Last
February, I received a message from Danny Koh, a reader who said he recognized
a familiar face – that of my grandmother – while he was using Google to search
for photos of old Johor, in particular Jalan Ngee Heng!
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| Danny Koh at Kota Iskandar |
He
clicked on that photo and it led him to My
Johor Stories and a collection of stories and photos which he read and
re-read with interest as it brought back long forgotten memories. He regretted
that over the years, he had lost all his JB contacts and he said, coming across
my articulately written blog was like a Godsend!
Danny,
the youngest of four children in their family, said he’s pretty sure that our
paths had crossed on more than one occasion when I was little. That was
because, his family used to live at No. 30 Jalan Ngee Heng, in the terrace row
of houses across the road from our grandparents’ house at No. 154.
In 1965,
their family moved from Jalan Ngee Heng to Taman Kebun Teh. He left Johor Baru
in 1973 to further his studies in the UK and settled in London where he built
his life and career. In 2003, he
migrated to Brisbane, Australia, where he now lives.
His
mother, who’s now advanced in age, had moved from their home in Taman Kebun Teh
to live with his sister and brother-in-law in Singapore.
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| In front of English College, Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar |
In a long
and rambling message, he listed names of my relatives whom he was familiar with
and believed that they too would remember his parents. He clearly remembered that his parents used
to go across the road to attend events held on the badminton court at Ah Kong
or grandfather’s house, like a wedding banquet and also to pay respects at the
passing of Uncle Robert.
Danny’s
memories rekindled my own because the wedding banquet his parents attended was
probably that of my parents. In those days, it was common to invite cooks and
their kitchen team over to serve a banquet and my parents’ wedding banquet was
catered by New Hong Kong Restaurant in this manner, for guests to dine at
tables set up on the badminton court.
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| Revisiting the site fondly known as Happy Valley |
I also remember
the crowds of people who came to pay their respects at his wake when Uncle
Robert lost the battle to cancer. The casket was set up under a canopy on the
badminton court. My siblings and cousins, who were then staying with our
grandparents, had our share in making uncle feel more comfortable during his
last days.
In the
closing paragraph of Danny’s detailed message, he said the last time he visited
JB was probably in 1997. He said, “I do
miss that little town which I grew up in. I travel to Singapore as all my
family live there, and I have had fleeting visits to JB (mainly to indulge in
food I have missed!) Coming across your
blog has made me realise I still have that ‘Johorean’ in me! Perhaps it’s high time for me to make a
special trip back to my roots.”
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| At the Church of Immaculate Conception JB |
I replied
and told Danny that JB is no longer a ‘little town’ as it has developed quite
rapidly with widespread suburbs, many located much further than Taman Kebun
Teh, a residential area which he said, was considered so far from town back in
the mid 1960’s!
In March,
his mother’s health took a sudden turn for the worse and he was asked to come
to see her, maybe for the last time. Before he boarded his flight to Singapore,
he rushed a message off to tell me about his unplanned trip and would be in
touch later.
A week
passed before I heard from him again. He told me how he spent the past week by
his mother’s hospital bed and on the doctor’s advice, the family would move her
to a palliative care facility. After she
was settled into the hospice, he thought it would be good to take a break with
a weekend in JB, to meet me.
Later, I
was told that his siblings would usually come to JB and drive directly to his mother’s
house in Taman Kebun Teh to do what they needed to do and then return to
Singapore immediately. They hardly stopped
to do any shopping or dining because negative news reports about the security
situation in JB had somehow poisoned their minds and made them to think that JB
is a notorious place and Singapore registered cars and its occupants, were
unsafe here!
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| Danny with his sister, Lily, a studio shot taken at Chau Wah Photo Studio |
So that
Friday afternoon when I took Danny to lunch, we got down from my car and walked
across the road to a neighbourhood café.
As we walked that short distance, Danny told me that this was literally
the first time he was walking on JB streets (other than from the car into his
mother’s house!) since he left JB in 1973!
Then he
shared with me, the wrong impression his family had of the security in JB. I told him that as in any developing city in
the world, our city has its fair share of crime. But falling victim to crime
was really a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong time and visitors
must be street smart.
I assured
him that he would get a real sense of the security situation here as I show him
new and familiar sites in and around JB. So in the next 48 hours, Danny got
reacquainted with the JB he once knew.
When I
showed him the impressive buildings at Kota Iskandar and the marina at Puteri
Harbour, he simply marveled at the new developments in Iskandar Puteri.
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| Revisiting the shortcut that links Jalan Trus to Jalan Wong Ah Fook |
A large
chunk of his memories were made when he used to ride a bicycle around and he
fondly remembers the JB Convent where his sister went to school. Then I took him to schools he studied in,
first at Ngee Heng Primary School – the old premises, now a Government department
– and secondary school at English College or Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar.
He
remembers going for outings at a nature destination with a stream flowing
through it fondly called Happy Valley and I took him to explore the site next
to present-day Merdeka Park, for a glimpse of where he made many happy
memories.
Danny
told me he used to explore the area behind their house in Jalan Ngee Heng where
he discovered the awesome sight inside the Church of Immaculate Conception, and
how he embraced the religion. He walked
into the church by a side door and took his time to walk around the compound,
retracing his steps when he often visited this sanctuary.
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| The structure at the rear of the shophouse, has already caved in |
To visit
JB’s heritage quarter, I parked at the Galleria Kotaraya and as we were heading
out, we met Andy Lim, the gentleman whose family used to operate the Chau Wah
Photo Studio.
Danny
told him that their family used to go to this studio to snap their family
photos, which was the thing to do in those days because not everyone owned a
camera. Then he (whipped out his
smartphone!) to show off one of those precious studio shots of himself and his
sister that was taken by Chau Wah Photo Studio so long ago!
We left
the Galleria to walk up Jalan Trus to see the Johor Gu Miao or Old Temple – a place Danny remembered visiting with his
father.
Across
the road, Danny saw the shortcut that linked Jalan Trus to Jalan Wong Ah Fook
and recalls how he used to enjoy eating a tasty laksa from a hawker stall that was usually parked around here. He wanted to walk down the shortcut because
his grandmother’s house was the shophouse next to the footpath, facing Jalan
Wong Ah Fook.
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| At the entrance to his grandmother's place |
As he led
the way, I saw that it was a deeply sentimental journey for Danny as he
reminisced about how he used to stay with his grandmother in this very
shophouse and now to see its sorry state with the structure in the rear already
caved in. He said they used to live in
both the downstairs and upstairs but later the downstairs unit was rented out
to a coffeeshop business.
Then we
walked down Jalan Ungku Puan to the site of the former pasak-kia or Chinese food court, where he remembered enjoying many good
meals, and we saw that it was just a flattened, vacant piece of land adjacent
to the infamous Sungai Segget!
A visit
to the heritage quarter is not complete without a trip to the JB Chinese
Heritage Museum so I had the privilege of sharing with Danny, a bit on the
Chinese community’s role in the development of JB.
Familiar
food was another item on the itinerary so I took him to various destinations to
have the street food that he sorely missed. When we talked about the noodles
that he used to enjoy in JB, he was quick to say, ‘Ho Seng Kee’ and was
surprised when I told him that they were still in business!
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| Glad he found his favourite noodles again! |
They were
not only in business, but the brand has been given a new lease of life in a
café menu that is being enjoyed by regulars as well as new generation of noodle
lovers who appreciate the unique taste of handmade egg noodles that are made
with duck’s eggs!
I guess
his mouth must have been watering as we discussed these delicious noodles and
he was so thrilled that he rushed a message to his sister in Singapore –
another fan of these amazing noodles.
As we
made our way to Ho Seng Kee on level 6 of Johor Baru City Square, Danny was
telling me his strategy for eating these wantan
noodles, first in the soup version and then, if he had some more space, the
dry-tossed version.
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| Check out the comments Danny wrote on the Visitors book at the JB Chinese Heritage Museum! |
Then he
was silent, probably doing some mental calculations on how many bowls of
noodles he wanted to buy as takeaways to give his sister a surprise treat!
So with
two carrier bags full of Ho Seng Kee noodles, Danny left after an eventful
weekend in JB.
Soon
after he crossed the border into Singapore, he sent a message thanking me and
saying how he had such a wonderful and emotional experience in rediscovering
his hometown, going back to visit significant places of his early years and
seeing in amazement how the town has grown into such a bustling city. And of course, the delight of eating local
food – so many restaurants, food courts and other makan places – which he said, requires more visits to further
indulge!
I couldn’t
help smiling when I read his message. I
was just glad I could help him reconnect with JB again.
