Right after breakfast went in search of ground coffee. Travelling with an Aeropress, so I can have coffee on the train (apparently most of them have hot water available at the end of each carriage). About 200mtrs from the hotel was Bacha Coffee. 200gms of Peruvian espresso grind at some ridiculous price BUT, thinking this might make me the most popular girl on the trip
We met our tour guide, Bronny, this morning and our fellow travellers for a welcome meeting before we started our journey crossing the border to Johur Bahru in Malaysia. There are only 6 of us, which is great news from my point of view. Four of us are older women, there is an old bloke and a younger bloke of 25. The old bloke is leaving the tour in Luang Prabang – he’s been on lots of these adventures. All the women seem great. I thought they would all be Aussies , but not so.
Our train journey to Johor Bahru began in Singapore, with a bus journey out to Woodlands station and immigration. This was the first endurance test – about 20,000 steps later and through Singapore emigration and Malaysian immigration we were on the ten-minute train ride to Johor.
I am definitely the slowest. A couple of the women are hikers.
Last night was a bit of a booze up – I was very modest:1 gin and tonic and 1 glass of wine, but some of others got through many glasses of wine and buckets of beers.
History and Politics
Johor Bahru was founded in 1855 as Tanjung Puteri by Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim and renamed in 1866 by Sultan Abu Bakar, who modernized the state and introduced Malaya’s first written constitution. During his reign, the city witnessed modernisation from a fishing village, with the construction of administrative centres, offices, schools, and railways. While Britain had considerable influence in Malaya in the late 19thc, direct British colonial rule only came into effect in 1914 and with it a desire to unite Malay states into a pluralist Malaya. By then unregulated immigration meant that Malays were in the minority. During the 1920s and 30s, while there were nationally identified political movements, none really focused on independence. The 3 ethnic groups lived in separate communities reducing the conditions for ethnic conflict.
In January 1942, the Japanese invaded Malaya and advanced quicky south to Johor Bahru defeating British forces. Following bombings by the Japanese, the British retreated to Singapore and blew up the causeway the following day as a final doomed attempt to stop the Japanese advance in British Malaya. The British surrender took place on 15 February 1942, and a reign of terror began, particularly toward Chinese – many of whom were confined in concentration camps, with large-scale massacres in villages and settlements. Malays were blamed for cooperation with the enemy and Japanese policy also had the effect of fostering inter-racial conflict between Malays and Chinese. However, there was military engagement and sabotage against the Japanese, mainly organized by the Malayan Peoples’ Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA).
After the Japanese surrender the British attempted to reunify Malaya and in 1948 the Federation of Malaysia was established. While elections were held, there was open dissent, tension between the need for indigenous Malay rights and equal rights for all Malaysian citizens and an attempted uprising. This political dissent has continued to this day – with debates around national identity. Malaysia could be characterised as a flawed democracy (which country isn’t) with corruption a central issue.
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