RTS Link workers having lunch at an eatery in Johor Baru.
AN EATERY in downtown Johor Baru is enjoying good business with the presence of foreign construction workers building the Johor Baru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS Link) project.
Worker Mohd Khairul Annuar Yusoh said the Minang restaurant was located a stone’s throw from the project.
“Our place is packed with foreign construction workers during breakfast and lunch,” he said when met at the outlet located along Jalan Wong Ah Fook.
Mohd Khairul expects business to remain good until the multi-billion ringgit project is completed by the end of 2026.
He said the workers’ presence was a blessing for the seven-year-old outlet after its business was badly affected during the movement control order.
Mohd Khairul ready for crowds at a restaurant near the project site.
“Construction workers make up 50% of our customers while other patrons are office workers as well as walk-ins.”
He said the outlet received a good mix of workers from Bangladesh, India and Indonesia as well as Malaysians who were mostly in supervisory positions.
“Each worker spends an average of between RM25 and RM30 for their breakfast and lunch at our place,” added Mohd Khairul.
Conversely, business remains slow for a newly opened restaurant along Jalan Gereja offering south Indian and Bengali dishes.
An employee, Sayed Manawar Sheikh Mokhsin, said the majority of its customers were RTS Link workers from Bangladesh.
“We opened about a month ago. Hopefully business will pick up in the coming months.”
He said that foreign workers had simple tastes when it came to lunch and would spend no more than RM5 on a rice-based dish.
“They go for a generous helping of white rice, lentils and sambar,” said Sayed Manawar.
Johor Baru toddy shop proprietor K. Subramaniam said the traffic congestion and disruption caused by the construction had not stopped patrons from enjoying their toddy, or palm wine.
He said customers would normally come on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
Subramanian said the shop’s location at the junction of Jalan Wong Ah Fook and Jalan Sulaiman made it convenient for those travelling from Singapore.
This is because it is within walking distance from Johor Baru Sentral upon exiting the Malaysian Customs, Immigration and Quarantine complex.
“They are also attracted to my shop because it is probably the last remaining government-licensed toddy outlet in Johor Baru,” he said.
Subramaniam added that the shop had been operating from the single-storey building in downtown Johor Baru since 1920.
He said most of his local and Singaporean customers were regulars who brought along new faces to the place from time to time.
Construction on the Malaysian side of the RTS Link project began on Nov 22, 2020, while work on the Singapore side started on Jan 22, 2021.
The project will connect Bukit Chagar station in Johor Baru to Woodlands North station, Singapore.
