Access to Pengerang (1): Via Tanjung Pengelih Jetty

For latest information, see updated post by Feb 2010 - Access to Pengerang (3): Via Tanjung Pengelih Jetty

• From Singapore Changi Point Ferry Terminal (the same jetty you used to go to Pulau Ubin).
• Submit your passport to the boatman outside the immigration. They will copy your details in passport and return the passport to you later. The boat will only leave when they get enough of 12 or 13 persons. Each person is S$8 and pay the boatman on the boat.
• Remember who is your boatman and get from him his boat number. All people in the same boat will have to queue up together for immigration clearance.
• The journey is around 1 hr 5 minutes and sometimes the sea can be turbulent.
• When arrive at Tanjung Pengelih Jetty, just go by yourself to the immigration office for immigration clearance.
• You may charter a taxi (RM 16) or share with others (RM 4.50) to go the biggest town, Sungai Rengit. The taxi won't leave without 4 persons.
• The last boat leaves at 4pm. If you don't intend to stay in the town, make sure your taxi leave Sungai Rengit by 3.30pm. The return boat fare is RM10 before 1pm and S$8 after 1pm. (However there are cases that, during public holiday or weekend, due to massive crowd, the boatmen stop taking late comer as early as 3pm. So the boat system is a bit uncontrolled.)
• During your return, submit your passport to the security guard at Tanjung Pengelih. They will pass your passport to the boatman and the boatman will get your passport stamp and return to you on the boat. Before the boat departs, check you passport to make sure that they did stamp it! Inform the boatman immediately if your passport is not stamped. Pay the boat fare on boat.

* Due to the hiking petrol and diesel prices in Malaysia, the boat fare is slightly more expensive now. (As above - updated 10 Apr 06)

* Photo taking near the jetty and custom is now prohibited. So... if you really want to, just avoid to be catched by the security guard. :)

* Updated 1 Sept 06: An anonymous passed this info to me. Might be useful to some of you who are looking for direction or confused.

"Changi Ferry Terminal" is actually another jetty to Desaru.

http://app.ica.gov.sg/about_ica/checkpoints.asp#c9

"Changi Point Ferry Terminal" - This checkpoint serves travellers to and from South Eastern Johor e.g. Pengerang District.

For enquiries, contact: Immigration & Checkpoints Authority, Changi Point Ferry Terminal, 51 Lorong Bekukong, Singapore 499172.

The boats from and to Singapore and Indonesia stop here. The green building is for the immigration and custom. The hill behind of the jetty is the location of Johore Battery, the same structure with Changi Battery (the big gun build by British during World War II to protect Singapore from the invasion of Japanese). While the Singapore Changi Battery is well protected to become a national heritage cum tourist spot, the Johore Battery is left to become a ruin.

A WWII structure left on the hill.

Since the Royal Navy shifted from Woodlands, Singapore to Tanjung Pengelih, there are always news about the government wanted to close down this jetty for security reason of the navy base.

This issue is complex. It involved the rice bowls of the boatmen, taxi drivers and the stall owners who earn their living at the jetty. Many villagers, like me, are working or studying in Singapore and are very much rely on this jetty. Of course we don't want this jetty to close down!

If this jetty does been closed down, then all have to use the ferry terminal in Sebana Golf & Resort, which is 25 minutes away from the main town, Sungai Rengit. The ferry fare is more expensive and so as the taxi fare to access to the resort. Sebana provides their own ferry service, so what will become to the operators of the bumb boat?

* When i went back during Chinese New Year 2006, the boatmen said, the government is not going to close down this jetty already. In fact, some construction works have been carried out to expand the jetty's very narrow road.

Other than Shore (1): The Mazhu Temple

The temple is only a few footsteps away from my home. It used to be a more tiny and decent small temple for the Goddess Mazhu, the protector of the fishermen. When i was still in primary school, the villager renovated it. The sad things when people renovate an old building is, they standardize the design. Chinese architecture is difference in a way that, the dialect group of Teochew, Hokkien, Cantonese, Hainanese... all have their unique difference architecture designs. But nowsaday due to lack of study or lack of people to know in these differences, all renovated temples are follow to the Northen China palace kind of design. Hence the origin of the temple gradually becomes hard to differentiate by the building itself...
At least the roof of the temple not really changed much than the structure i saw when i was young.

The temple is now so prosperous that the committee of the temple built its own building right behind of the tiny temple.

The 'wealth' of this temple is not surprising, consider it is famous among many Singaporean aunties. They either come from Tanjung Pengelih or a lot of time you see them come by chartered tourist buses all the way from Singapore via JB (at least 2.5 hrs).

When i went back home on 11 December 05, it was coincidentally a festive day to thank the Goddess for her protection to the fishermen in the past one year. At the night before, there was a Karaoke singing performance by fellow villagers. This kind of activity has added a little bit of spices to the peaceful and quiet life in the village. Sometimes i would say that, all these activities all more to please the mortal than the immortal.

The temple is near to the river mouth and right in front of the temple is the river.

i think a mud lobster mound managed to survive the 'massacre' of the villagers when they cleared the mangroves and reclaimed the river bank with red soil.

Shore Behind of Yok Poon Primary School (2)

i wonder how many school is blessed with a sea shore as its backyard. When i was studied in Yok Poon, during recess, my two childhood good friends and me liked to sit on the stone chair facing to the sea.

i went back home on 10 December 05. It was an evening and unfortunately very high tide. So i went to the shore in the next morning. The tide was high but the shore is at least accessible. It was raining slightly at that time, so no much creatures were seen. Sea animals don't like fresh water. So i took mostly the pictures of plant.

(The picture is up-side-down. Doesn't it look like a big pineapple plant?)

• This is wild pandan or in Malay mengkuang.
• It has forward thorns and its leaves are used as the wrapper of nyonya dumpling and making map (tikar).

• Sea slater is also call sea cockroach. But, this creature is not an insect. It is a crustacean, which is closely related to crab.

• Each of the Barnacle looks a small mountain. They are not molluscs or shells, in fact crustaceans -- closely related to crab.
• They grow not only on the rock but any surface, including ship and crab. This made them a pest or parasit.
• Ship - they made the ship heavier, hence the ship used more fuel. So the shipping company have to pay extra money to scrape them off from their vessel.
• Crab - the barnacle is so heavy that it constraint the movement of the crab and eventually the crab will have difficulty to hunt for food or even move.

• The leaves of the sea hisbiscus can use to feed cattle.
• The interesting thing is, its flowers open at around 9am and close at around 4pm.
• The leaves is in heart-shape. The underside of the leaves produced nectar to attract ants to staying on the tree. The ants protect the tree from other harmful insect.

• Periwinkle feeding on algae and lichens.
• They are sometimes cooked in soup!

• Avicennia (api-api) is a very common mangrove tree.
• It has pencil roots (pneumetophores) as breathing roots.
• Its flowers in yellow or orange color and its fruits look heart-shape.

• The egg cases of snail.