Living in Johor Bahru and working in Singapore throughout my years as a teacher, the three-quarter-mile Causeway linking these two places played a large role in my life. Heavy traffic and massive jams caused great inconvenience to those of us needing to earn a living in one country but working in another. During public holidays and school breaks, then as now, the problem became severe, leading to much frustration and anger, resulting in unnecessary loss of tempers and rise in blood pressure.
The first mess and mistake was the destruction of Bukit Meldrum in Johor Bahru, where a lovely park and playground once existed for children. Families brought their young ones there for evening walks, games and other activities, and to enjoy the satay that was a specialty there. The bukit (hill) was levelled in the 1960s to build a customs and immigration checkpoint, which expanded over the years. Lorries carrying goods to and from Singapore were parked there for inspection and clearance, becoming a common sight. All the greenery and trees were gone. Bukit Meldrum was no more a bukit but a flattened piece of dusty land overlooking the Tebrau Straits. As the checkpoint facilities expanded, Jalan Tun Razak, one of Johor Bahru town’s main roads, became choked as a result. The railway station on this street became inaccessible and there was traffic chaos during peak hours.
After much thought and calculation, a new bridge, known as the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link was built, linking Perling on the Johor side to Tuas on the Singapore side. Opened in 1998, the Second Link was meant to solve the problem, but sadly that was not the case. The toll charges on the bridge, and its distance from the Johor Bahru town centre meant it was not a viable alternative to the old Causeway. True, it did help in some way, but it was not what Singaporeans wanting an evening out in Johor Bahru needed. No one ever thought that the old Causeway facilities would become inadequate for the rising interest of our Singaporean neighbours in coming over to a place where they could let their hair down and enjoy some cheap shopping and recreation, particularly on weekends.
In the mid-2000s, after much deliberation and planning as to how our Causeway troubles might be eased, the massive Sultan Iskandar Complex was designed, planned and executed at Bukit Chagar, another green oasis. This pleasant pocket of rain trees and wooden bungalows near the old town centre and railway line went the way of Bukit Meldrum. The new Customs, Immigration and Quanrantine (CIQ) complex opened in 2008, in the hope that the travelling public would no longer have to put up with the inadequate facilities at the old Causeway.
Initial euphoria turned sour when it became clear that this large, expensive facility was not user-friendly. The worst complaint was that no one was allowed to walk over the Causeway to Singapore, as no footpath had been provided for the poor citizens who couldn’t afford public transport! The citizen is now held captive by bus company operators and taxi drivers. Another difficulty that bus travellers encounter at the Johor Bahru end is the distance that one has to walk from the immigration clearance point to JB Sentral where you can pick up a bus or a taxi. The distance is about one kilometre. The weak, the old and the infirm definitely have problems existing this facility – more so if they have any load or luggage. Just imagine a poor woman with a couple of children in tow, trying to walk down to JB Sentral to pick up transport.
Drivers have their own set of complaints: narrow traffic lanes leading to the drive-by immigration booths, blind corners when existing the same, unusually high speed humps and lack of emergency stopping bays if one suffers a breakdown…the jams at the CIQ facility speak volumes as to whether this development has served the purpose for which it was built at such expense to the taxpayers.
The authorities have taken note of the problems, but what next? Ideas such as the much-discussed ‘scenic bridge’ have been proposed, but politics between the two countries got in the way. Just as Malaysian leaders fear loss of face in giving in to Singapore’s demands, Singaporeans are kiasu (afraid to lose out) regarding their own interests. Without Singapore having a hand in improving the facilities at the Causeway, nothing can be done to ease the flow of traffic. Malaysians may have more to lose as many earn their living in the island-republic, connected by this umbilical cord across the Tebrau Straits.
Mamboraj 