Bukit Kepong, Muar

Have you ever heard about the heart-wrenching tragedy of Bukit Kepong? Chances are, if you are a Malaysian, I bet you must have at least watched the 1983 movie directed by Tan Sri Jins Shamsuddin.

The truth is, the battle at Bukit Kepong took place on February 23, 1950 between the local Police Force and the Malayan Communists during pre-independent Malaya. It was deeply considered by many as one of the most tragic battles in Malaysian history.

This unruly incident took place at the area surrounding the Bukit Kepong Police Station. Almost all the Policemen were cold-bloodedly shot to death by the Communists. The timber-laden Police Station and the family barracks, located by the banks of the Muar River, were set ablaze during the final hours of this fierce and awesome battle. Many were perished in this incident, including wives and children. And what was so special about the battle? It was told earlier that the Communists thought that they could capture the Police Station within a few hours. How terribly wrong they were when they had to fight until the wee hours of the morning before they could grab hold of the forte.


It was indeed devastating to learn how the Police Force had to overcome the overwhelming odds and fought the battle to the very last man. It really, really showed the spirit, strength and resilience of the 18 Policemen and their families in their heroic battle against some 200 Communists. Their stories will forever remain in our memories.

During my visit to the historic site, I had a big lump on my throat after reading all the stories and viewed all the pictures in the small museum. The whole scenario was just so poignant and upsetting. I too have watched the ‘Bukit Kepong’ movie years back and I could still remember how truly awesome it was that such a tragically true story was beautifully portrayed and transferred onto the silver screen. They kept playing it on TV especially during our National Day Celebration, just to remind us all about what our forefathers had to go through in order to gain Independence i.e. through Blood, Sweat and Tears.

Bukit Kepong is located about 59 km away from the Muar town. With much determination, we decided to pay a visit to this historical site, regardless the distance. We took the Tangkak exit which was two and half hours away from JB. After the exit, we had to take the trunk road. The road was rather quiet and secluded. Throughout the journey, there were oil palm tree plantations on our left and right sides of the road. We had to go through the route that leads to Hutan Lipur Gunung Ledang and then towards Labis. It was quite a journey actually.





With the Johor Map as a guide in my hand, I was assisting my hubby in navigational directions. Lucky for us, we somehow managed to get ourselves to the small settlement of Bukit Kepong after less than an hour. But still, the Police Station was nowhere in sight. We had to ask the locals around the area to direct us to the Police Station because, although my hubby would never want to admit it, we were kind of lost. The Bukit Kepong Police Station was quite far inside the kampung area. After much hassle, we finally found the place with the help of one very kind ‘Pakcik’ who asked us to tail his bike and brought us to the place.

The Police Station we saw was of course not the original built, obviously. It has been reconstructed with bricks and had been beautified with white and blue paint (following the current Malaysian Police Force corporate color).



We went straight into the building right away after we parked our car, and without haste we pushed ourselves into a small room that has been turned into an exhibition hall with plenty of pictures, newspaper cuttings and posters highlighting the relevant details and stories about the tragic incident. The room was one of the many rooms built on the actual side where the old family barrack was located. The ambience was rather distressing. And to see the name lists and photos of those who didn’t survive during the battle, I felt really devastated and dismayed. It made my eyes teary and my heart pounding. We took a moment to quietly say our prayers to the departed heroes and may their souls continue to be blessed by Allah.







There was also the original Log Book on the showcase that holds the record of the day just before the incident happened. It was written by one of the policemen who were on sentry during the day. It recorded how normal the day was in actual fact. I bet no one expected what could have happened during that very day. It was as though they were taking it as another regular day until the incident occurred at dawn. The Police didn’t even have enough weapons at that point of time. They were unprepared for a battle. They were ambushed so badly and couldn’t ask for any help as the nearest village, Kampung Lenga, was two and half hours away by foot. It was truly impossible for the villagers to come to their rescue on time. And when they did eventually, hours later, they only managed to see how gloriously bad the aftermath was.


After the brief visit and some photo snapping, we signed off and we made our way back home. This visit has made me realized that how lucky we are (i.e. my family and I precisely) to be born after Malaysia has gained its independence. It will definitely be an opposite feeling if we were to experience the hardship of the earlier days. Everything is so easy for us now and yet we are still grumbling and arguing about who should run the government. Can’t we just agree eye-to-eye and accept the fact that who has been chosen to lead the country was the best for us? Our ‘nenek-moyang’ fought hard for the county, and eventually for us. The least we can do is stay united. After all, at the end of the day, we are Malaysians, aren’t we?



Ohh... ohh... I would like to share with you on another thing. The photo below shows the water level during the series of floods that hit Johor in 2006. The floods were caused by an above-average rainfall which was attributed to the Typhoon Utor that had hit The Philippines and Vietnam. Can you see the mark indicating how high the water had risen??? It was the worst flood in the century, it seemed. Being situated next to the Muar River, the Bukit Kepong Police Station was badly hit by the great flood.

Ayer Hitam Town and its Tropical Village

We heard about Ayer Hitam being THE place if you need to shop for all types of potteries, Malay Wedding crafts, artificial flowers and all sorts of Malaysian junk food (i.e. ‘kerepek’ and ‘manisan’). Thus, we headed to this town on one fine Sunday morning not for any of the reasons above, but just to ‘look-see’ the place.

As we reached ‘pekan’ Ayer Hitam after about an hour’s drive from JB, we could see a lot of stalls selling the items I mentioned earlier along the roadside. We parked our car and started walking from one stall to the other. It was such a long stretch, and it was so damn hot! Poor Adam, he couldn’t afford to take the long walk under the hot sun, so we had to stop at one of the restaurants somewhere nearby that area to grab some fresh juice for him.



My hubby tried out their Otak-Otak Muar (a typical Johor specialty, made from fresh fish meat (usually mackerel) mixed with a mixture of spices consist of chillies, garlic, shallots, turmeric, lemon grass and coconut milk, wrapped in a special leaf and grilled to perfection). The aroma was so tempting that he just had to order it to taste it. Somehow the taste was not too bad, perhaps a bit on a spicy side.


We bought some local junk food as well - a few which I’ve had never tasted before. We were spoilt for choices as there were hundreds of options to choose from. And not to forget, we bought some cheap toys for my son too to make him happy. He was a bit cranky throughout the jalan-jalan, mainly because of the heat. And he was sweating profusely too :-(.



We continued to discover Ayer Hitam by car soon after the restaurant break. We saw a road sign showing ‘Tropical Village’, so that was our next stop. It was a Mini World Theme Park where many Wonders of The World were on display, albeit in miniature sizes. We could have chosen for a drive-in tour but we opted for walk-in instead. We had to pay for the tickets before we entered the park i.e. RM8.00 per adult and RM4.00 per child.



The place was rather quiet. We saw only small groups of people that had made their way earlier before us. Amongst the display were the Great Wall of China, Statue of Liberty, Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower, Pyramid, Hollywood Hill and Sleeping Buddha, to name you a few. It was around 4.30 pm and the weather was just nice for us to walk around the place. My son had a terrific moment of learning about those spectacular World Wonders, all in one place. We took a few photos, and some of them turned out to be surprisingly great ones! So, do enjoy the photos below.








For a first-timer like us, I felt that the Ayer Hitam Tropical Village is indeed a nice place to visit with your family. However, personally, this would definitely be one of those one-off tours for us. I don’t think we will ever come back again to this park that soon. Apart from the miniature world architecture, the park really, really needed some good maintenance. Overall, it looked rather run down and it also badly, badly needed a food kiosk too. :-)

Desaru Beach, Kota Tinggi

Since we were already on the East side of Johor, we realized that we were only like 40 minutes away from the popular Desaru Beach. So, my chauffeur (a.k.a. my dearest hubby) decided to continue his driving, with me at the co-pilot seat struggling with the map and trying to look for directions. Nevertheless, driving along the roads to Desaru was rather enjoyable.


We came across a stall selling Putu Bamboo (i.e. a traditional Malay delicacy, made from ground rice flour, with generous amount of Gula Melaka (palm sugar) mixed in the middle, steamed in bamboo casings and served with grated fresh coconut) by the roadside. So we made a quick stop and ordered some of this delectable Malay kuih.



It was a beautifully sunny afternoon when we reached Desaru. There were an array of hotels, motels and chalets along the road towards the beach but we went straight to the public beach area, a popular spot for the locals to have their weekend picnics with friends and family. It was our day-trip to Desaru so we wouldn’t need a room anyway. Not on this trip at least. We parked our car at the Desaru Holiday Chalet’s car park, and made our way to the beach.


From afar, we could hear the raging waves. It was in late November so it was still the monsoon season – that explained why the waves were rather strong at the time. But, there were hundreds of people having a great time swimming in the not-so-crystal-clear water despite the strong waves. It was kind of dangerous.



But for us, we brought along our beach mat and 2 small pillows and after settling ourselves at a good spot, we just sat back and enjoyed the scenery while my son had fun playing with the bubbles.





We then had our lunch at a restaurant near the public beach. It was a ‘so-so’ kind of restaurant that serves local food. The food was nothing to shout about but since we had not much of a choice, and since that was perhaps the nearest outlet for us to have our meal without having to drive out of the place, we allowed ourselves to succumb to the notion. I ordered for a plate of Mee Hailam (i.e. yellow noodle cooked in dark soya sauce with lots of vegetables, meat and seafood) while my hubby asked for a Mee Bandung (i.e. yellow noodle cooked in sweet sour sauce, with meat, eggs and seafood but without any veggies for him). Those piping-hot noodles were served to us within minutes. Great! We were already quite hungry at that time.



And what did my son have for his lunch? This picky-eater just enjoyed his 2 scoops of chocolate ice-cream and some french fries.



If there is one thing I must warn you if you intend to visit Desaru just for a day trip (without any room bookings at any hotels), it had to be the public toilet. If you really, really need to ‘do’ it, then you have no choice but to close your eyes and trash into this one pathetic-looking toilet at the public beach area. What is it with Malaysians and their Public Toilets? They just don’t jive together. Is it just me or is it because we, Malaysians often regard Public Toilets as ‘Dirty Areas’ that do not warrant any bit of cleanliness at all? Believe me, you would rather hold your ‘needs’ and go search for the nearest petrol kiosk, or a hotel or any proper restaurant nearby. You wouldn’t mind holding it because the stench from the toilet could put you off even if you are still miles away. Malaysia Boleh? Malaysia Boleh Memalukan Bangsa Asing Kalau Perkara Sebegini Tidak Diambil Perhatian. What a shame!

Kota Johor Lama (Fortress of Johor Lama)

“Often said that if you didn't know history, you didn't know anything. You were a leaf that didn't know it was part of a tree.” (Michael Crichton, Timeline)

Thus, allow me to bring you to one of the most historical places in Johor this time. As we made our way to the East Coast of Johor, we discovered a place that was once the capital city of Johor during the reign of Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah II (1540-1564) up until the glorious era of Sultan Ali Jalla Abdul Jalil Shah II (1574-1587). It was, and still is, known as Kota Johor Lama.


Located somewhere 27 km away from the town of Kota Tinggi, it is believed that the fort was built in 1540 and was constructed from rock and soil. It was the actual site of fierce wars and battles amongst the local Malays and outside invading forces. This fort was the best defensive fort among all the defensive forts that were built along the Sungai Johor. After the fall of the Malay Sultanate of Malacca in 1511, Sungai Johor became the reigning centre and the defensive fort to counter attack the Portuguese invasion of Malacca. Its elevated location and its natural setting made it easier to supervise the movement of ships especially in anticipating the threats from the Acehnese and the Portuguese. Sadly, in 1587, the fort was attacked and destroyed by the Portuguese. The whole fort was burnt down and all assets including weapons and armours were taken away.


A bit of history on the great Old Johor Fort courtesy of Tourism Malaysia and Virtual Malaysia website (duly adjusted and summarized accordingly, of course).

The place was very quiet and serene. I bet not many people knew the existence of this historical site, anyway. The day was exceptionally hot and I could feel the warm sea breeze gently touching my face as we walked towards the fort, on a climbable hill overlooking the great South China Sea. The view from the hilltop was magnificent, that made even more exciting for us to walk around the place even though the scorching sun was right on top of our heads.



And if you need to learn more about what had happened during the celebrated period of the Johor Sultanate, and the complexities behind the history of Malaysia’s Monarchy, particularly Johor, there’s a Museum nearby displaying all the remnants of this historical settlement, replete with wonderful stories and pictures of the pasts. The Kota Johor Lama Museum itself was a huge stunning Malay wooden house with lots of elaborate Malay carvings on its doors and windows. For a moment, it brought me back to the golden days of Tanah Melayu, just like the one you would see in some P.Ramlee’s movies :-).






Oh yes, there were also two tombs that can be found near the fort. They were believed to be of Sultan Alauddin’s and one of his warriors. Exciting, right?


After the brief tour, we made our way to Desaru Beach. I'll tell you about it in my next entry. Stay tuned... :-)