Tanjung Piai tourist attractions

Tanjung Piai needs more public amenities and tourist attractions

Daily catch: Kukup in Tanjung Piai, Johor is known for fishing activities and fresh seafood.

This area attracts tourists from around the world who throng Tanjung Piai National Park to experience the thrill of being at the Southern tip of not just Peninsular Malaysia but Asia.

Tanjung Piai is the only Ramsar wetlands in the state, which has a lot of mangrove and is diverse with marine and migratory birds.

Known for its fishing activities and seafood restaurants located on stilts, Tanjung Piai is located along the coast of south Johor.

The Tanjung Piai constituency, made up of Pekan Nenas and Kukup, is about half an hour drive from Johor Baru via the Skudai-Pontian highway.

Usually at the mention of Pekan Nenas, people will instantly associate the place with pineapples and pineapple plantations.

Enjoying a visit: Tanjung Piai National Park in Johor.

With the many resorts and homestay villages in the constituency, the tourism sector in the area has boomed over the years but locals feel that more can be done not just to develop the sector but also spruce up the area including adding more facilities and amenities.

Traditional Chinese Medicine shop owner Teo Giak Song, 46, from Kukup, said the area lacked other leisure attractions for tourists to enjoy during their stay there.

Teo said on weekends especially, he noticed between 20 and 30 tour buses making stops at the Kukup bus station, which is next to his shop.

“This is a good sign and shows that domestic and international tourists are visiting our area.

“But other than going for boat rides to look at the mangrove forest, fish kelongs and karaoke activities at the resorts, there is hardly much to do for tourists here.

“I believe that the tourism sector can be expanded with the building of more attractions, which will in turn benefit other businesses as well,” he said.

Traditional stores: A shop selling local products and tidbits in Kukup.

Teo, who has been operating in Kukup for four years, suggested attractions that are more focused on health and a person’s wellbeing.

“If rightly done, more tourists are expected to arrive in Tanjung Piai in the coming years as people would want to escape the ‘urban jungle’ and busy city life for a solar solace by the sea,” he added.

But not many people know that the Pekan Nenas was not its original name. The town was initially called Batu 27, according to bakery owner Noorhaza Mardikon, 40, who grew up there.

“It was because many people ventured into pineapple harvesting few decades ago and there were also many pineapple processing plants and production factories for the fruit that the name was then changed to Pekan Nenas,” she said.

However, Noorhaza said these days many pineapple harvesters have switched to oil palm and rubber plantation as these commodity items fetched higher prices.

“We now rarely see pineapple farms along the roads compared to before. It’s a shame because our town used to be unique and true to its name but now Pekan Nenas is slowly losing its identity,” she said.

~News courtesy of The Star~