By NELSON BENJAMIN AND STEVEN DANIEL
metrose@thestar.com.my
SEGAMAT: This district used to be a “black area” during the communist insurgency due to its vast jungle terrain and close proximity to Pahang and Negeri Sembilan.
According to local folklore, Segamat got its name when a MalayBendahara, who was retreating after the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese, found the water from the river “Segar amat” (very refreshing) when he and his men were quenching their thirst.
Over the years, the town, which was once thriving due to income generated from timber, has slowly changed and now dependent on oil palm and rubber.
Besides being well known for its durians, Segamat made headlines when two major floods in 2006 and 2011, wrecked havoc, causing millions of ringgit in losses.
The Segamat parliamentary is carved out from the state seats of Jementah and Buloh Kasap.
While most of the people here are content with the “slow pace lifestyle” in the area dubbed as a “retirement place”, many are hoping that more job opportunities will be created as youngsters are moving out of the district looking for opportunities in Johor Baru, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
The residents also hope for better roads, cleanliness and beautification projects around the area for clogged drains to be cleaned, functioning street lights, proper flood mitigation projects, a new hospital and more police patrolling to check on crime.
The residents also hope the Government will continue to come up with projects to address the rising cost of living, more education institutions to be set up and for the train service to Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru to be punctual.
For Saharah Alias, 49, life is tough in Segamat as the cost of living has ballooned and the RM300 pension her husband received was not enough for her family.
She said she was forced to travel 20km from her house in Kampung Gelang Cincin to Segamat town to earn RM20 a day as a dishwasher at a stall.
“There are no jobs available in my village and to help supplement the family’s income, my son sends me every evening to this stall to wash dishes,” said the mother of three whose children are aged between 16 and 27.
She said her 62 year old husband retired from Felda seven years ago and has not received any land for his long service while many others who worked in the organisation got land after their retirement.
“I would really appreciate if the Government gives us a small piece of land, it can help us do some farming to feed ourselves and the rest can be sold to supplement our meagre income,” she said, adding that the RM500 Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M) was a good way to help people especially to combat the rising cost of living.
For Risda officer Sharani Mohd Siran, 57, the high cost of living in Segamat forced his wife to open a small stall to help supplement the family’s income.
“We have four children and my wife runs the stall in Buloh Kasap as the cost of putting a child through school is high,” he said, hoping for the drains in the area to be cleaned regularly.
For retired teacher A. Krishnan, 76, Segamat used to be a transit town for those commuting between Johor and Kuala Lumpur before the North South Expressway was opened in the 1980s.
“When the expressway was built, less people passed through our town. And because there are hardly any large industries here, our young people started moving out. Even Japanese electronics companies closed down and moved elsewhere,” he added.
Krishnan however pointed out that Segamat was still famous for its durians due to the fertile soil in the area.
Contract worker Azmi Sam, 43, who moved to Buloh Kasap in the 1980s from Muar is however more upbeat about the development taking place in the area.
“In the past, the roads were all empty. Now traffic has increased while in some stretches we have up to 12 traffic light junctions,” he said, while lamenting about the rising cost of living.
“Maybe the cost of transporting the goods to Segamat which is located about one hour from Tangkak and Yong Peng has pushed the prices of things up,” he added.
He hoped for more police patrols to check on the increasing crime rate especially in housing estates in Taman Bukit Siput and Taman Batu 6.
Businessman Hong Ee Hu, 50, meanwhile, believed that the two major floods in 2006 and 2011 had affected a lot of businesses here.
“In the first flood I lost about RM200,000 worth of goods after my shop was flooded. Some parts of the town was inundated with waters up to 1.5m,” he said, adding that in the second flood, they were more prepared and quickly moved the things upstairs when it started raining continuously.
Hong, whose family was among the pioneers who opened an electrical shop here about 30 years ago, hopes that the Government would get the new Segamat-Tangkak four lane road completed fast as the project has been in the pipeline for many years.
“We also hope that the double railway track project between Johor Baru and Gemas is completed quickly so that it will be easier for the people to travel,” he said, adding that train services was not punctual and had frequently experienced delays of between one and two hours.
Hong stressed that like any small town, the people in Segamat were a close-knit lot, who not only took the time to know each other but also offered to help during emergencies such as during the floods.
First time voter Tan Chong Sui, 30, hopes for more job opportunities in the area and better infrastructure such as street lights and roads around Taman Yayasan.
“I used to work in United Kingdom as a cook earning almost RM5,000. I returned home to take care of my elderly parents and due to the lack of job opportunities, I am working at a car air conditioning service shop,” he said.
Tan hoped the Government would look into the rising cost of living as the salaries being drawn by the locals did not commensurate with the increase in prices of goods and groceries.
“The roads in Segamat are also riddled with potholes or were uneven and needs to be resurfaced properly,” he added.
Bank staff Thomas Samuel, 32, said that the Government needed to build another hospital to replace the Segamat Hospital, which serves patients from a large area, some from as far as Gemas and Rompin, which was 45 minutes to an hour away.
“This hospital is too old and I hope that the Government will look into expanding the maternity ward as I feel that the nurses should be more friendly and improve the service quality when meeting patients,” he said, adding that he had a bad experience when his wife delivered their child at the hospital.
Samuel added that property prices was also high due to limited supply. Many residents had decided to buy houses at higher ground after the flood. Houses that previously cost about RM80,000 was now going for RM170,000.
Segamat is expected to be a hot seat this election with both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat trying to woo the 47,115 voters in the area.
