Drawing by Buz Walker
The name of the street that cuts through downtown Johor Bahru is Wong Ah Fook. This man must be very important to have the main street named after him.
Wong Ah Fook (1837–1918) was a Chinese immigrant, and building contractor who built numerous grand buildings for the state government of Johor. Among others, he built the royal palace and the state penitentiary.
Buz and Taib found out that Wong Ah Fook used to live in a mansion at Jalan Lumba Kuda, Johor Bahru. We visited the mansion. It's now a dilapidated old two storey building. A Chinese couple live on the upper floor and some immigrants live on the floor below. Part of the mansion is used as an automobile workshop. It's unclear who owns the building now.
The mansion has stories to be told. On Sunday morning, June 23, 2013, Taib, Buzz, Hafizal and Tok sketched the building.
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