The Iconic ‘Mee Racun’ of Batu Pahat

The district of Batu Pahat, Johor is known for the iconic Mee Racun 3G restaurant, which is located in Kampung Kenangan Dato Onn, in front of the Pinetree Hotel.

Featured in the Johor state newspaper, Jauhar, it serves delicious dishes with the ‘racun’ (poison) themed name, such as Kuew Tiaw Racun, Nasi Goreng Racun, and of course, the iconic Mee Racun.

Despite its frightening name, each dish is actually not poisonous at all; but the gravy is red and looks ‘poisonous’, thus leading it to the peculiar name, as what had been explained to me by a lady at the restaurant.

I’ve already eaten at the restaurant three times, the food was constantly tasty and the people who work there are also very kind and friendly.

My personal favourite is the ‘Kuew Tiaw Racun’, a spicy and delicious dish that I really enjoy, where every mouthful was a treat in itself with its unique and distinctive flavour ‘explodes’ in my mouth in each spoonful.

One of my favourite parts of eating the dishes here is to sip in the bone marrow using a straw.

So if you ever go to Batu Pahat, you won’t want to miss the chance to eat these marvellous dishes. 

Please click the photos for larger images:

The menu of the restaurant

The iconic ‘Mee Racun’

Using a straw to sip in the bone marrow server with the ‘Nasi Goreng Racun’

The delicious ‘Kuew Tiaw Racun’

Mistakes In Designs Of Vertical Flags Of Johor

The districts of Johor, Malaysia were given their own flags on the 3rd March of 2015, and since then the districts flags are proudly seen waving in their respective districts.

All of the ten district flags come in two versions, horizontal and vertical.

The horizontal flags are the ones that we usually see either hoisted from poles or hung against the walls, fences and others.

(Please click here to learn more about the horizontal flags of the districts if Johor)

The vertical flags are the flags that are usually hoisted from a crossbar, either on lamp posts or on walls.

Below are the vertical flags of the districts of Johor:

 

Batu Pahat

Tangkak

Segamat

Pontian

Muar

Mersing

Kulai

Kota Tinggi

Kluang

Johor Bahru

 

But it is very unfortunate that when it comes to the districts of Johor vertical flags, I saw mistakes in the designs of some of the flags hung around the districts that I had visited.

One of the common mistakes is converting the design of the horizontal flag into a vertical flag by just rotating the horizontal flag and “stretching its background”.

I first realised these mistakes during my visit to Felda Bukit Ramun, and since then, I like to observe vertical district flags whenever I travel around Johor; and I found that there are mistakes in designs of other vertical flags hung in other places too, including in Batu Pahat which I visited a few day ago.

Please click the photos for larger images:

  

The mistakes in the design of the vertical district flags of Muar, Batu Pahat, Kluang, Mersing and Kota Tinggi flags at Felda Bukit Ramun in Kota Tinggi, Johor.

The mistakes in the design of the vertical district flags of Kulai, Johor Bahru, Pontian, Segamat, and Tangkak flags at Felda Bukit Ramun in Kota Tinggi, Johor.

From my observation as I travel around Johor, below are the common mistakes in the designs of the vertical flags of the districts of Johor:

The mistake in the design of the flag of Tangkak

The mistake in the design of the flag of Segamat

The mistake in the design of the flag of Pontian

The mistake in the design of the flag of Muar

The mistake in the design of the flag of Mersing

The mistake in the design of the flag of Kulai

The mistake in the design of the flag of Kota Tinggi

The mistake in the design of the flag of Kluang

The mistake in the design of the flag of Johor Bahru

The mistake in the design of the flag of Batu Pahat

 

Maybe some people are not bothered by these mistakes; and may consider them as little mistakes but for me this is a serious problem because of the importance and the significance of the flags as part of our love, respect and loyalty to the state of Johor.

Apart from that, it also can ruin the meaning and significance in the designs of the district flags.

The best example is the flag of Tangkak, where the blue triangle represents the Mount Ledang; but when the design of the horizontal flag is just rotated to turn it into a vertical flag, the triangle which represents the Mount Ledang is also rotated thus, it doesn’t represent the shape of a mountain anymore.

And that is why in the actual design of the vertical flag of Tangkak, the triangle is cropped at the sides so that the triangle shall remains as a symbol of a mountain.

Please click the photos for larger images:

 

The integral aspects of the designs are the crescent and star, and the core colour which must be placed in the right positions of the flags.

The crescent and star in the district flags represent Islam as the religion of the state of Johor, hence they must be placed at the top of the flag or in the central part of the designs; and not at the lower part of the flags as in some of the “faulty” district flags of Kota Tinggi, Mersing and Muar that I came across.

Another mistake that people made when converting a horizontal district flag to a vertical flag is to place the center point of the orthogonally divided flag exactly in the middle of the flag, which what happens in the flags of Muar and Kulai.

And in the flag of Muar, they made the first and fourth quarters black, second quarter yellow with a red crescent and star, and the third quarter red with a white crescent and star.

The real flag has the first quarter red with a white crescent and star, the second and third quarters black, and the fourth yellow with a red crescent and star.

In the flag of Kulai they also made the first and fourth quarters blue, and the second and third quarters red instead of the first and fourth quarters red, and the second and third quarters blue.

The Flags of the Districts of Johor

The state of Johor has ten districts which are Batu Pahat, Johor Bahru, Kluang, Kota Tinggi, Kulai, Mersing, Muar, Pontian, Segamat and Tangkak.

And on March 3, 2015, all the ten districts were given their own district flags.

Six months later, the district of Kulaijaya and the district of Ledang were renamed as Kulai and Tangkak respectively by the Sultan of Johor, Ibrahim Ismail ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar Al-Haj.

Please click for larger images…

Flag of Batu Pahat district

Flag of Johor Bahru district

Flag of Kluang district

Flag of Kota Tinggi district

Flag of Kulai district

Flag of Mersing district

Flag of Muar district

Flag of Pontian district

Flag of Segamat district

Flag of Tangkak district

All of the district flags of Johor have similar characteristic, which are red, white and blue in colour and with crescents and stars.

There are five bend flags, Kluang, Kota Tinggi, including three per-bend flags which are Batu Pahat, Johor Bahru and Segamat; two orthogonal quartered flag, Kulai and Muar; two triangle flag, Tangkak, including one chevron flag which is Mersing; and one horizontal bicolour flag which is Pontian (charged with a white crescent and star).

The stars’ rotation angles are the same in all flags except for the per-bend divided ones, since the stars are aligned to the bend of the flag.

The designs of the flags symbolises the special characteristic of the districts, for instance in the case of Kota Tinggi’s flag, the colour white at the center field represents the Johor River where the old Sultanate of Johor was established on 1528.

In the case of the district of Mersing flag, the upper field of the flag symbolizes the South China Sea while in the district of Tangkak flag, the blue triangle represents the Mount Ledang which used to be the name of the district before August 2015.

Related posts:

•~    Municipal flags in Terengganu (Malaysia)
•~    Johor (1): Tanjung Piai Resort
•~    Johor (2): Photos – Taman Negara Tanjung Piai (Tanjung Piai National Park)
•~    Johor (3): Muar