I am exploring Johor Bharu with sheer passion and constant thrill. Each discovery adds to my babyish joy, just like a cute baby boy who gets excited by things that he may come in contact with, oblivious of possible hazards that he may be exposed to. However, I am saddened with the attitude of some locals here who do not seem to appreciate my enthusiasm. It’s sickening listening to their degrading remarks of their own city.

Cekmi, JB is nothing.
Cekmi, KL is better-lah.
Cekmi, you’ll get bored soon.
Cekmi, are you kidding me?
Cekmi, hahaha.

Hmmm, is JB that bad?

I don’t know whether they are just being humble or they are just stating some plain truths about JB. But their belittling comments about JB are downright irritating and offensive. I am not defending JB because I do not know anything about JB, but can’t they just be a bit more supportive for a newcomer like me? I don’t think JB is as great as New York or Paris, but can’t they just be more appreciative for their own so-called boring city? While I think that, based on my humble discovery for a few weeks here, JB is a vibrant city to work and live, they always insist otherwise.

Well, that’s exactly their problem – they don’t speak highly of their own city which, for God’s sake, is a city on its own, just like KL. They are so unlike some Kelantanese who still speak proudly and fondly of their home state, despite lesser development back in Kelantan compared to a highly-developed KL. And Kota Bharu, despite being declared as Bandaraya Islam, is not even close to a city status, unlike JB which is a highly urbanized city like KL. But I have never heard people calling Kota Bharu a boring place, because Kota Bharu is always special in its own way.

I think what’s lacking among some people in JB is their identity. They don’t possess some concrete items to hold on to, like a common dialect among Kelantanese. Plus, being so close to a much more developed Singapore, I have a wild speculation that some people in Johor are always seeing JB as of lesser importance compared to Singapore. And this makes them more intimidated and belittled.

One more thing, for me, it is not KL-like or Singapore-like development that matters, but how we appreciate things as they are, be it brand-new or worn-out, small or grand, KL or not KL. What happens to some people here could happen to all of us. It is the attitude that grows out of complacency and stagnancy. We could have already been trapped in our own little world and our own comfort zone and our own deadly routines that we are no longer able to see bigger pictures anymore. We are so trapped in one hollow perspective.

I think we all should get out of our little zones in order to see things differently. And that’s precisely what’s happening to me. As I have gotten out of my comfort zone in KL, I am now gaining a whole new perspective of my new life. As a new comer and an avid explorer, I have a nonconforming perspective of JB. I don’t know how long this would last, but I am afraid, after some time, I might be doomed into the minds of typical locals, who are slowly losing some zest and passion of things around them. I hope it will not happen to me very soon.

I remember a scene from the movie Dead Poet Society when an English teacher asked his students to stand on their desks as a reminder to look at the world in a different way. I wish I could always stand higher and higher than a classroom desk so that I will always see a wider world than my views in it.

Having said this, I would prefer not to have a trapped-minded local as a guide for my exploration. They appear lacking some required spirit of a true explorer. I will not be discouraged by their aloof behaviour because I want to continue being inspired by my own little discovery. Of course, I want to experience my new world with my very own eyes of a baby. Baby Cekmi.