Wong Ah Fook's Old Mansion

01 May 2014

150-Year-Old Historical Mansion Demolished

By Chuah Bee Kim 

Johor Baru's 150-year-old dilapidated mansion belonging to philantropist and contractor Wong Ah Fook which was still in tact several days ago

Johor Baru's 150-year-old mansion belonging to philantropist and contractor Wong Ah Fook which was demolished late Wednesday (April 30)

JOHOR BARU: Johor lost a piece of its history today when the 150-year-old mansion along Jalan Lumba Kuda was reduced to debris, following its demolition at about 11pm late Wednesday.

The eight-room mansion was once owned by philanthropist and contractor Wong Ah Fook whose name has been immortalised after a road here was named after him.

A check by the New Straits Times revealed the land where the historical mansion once stood is now reduced to a rubble of concrete.

When the news broke that the Wong Ah Fook mansion may soon be history, Stulang assemblyman Andrew Chen Kah Eng reportedly handed a memorandum to the state government to urge them to preserve the old mansion.

Community leaders of the Johor Baru Tiong Hua Association rallied together to prepare a formal appeal to Johor Menteri Besar's office.

Besides the old mansion, there were also two Taoist temples and squatter settlers in the area.

It was learnt that the squatters were given some money to vacate the premises last month and the temple committee had been paying a monthly rental of RM140 for the past 14 years.

Wong had built some of the most recognisable heritage buildings in Johor, including Istana Besar, Balai Zaharah, the residence of the state's first mentri besar Datuk Jaafar Mohamed at Bukit Senyum and the Johor Baru prison in the Jalan Ayer Molek.

Wong, who was born in 1837, died in 1918 at the age of 81.

Over the years, two Taoist temples and squatter settlers had been occupying the place.

Johor Baru City Council corporate communications and public relations director Abdul Aziz Ithnin said the local council will conduct a probe into the issue.

Read more: 150-Year-Old Historical Mansion Demolished - Latest - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/latest/150-year-old-historical-mansion-demolished-1.584394#ixzz30S3P6B3L

Apple Tree

I was at the Kiwanis Careheart Centre just now. Looking for the apple tree http://ardentindulgence.blogspot.com/2013/11/sunflowers-and-apple-tree.html. But the apple tree was no longer there.  

However it was a very fulfilling day.

Shella bought some "kangkung", "bayam", brinjal and mushroom. It costs only RM10.  We really love this place. It's filled with vibrant energy.

I also handed over some books to the centre. This gives me the opportunity to de-clutter my space as well as indulge in the joy of sharing and giving.

I want to keep raising my vibrational frequency. Like a magnet, one's vibrational frequency attracts energy of the same vibrating frequency.  

Smooth Sailing

Everything was smooth sailing. I wish there could be more days like this.  There will be because if your inner world changes, your outside world also changes.  Be the master of your mind. 

A good day calls for a celebration, so I ordered myself a kampung chicken, vegetables stir-fried with garlic, and fried prawns for dinner. The chicken costs RM22, veggie RM8 and prawns RM30.

Today 1,200 Parti Keadilan Rakyat candidates took part in the party polls out of a total of 12,000 members  throughout Johor.  The article in the New Straits Times.

By Syed Umar Ariff, Chuah Bee Kim, Roshidi Abu Samah and Goh Pei Pei

RACE FOR PKR NO. 2 HEATS UP

Azmin has slight edge in PKR polls hit by low turnout and technical glitches.

KUALA LUMPUR: The race for PKR deputy presidency is  heating up between three heavyweight contenders in in cumbent Azmin Ali, Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid  Ibrahim and secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution  Ismail.

 

The party polls however continued to be hit with low voters  turnout in Malacca and Johor yesterday.

 

PKR sources said all Azmin, Khalid and Saifuddin have  received almost equal footings with vote margins in the  seams of 40 and 50, during the polls held at divisional  meetings in Kelantan, Pahang, Terengganu and Sarawak on  Saturday.

 

A party insider said at present Azmin has a slight edge after  emerging at the top in Pahang and possibly in Sarawak.

 

“I do not know the numbers, but Azmin is leading albeit by  a wafer-thin margin. Saifuddin had won in Kelantan, pos sibly because the people knew him there better since he was  the member of parliament for Machang.”

 

Another PKR member from Pahang however said that it  was too early to indicate if Azmin would secure stronger results.

 

“We are still in the first stages of the polls. Moreover,  voters’ turnout were quite low in some states during the first  day.

 

Meanwhile, the party polls continued to suffer numerous  setbacks including poor turn of voters and the late arrival of  ballot papers.

   

Polling at the PKR Johor Baru division took place almost  two hours late at 11.45am. 

 

Some of the voters had turned up as early as 9am, all  geared up to cast their votes. However, the voters had to wait  for the ballot papers to arrive.

 

Incumbent Johor Baru division chief Tan Poh Lai, who was  bidding for the PKR Wanita deputy chief post, however said  polling went smoothly throughout the day.

 

In Malacca, state PKR chief Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin said  he had not received any report of commotion or post ponement involving any of the divisions.

 

However, he said only 15 per cent out of 10,000 eligible  PKR members had turned up to cast their votes at the  divisional meetings.

 

"The low figure is expected as we had anticipated that only  about 10 per cent of our members statewide will be casting  their votes in the party elections," he told reporters after  attending the Jasin PKR divisional meeting in Bemban here today.

 

In Sarawak, party polls in the state which only ended  yesterday also experienced a low turnout of voters between  15 to 20 per cent at meetings held at 29 state divisions.

A party source said for example, the Stampin division  which boasts a little more than 500 voters only saw 166  members cast their votes.

Read more: Race for PKR No. 2 Heats Up - Latest - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/latest/race-for-pkr-no-2-heats-up-1.580601#ixzz305wFM3Fp

Itching

The "fishy" incident I talked about five days ago actually led me to a story that is related to marine life, but not much can be revealed yet.  Need to wait.

It's just about some ordinary people trying to save some grass.

That's all I can say for now.

Meanwhile, let's welcome President Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th president of the United States to Malaysia. The three-day visit by Obama, beginning today will be his official visit to after President Lyndon Baines Johnson's visit in 1966.

US president Obama's visit to Malaysia is a recognition of its successful development efforts, said Malaysia's Special Envoy to the United States, Datuk Seri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis - Bernama

Development should also complement animal rights, environmental and wildlife conservation. No?

Oops!

Yesterday's "fishy" incident kind of piqued my interest which led me to do some pre-dawn surfing.

I stumbled upon http://www.fz.com/content/kit-siang-questions-reclamation-project-pulau-ubah
and http://dapmalaysia.org/en/statements/2014/04/05/18316/

Everyone else would probably have known about this issue already.

Everything happens for a reason and I believe I was sent to a non-existent assignment for a reason.

Is our eco-system under threat?

There's Something Fishy

About This Day

In the morning I was asked to go to the Gelang Patah police station because that is where the MCA Gelang Patah division chairman Jason Teoh was going to lodge a report concerning the mass death of fish in Tanjung Kupang, Gelang Patah, Johor.

I was thinking ... What? Again?

On Feb 12 there was already an incident there which resulted in 48 breeders of fish and mussel incurring losses amounting to RM5.5 million.

Bernama reported that the incident was believed to have been caused by the 'red tide' phenomenon, resulting in the presence of excessive plankton, hence reducing oxygen in the water.

So, I came here in the morning only to find out later that Jason knew nothing about going there to lodge a police report today.  Who could've been so mean and naughty to pull such a stunt?  Normally I would've been annoyed.  Surprisingly, today I chose to see it as an honest mistake instead of an act of sabotage.

Anyway, back to the fish story. It was reported that Gelang Patah member of parliament Lim Kit Siang had politicised the issue by claiming that the incident was caused by the reclamation works nearby the affected area, and urged the state government to take serious action to  help those affected.

However, the Johor government-owned Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor Bhd  reportedly refuted Lim's claim.

Jason today said there is no new development concerning the matter.

Later in the day, I was here

I was lepaking (hanging out) at the Johor Bahru Sentral, the inter-city railway station waiting for the Chua Primaseira express bus. The bus was transporting 35 victims of the bus crash in Jalan Kuantan-Segamat on Sunday back to Singapore via the Customs Immigration Quarantine (CIQ) complex.

I then decided to treat myself to some "tauhu bakar" (grilled beancurd) from this stall in Johor Baru City Square.

The "tauhu bakar" here is delicious!