Kluang has changed, the old magic remains

Kluang has changed, the old magic remains

Henry George Retnam

2008/02/18

The Kluang I know today beguiles and amazes me. All around me there is construction — housing estates, multi-storey buildings and new schools just popping up. And of course, there is a never–ending traffic jam.

BUSTLING: A main street in Kluang town today.

Kluang, during the massive floods of 1970

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CHANGED: Kluang town has developed by leaps and bounds.

As I drive around town, I observe the town’s newest fashion — two-wheeled machines that disappeared some time ago are back in vogue.

And their riders? Scores of Nepalese, Vietnamese, Myanmars and Bangladeshi factory workers, who use them for work and for leisure.

Perhaps it would be correct to say that without their sweat and skills, the numerous factories in Kluang would have come to a grinding halt some time ago.

Elsewhere in town, the hustle and bustle of urban life is amply evident — the blaring music from record shops along Jalan Stesen (nostalgically, for some, also known as Little India), housewives rushing in and out of banks with a cursory glance behind them from time to time while securing their grip on their handbags.

At Merdeka Park, whole families enjoy a pleasant evening around the see-saws and Henry Gurney benches. Thankfully, the park is still here and has not been replaced, as once rumoured, by five-storey concrete structures.

Come Sunday morning, the shouts and calls of the fishmongers and butchers reverberate amid the softer, more polite exhortations of vegetable grocers and fruit sellers at the three-storey central market.

You would perhaps not believe me if I told you that Kluang was a mere backwater in the 1960s when I first came to work and live here.

The main part of town then was centred on the road to Mersing for about a kilometre or so. Beyond that, however, the main road was lined with coconut trees on both sides for miles.

And the houses? Attap houses everywhere. I lived in one such house in a community called Kampung Chinniah. The older folks in Kluang will perhaps remember the name.

If you lived in a brick or semi-brick house, you were considered part of a family of means.

Bullock-carts marshalled by sturdy, hardworking Sikhs were ubiquitous, transporting sand from Sungai Mengkibol, cement sacks and other building materials to construction sites.

And then, there were the nightsoil men, who went on their early morning rounds, flaming oil-lamps on their foreheads, braving the appalling stench and the unhelpful, incessant barking of dogs. Kluangites owe them a debt for the maintenance of general cleanliness.

Today, Jalan Mersing has been transformed beyond recognition.

In the Sixties, there was the nightmare of floods in Kluang. Every December, the Sungai Mengkibol burst its banks, sending residents fleeing to higher ground.

Each year, army volunteers in boats helped to evacuate and sometimes bodily carry off (literally, for some just refused to leave their flooded homes despite the advice) residents to evacuation centres.

And then came the disastrous floods of 1969-1970.

As I waded around in waist-deep swirling waters, I would notice, now and then, pockets of curious onlookers gathered around a particular flooded portion of town.

Yet another flood victim had met with an unfortunate end. It is believed that at least 40 people lost their lives during that big flood in Kluang.

Many died because they had just been gawking and then became unlucky victims of submerged live electrical cables. Today, thankfully, Sungai Mengkibol has been deepened and widened. However, more needs to be done to prevent flooding in the years to come.

Finally, any story about Kluang would not be complete without a reference to that unmistakable landmark — the twin peaks of Gunung Lambak.

Schoolchildren and adults speak with pride of the number of times they have scaled this 338m mountain that dominates the landscape.

Here, eco-resorts have sprung up at the base of the mountain

From Jalan Mersing, visitors will notice one of the earliest Telekom towers in the country. It was built in 1953, and is still functioning to this day

Gunung Lambak offers an ideal picnic and nature park.

It is also a magnet that attracts folks of all ages, who come here at dawn and at dusk, to jog, stretch their limbs or just enjoy a walk along the nature trails.

Better still, stand at the peak of Gunung Lambak and you have a tantalising view of the town below.

Vehicles resemble ants on the move. Many Kluangites hope that the powers that be will retain the green spaces and the many heritage buildings in Kluang for our children and grandchildren to cherish, appreciate and savour for all time.

Henry George Retnam, 78, retired from Telecoms in 1985. The pictures are part of his collection of old photos of Kluang.

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