Johor Bahru - The Capital
The road trip from Melaka to Johor took 5 1/2 hours. It was the Chinese new year holiday seasons and schools were closed, so there were a lot of holiday crowd travelling back to Johor and Singapore. The roads were busy. The journey was pleasant and the bus very comfortable. Outside, I could see Palm tree plantations as well as forested areas.
As we entered Johor Bahru (JB), what struck me was that it looked like suburban US with a spread out city and big houses on large tracts of lands. The roads are a vast network and well maintained.. The bus station was called Larkin Sentral and in the outskirts of the city. As I went from Larkin to the city, I could see tall buildings in the downtown area. I was staying in a residential area in a guest house called A Borneo home stay which was run by a nice young Chinese couple.
JB is the financial and logistics center of southern Peninsular Malaysia. It has the fastest urbanization growth in Malaysia. the world's busiest international border crossing (to Singapore) and the 15th-busiest port in the world. In 2024, Mercer has ranked JB as a global city with the third highest living quality in Southeast Asia after Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
Chinese Communities and Development of Johor
In the mid 19th century, when Johor was under the administration of Temenggong Ibrahim, the Chinese planters had obtained "surat sungai", a permit from the ruler for the cultivation of gambier and pepper plantations in the vicinity of a river. The permit holders were the kangchus (In the Teochew dialect, "kang" means "river") or river masters and hence the Kangchu System was created.
Since the implementation of the Kangchu System, the Chinese had set up more than 100 kangs in Johor, thus turning Johor into a developed state within a short period of time.
In the early years, all business transactions in the Chinese community were conducted in dialects, resulting in each dialect group monopolizing a particular trade.
Under the leadership of Ngee Heng Kongsi and later, the Johor Chinese Association, the five major dialect groups, namely Teochew, Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese and Hainanese were united in dealing with social affairs, thus contributing to the stability of the Chinese community in Johor Bahru. This became a tradition of Johor Bahru Chinese community.
In 1914, when Johor became part of the Unfederated Malay States under the British colonial authority, the Kangchu System was abolished and the Ngee Heng Kongsi disbanded.
Notable Sights
Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque
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| Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque |
I walked from my Guesthouse to the Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque towards the ocean noting the restaurants nearby my place later for dinner. The Mosque has an unique blend of Western Neo-Classical, Victorian, and Moorish Islamic design. This mosque was built during the reign of Sultan Abu Bakar. The Johor Sultanate had been part of the Malaccan Sultanate before Malacca fell to the Portuguese in 1511.
From the Mosque, I walked alongside the Zoo and Gardens to Jalan Trus which is the old town with the City Hall and temples of all communities including an Old Chinese Temple, Masjid India, Goddess Rajamariamman temple, Church of the Immaculate Conception and a Sikh Gurudwara. All of these are walking distance from each other.
Old Chinese Temple
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| Gurudwara |
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Rajamariamman Temple |
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| Old Chinese Temple |
One of Johor Bahru's ancient temples, believed commissioned by Ngee Heng kongsi leader, Tan Hiok Nee. A well-preserved Chinese calligraphy plaque indicates it was built in 1870.
This temple is one of the oldest structures in the city and become the symbol of unity among the seven Chinese dialect groups namely Teochews, Hoklo (Hokkiens), Cantonese, Hakka, Foochowese, Henghua and Hainanese peoples.
Arulmigu Rajamariamman Devasthanam
Founded in 1911 by Kootha Perumal Vandayar and built on land donated by Sultan Sir Ibrahim. The 75ft 5-tiered Rajagopuram has 125 figurines & 25 murals, topped by 5 gold-plated kolasam
Gurdwara Sahib
The Sikh community's house of worship at Jalan Trus, built in 1921 on land awarded by Sultan Sir Ibrahim for the community's assistance during a fire.
Chinese Heritage Museum
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| Glass Temple Statue |
This Museum is great to understand the the settlement and history of Johor’s Chinese community. Collections include musical instruments, old coins, porcelain, photos, documents, and other artifacts.
The old city area has several murals, shops, restaurants and also a night market amongst high rise apartments and hotels and one can spend an evening walking around the area.
A little far off is a hindu temple made of glass (Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Glass Temple) which I found quite quaint. This temple is embellished by a mosaic of 300,000 pieces of red, blue, yellow, green, purple and white glass. There are marble statues of figures like Shri Ramakrishna, Mother Teresa, Shirdi Sai Baba among many others.
After Johor, I took a bus straight to Kuala Lumpur International airport and it was time for me to return back to Bangalore. I had covered most of the Malay Peninsula except the East Coast where it was Monsoons and I was looking forward to explore that in my next trip.
