Johor Bahru is one of the largest and fast developing city in Malaysia right behind her infamous sister Kuala Lumpur. Started off near the river of Segget as a small town as a result of the old sawmill located on the end of the river, this city currently become one of the fastest developing city in Malaysia. Being the center of commercial, institutional and tourism, Johor Bahru continue to develop to cater the needs of the hustle and bustling foreign visitors and locals.
Johor Bahru received high amount of foreign visitors especially from Singaporean as the result of the lower retail price in Malaysia in relation to Singapore. In 2022 alone, Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex (CIQ) recorded approximately 70 million travelers travelling between Singapore and Johor and forecasting that the numbers will not go down in near future.
Although Johor Bahru being the center point for Singaporeans and other country visitors to visit, we also can say Johor Bahru as a sojourn for them and also for the Malaysians who are working in Singapore yet live in Johor Bahru. Sojourn which holds the meaning of a place of temporary stay or being a resident of a place for a short period of time, greatly portrays the spirit of Johor Bahru. Travelers spend some time in there getting services for a while and continue to their other destination or straight to their home country. This idea also being supported by how little we see residential areas in Downtown Johor Bahru and places adjacent to it in comparison to the multiple hotels, offices and shopping centers.
Other than increasing the economy and providing new job opportunity for locals, we should also use this as an advantage for us to promote our rich and variety culture to public. Although there are still visitors coming to the old town of Johor Bahru, there are still emptiness of the value of the old building there from a heritage perspective.
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