningful, both, for me and the Tan family.

 

Under a 2023 Think City grant aimed at bringing life back into the city after the global pandemic, I hosted Heritage Walks with small groups to share about Johor culture and heritage in Downtown Johor Bahru.

 

These were another form of My Johor Stories ‘live’ experiences that continue to be held with participants, both local and from abroad, in Heritage Walks tailored to their requirements.

 

Also in 2023, the trilogy of My Johor Stories books was proudly presented to the Sultan Ismail Library to join their Malaysian Collection of books, received by the Johor Bahru City Mayor on behalf of the library.

 

All this and more, started from a blog of the same name, My Johor Stories, launched 14 years ago on March 11. As I count my many blessings, Time moves on and my journey continues…

 

Important Note: My Johor Stories books are available from MPH bookstores nationwide and online from mphonline. As all the MPH bookstores in Johor Bahru have closed, JARO has some stock of my books for sale.