Meldrum Walk Street Food

Life between buildings of Johor Bahru City Centre.

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A decade before Malaysia Independence Day, the first food court market in JB was set up at Jalan Ungku Puan, on a small plot of land adjacent to Segget River. It was once regarded as Johor Bahru street food heaven by the locals. Eating session such as to dine in and take away performed by crowds usually occurred after 5 pm due to Malaysian hot humid sunny climate moreover with under the metal zinc roof. The ideal location of Jalan Ungku Puan, main connecting road to Segget River, offered easy access to the after-office and dinner crowds. Business would go on till very late to meet the customers’ appetite - early dinner and hot supper before bedtime. After consolation to street food connoisseurs this eatery centre was demolished in 1986. Since 2004, some of the next generation hawkers have been serving familiar dishes at the back lane of Jalan Meldrum, now called Meldrum Walk.

How Meldrum Street do got its name? Meldrum was the name of Scotsman, James Meldrum, who came to seek business opportunity in the 1800s. When Meldrum arrived at Johor Bahru, the shore was jungle and marshy ground and a hut stood on the site of the present-day Istana Besar or Grand Palace. In 1860, Meldrum set up the Johor Steam Sawmill, the very first Johor Bahru first industry at the mouth of Sungai Segget. (Peggy Loh, 2016)

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(Mutton Soup and Oyster Omelette by Tony, 2018)

Warung (Stall) Sup Ali, Warung Haji Daud – Mutton Soup is among the stalls that you need to visit at Meldrum Walk. 40 years of experience in serving scrumptious mutton soup, Pak Ali keeps providing his signature dish from the 4-wheeled food cart to your plate. Some Singaporeans would agree that once you have had a taste of his Sup Kambing, you could never enjoy Singapore’s mutton soup ever again. There is also the oyster omelette stall that serves succulent and generous number of oysters fried in omelette and served with the special chilly dipping sauce, located in the Medan Selera Meldrum Walk. The stall is sure to give you unforgettable taste of fried oyster as suggested by many who kept coming back for some more oyster omelette goodness. Moreover, some of the diners are captivated by the exquisite smell of curry coming from the Indian mixed rice stall at the front entrance of the non-halal side. There are also stalls serving Bah Zang and Teochew Kuey at a very good old-school-standard on the 2nd side of non-halal section. KTK (Kuay Tiao Kia) there is also decent and worth the search. (Tony, Johor Kaki 2018)

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(field work study by Amirul Hakim Jamil 2019)

As for the food vendors who has been doing business at Meldrum Walk since small market days of Segget River, the awful stench of the river is viewed as a small price to pay by their customers for that nostalgic experience of Malaysia authentic food. Meldrum Walk has become a well-known tourist spot for both locals and foreigners. Moving their business somewhere else would be a bummer to their income considering most of the dining stalls in the area have regular customers. The diners, on the other hand, must have found that the food prepared by these hawkers are so authentic and tasty that it was worth the temporary discomfort. The relationship established between the vendors and their customers is the key to the continual of Johor Bahru street food business.

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(field work study by Amirul Hakim Jamil 2019)

Asides from the fact that Meldrum Walk is now the hidden gem of Malaysia authentic dishes, the loss of Pasak-kia and Sungai Segget is remorseful for many who recalls the history of Johor Bahru. But these two are not the only lost social landscape in the city. In early 2003, JB city has mourned the loss of Flat Lumba Kuda, the historical high-rise settlement that was built to house the low-income families mostly from Kampung Pak Wali, Stulang Laut back in 1983, along with Flat Bukit Chagar – later demolished in February 2008. Social integration between balanced local demographic of Johor Bahru and tourist is needed to maintain sustainable cultural ecosystem. Re-shuffling one settlements could be resulted in imbalanced integration of sustainable cultural ecosystem. Imposing new capitalist regulation wouldn’t make any changes.

Co-Authors: Amirul Hakim Jamil, Hakim Onn, Azizah Daud

References:
http://azmi-shuib.blogspot.com/2013/05/daud-soup-kambing-sungai-segget-johor.html (Azmi Shuib, 2013)
http://www.vishtech.com/templejb/index.php (Temple at Johor Bahru City Centre) (Arulmigu Rajamariamman Devasthanam Johor Bahru)
http://ppunlimited.blogspot.com/2016/06/sungai-segget-jbs-wonder-waterway.html(Peggy Loh, 2016)
http://ppunlimited.blogspot.com/2016/10/memories-of-jbs-first-food-court.html(Peggy Loh, 2016)
http://ppunlimited.blogspot.com/2016/04/jbs-first-industry-steam-sawmill.html (Peggy Loh, 2016)
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/community/2012/03/29/jalan-wong-ah-fook-stretch-to-reveal-sungai-segget-as-a-major-city-attraction (Zasali Musa, 2013)
http://berteromber.blogspot.com/2015/08/sungai-segget.html (Segget in 2000s) (Berteromber, 2015)
https://jalan2cuti2.wordpress.com/2016/09/20/tempat-menarik-di-johor-johor-bahru-alkisah-klasik/ (Pantai Lido and Segget) (Danial, 2016)
http://johorkaki.blogspot.com/2018/07/meldrum-walk-2018-johor-bahrus-back.html (Tony, Johor Kaki 2018)
http://johorkaki.blogspot.com/2014/05/daud-kambing-soup-at-johor-bahru.html (Tony, Johor Kaki 2014)
http://my.geoview.info/main_fountainlegaran_segget_jb_developed_by_national_landscape_department (National Landscape Department,2008)