Residents running businesses in new village take talk of redevelopment in their stride

Gan (left) at a sundry shop located at the entrance to Kampung Baru Gelang Patah .

AH CHUAN enjoys running his eatery at the entrance to Kampung Baru Gelang Patah in Johor.

Almost all his customers, including many Singaporeans, are regulars as the city state is just a 10 minutes’ drive away.

The 56-year-old took over the business from his father 30 years ago, and is assisted by his wife.

The eatery is open for long hours, from 8am to 10pm.

While the husband-and-wife team shows no signs of slowing down, they may have to call it a day soon.

The land where some 50 pre-war shops, including Ah Chuan’s eatery, are located has been sold by the landlord.

Kampung Baru Gelang Patah chief Gan Kah Wee (left) with Ah Chuan, the operator of this coffeeshop located at the entrance to the village. pix by foong pek yee.

The sale was done more than a year ago and the tenants received lawyer’s letters this January informing them of the deed.

These pre-war shops, which form a small commercial area that used to buzz with activity, are now a reminder of changing times.

However, residents of Kampung Baru Gelang Patah, which consists of some 300 houses set up during Emergency (1948-1960), do not think they will be affected.

Village chief Gan Kah Wee, 48, does not dismiss the possibility of redevelopment of the commercial area.

“The village is surrounded by rapid development. Land prices have skyrocketed in the past decade and so have property prices,” he said.

There are about 50 shops in this commercial area at the new village which are said to be easily 80 years old.

Gan, an insurance manager, said a bungalow on a 5,500 sq ft plot of land priced at RM300,000 about 10 years ago, had a market value of RM1.1mil today.

Some of the younger villagers, he said, had bought properties nearby and were now millionaires.

As for those who remain in Kampung Baru Gelang Patah, he said 70% of the 2,000 residents there were aged 60 and above.

“Some of the elderly residents help to take care of their grandchildren.

“But many parents nowadays prefer to send their children to daycare centres which offer learning programmes,” Gan said about the increasingly quiet village.

The father of four proudly notes that his children are fourth-generation Malaysians.

Tan says her father-in-law started a family business making metal containers at one of the pre-war shops in the new village.

Many younger residents have moved to nearby housing estates but their ties with the new village remain intact.

“They somehow continue to look for the village chief when they have complaints such as non-functioning street lights and drainage,” Gan quipped.

Tan Yew Mooi, 70, said her late father-in-law started a family business making metal containers at one of the single-storey shops at the commercial area.

Her husband, who took over the business, also passed away.

These days, they no longer produce these handmade metal containers.

“Metal containers are no longer in use as people prefer plastic ones. Before this, we used to have visitors who would come to watch how the metal containers were made,” she said.

Tan, who has four children and 16 grandchildren, continues to stay in that shop.

“Life here and in Gelang Patah is good,” she said of the place where she spent 50 years of her life after getting married.

Tan said the shop’s monthly rental is RM350 these days but 60 years ago, it was only 10 Malayan dollars.

Knowing redevelopment is inevitable, the family bought a double-storey shoplot some years ago.

Tan said if the new landlord decides to raise the rental for the current shop, she and her family would move to their own property nearby.

Meanwhile, Ah Chuan hopes to continue his eatery business there although he agrees that redevelopment of the area would be good for tourism.

He pointed out that there were already many modern commercial areas in the vicinity.

The new village, which was the pulse of Gelang Patah in the old days, will certainly become more deserted once this commercial area is redeveloped.