Hopes for My Johor Bahru City

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Hopes for My Johor Bahru City

As I am writing this article, I am in Bandar Melaka accompanying my wife attending an official work of hers. We spend 2 nights in a nice and well established hotel. In fact, we have been here 3 times. In all occasions, we stayed in this hotel because the organization we serve likes to organize workshop or any official work here. For us, it is good that once in a while we travel out of our routine daily and weekly schedule. But we also thought why it is always Melaka, or sometimes Port Dickson? Why not places in Johor Bahru?

We drove our way from Johor Bahru to Melaka via PLUS highway. We exited the highway at Air Keroh, Melaka at about 8pm and find our way with the help of the Garmin GPS installed in my wife’s Nokia handphone. Travelling in Melaka at night seems to be very interesting. There are so many colourful lighting decorations and buildings. We saw some trees on the road sides decorated nicely with colourful lights, looking just like I-City in Shah Alam. It seems that there are so many places to visit here. These interesting attractions in Melaka are clearly visible and not hidden (located far away from the city). We saw a huge Mydin which looks like a Mega Store. In fact it is the biggest Mydin in Malaysia. There are also Dataran Pahlawan, Menara Taming Sari, Kota A Famosa, Muzium Istana Kesultanan Melaka, Planetarium, Dutch Square, Kampung Morten, Melaka River Cruise, Taman Mini Malaysia, Taman Rama-rama, Taman Buaya and Zoo Melaka. There are also traditional beautifully and creatively decorated trishaws in Bandar Hilir Melaka that we can hire to circle the town. There are many interesting attraction that I do not list here. “Wow, there are many interesting places here in Melaka. We should check them out”, I said to my wife in our MPV as we maneuvered to the hotel. “Yes, indeed there are”, my wife responded, agreeing with me.

Please don’t get me wrong. I am not at all favouring Melaka. I am however impressed with the rapid development and growth that Melaka City had achieved. I am truly a proud Johor Bahru dweller and I love the town I live in. What I am trying to highlight here is that I hope and wish Johor Bahru will be a better city than other cities in Malaysia. I hope there will be many more places of attraction developed and available in my home town.

Occasionally, when some relatives or family friends from outside Johor Bahru come to visit us, the normal question asked will be “So, what are the interesting places that you recommend us to visit in Johor Bahru?” Well, in most cases we spontaneously answered “You need to check out Danga Bay.” Then they will respond “Oh, we have already been to Danga Bay. Is there any other interesting places to visit?” Then, we have to think for a while before suggesting them some other places like Tanjung Piai, Desaru, Kota Tinggi Waterfall (which are quite far from Johor Bahru). If we think a little harder, we may then add the Royal Museum, Taman Istana, State Zoo, Plaza Angsana etc. The truth is in most occasions, we run out of idea on the significant places of attraction in our home town.

The map of Nusajaya Town Planning in Iskandar Malaysia Office in Nusajaya

Newcastle Medical University has been opened in Malaysia and has attracted medical students

This is now the heart of Johor’s Administration

However, if we really know the plan that has been set-up for Johor Bahru under the Iskandar Malaysia development, I am sure we will be happier. There are simply too many projects either completed, currently under construction or will be under construction soon. In Nusajaya, we already have Kota Iskandar which is Johor state administrative center. The building’s architecture and environment are amazingly unique. Then there is also the beautiful Puteri Harbour where yatches and boats are docked. Besides that, the famous and long awaited Lego Land will soon be opened by next year. When Lego Land is opened, I personally believe that it will be among the strong motivating factor for more people to come and visit Johor Bahru. The Newcastle Medical University has also been officially opened earlier this year and will contribute to Nusajaya in being an Edu-city besides other higher learning institutions in its surrounding district.

Sooner, Johor will also have its own MRT that will possibly connect to important locations within Johor Bahru and Singapore. Although I’m not sure of the real fact/planning of this project, if this is true, this will be interesting as we are going to have a reliable and efficient transportation alternative. The new Senai-Desaru Expressway has also been officially opened to motorist and has resulted in faster travelling from Johor Bahru Tengah to the east part of Johor Bahru areas such as Ulu Tiram, Pasir Gudang and Desaru.

We can see that this year Johor Bahru has already had three 3D cinemas. Remember 2 or 3 years ago, we don’t have any 3D cinemas. We also have an indoor water theme park in Today’s Mall in Ulu Tiram which is a place that we can also visit and let the kids have some fun. Last July, the annual event of Johor Bahru Art Festival took place. Various activities, shows, theaters, competitions and exhibitions were showcased. Johor Bahru also has what is famous in the UK which is Car Boot Sale (CBS). The CBS is a monthly event organized by JOHO, a brand that promotes arts and creativity in Johor Bahru. All of these are definitely good signs of development in entertainment and recreational industries in Johor Bahru.

Actually there are plenty more projects under development in Johor Bahru vicinity. I have not mentioned the likes of Danga Island, East Ledang, Johor Premium Outlet and Senibong Cove. KSL City, located in the heart of Johor Bahru itself will be an integrated shopping complex, hotel, condominium and if I am not mistaken will also provide golfing facility. That’s really cool-playing golf several meters above the sea level.

Basically, Johor Bahru will be there. It will be a fantastic, superb and magnificent city to live in. It’s just about time. I am proud to be a Johorean.

About the author:

This article is contributed by Zaki. He is a normal Johor Bahru family guy and often contributes article to JBCool.com, a website serving Johor Bahru event updates. This article was published in WAVES magazine July 2011 edition and republished in JBCool.com.