Tanjung Piai

TANJUNG PIAI, JOHOR

The Southern-Most Tip of Mainland Asia

The State of Johor lies at the southern end of Peninsula Malaysia. Johor in its early days, was known as Ujong Tanah (a Malay term meaning End of the Land). People said that the present name of Johor is reputed to have derived from the Arabic word Jauhar which means precious stone, so the Malay name Johor was coined as it sounded like Jauhar. Some travellers would refer Johor as the ‘southern gateway to Malaysia’.

Johor is also a land of multiple attractions, including recreational forests. Some well known forest parks including the Endau Rompin National Park near Mersing and the Gunung Ledang Park near Segamat. The south-west Pontian district is also blessed with a wide stretch of mangrove swamp along its coast and nearby islands.

Having visited numerous mangrove swamps in Johor coast lines, as early as 10 years old, I keep wanting to see more and continued to be fascinated by the uniqueness of mangrove swamps, its vegetation, birds and other living things found in the mangrove forests. I have visited several open and reserved mangrove forests designated areas in Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia, and even when I was in Florida, USA, many years ago, I visited the Everglades and Key West.

More information on mangrove swamps and locations in Malaysia may be obtained from the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) reports or its website.

The swamp is a home to different set of life forms, besides serves as the landing points to many migratory birds. To conserve them as wetlands sanctuary, most states in the country have ear-marked them for educational and recreational forest parks, including two in Pontian, namely the Tanjung Piai National Park and the Pulau Kukup National Park. Pulau Kukup National Parks is an island of 647ha of mangrove swamps and 800ha of mudflats, which was gazetted as a state park in 1997.

Both parks are easily accessible by road; travel along the coastal road of Pontian-Johor Bahru and the town Pontian Kechil is about 22km to Kampung Tanjung Piai. The Park is another 7km from the Kmpung. A short walk from Tanjung Piai Visitor’s Information Centre, will take you the monument, marking the location of the southern most tip of mainland Asia.

To get to Pulau Kukup Park, use the same route to Tanjung Piai. The jetty to the Park is located at Kukup Laut fishing town, which is 24km from Pontian Kechil town. These 2 parks have at least twenty mangrove species, and nine have been identified in the Tanjung Piai National Park. There are also birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates found there. Shorebirds are easily spotted, especially during the migratory month of April. The common birds found are plover, whimbrel, sandpipers, terek, red shanks. There are also raptors like Brahming Kite and crested serpent eagle being spotted there.

Besides mangrove swamp, Kukup is an exit/entry point to Singapore and Indonesia (there is a Malaysia Immigration office there). Kukup, as a fishing village is also known for its sea foods. My visits to Kukup, as early as in 1970s were mostly family trips for its foods on our way to Singapore. Until today, Kukup is still popular for its sea foods restaurants and seafood-based products. Overnight visitors can choose to either stay at one of many hotels in Pontian, or the Kukup Golf & Resort. My recommendation is the Tanjung Riai Resort, not luxurious but it offers fishing facilities and good food.

Visitors to Tanjung Piai Park will also receive a certificate that says you have reached the southernmost tip of Mainland Asia. A 300m wooden walk path allows visitors to reach out to the sea and enjoy the feeling of reaching a world land mark.

Jaina
(Born in Batu Pahat, Johor)