- Permas Jaya
Permas Jaya is a housing estate located in
Johor Bahru District , northeast ofJohor Bahru , and is under the administration ofMBJB or Johor Bahru City Council Southeast Zone. It has about 35,000-40,000 residents. ThePermas Jaya Bridge connects it with Bakar Batu, Taman Sentosa and downtownJohor Bahru .Permas Jaya has a 9 hole golf course and residential
condominium s. It also has a sports and recreational complex and ago-kart circuit.Permas Point used to be the main shopping and leisure complex with a cinema and bowling alley but has been closed since 1999. Currently, JayaJusco is the main shopping centre in Permas Jaya. Permas Jaya Management has built a new Permas Mall to attract new businesses. Permas Jaya is a popular choice for middle class professionals and business people (mainly local chinese and Singaporeans) as well as a small number of expatriates to live in because of its strategic location between Johor Bahru and Pasir Gudang shipbuilding yards (traffic congestion on thePasir Gudang Highway is a major and growing problem, mainly due to poor driving skills and slow moving vehicles, overloaded trucks and JCB diggers)within an area with a catchment population of more than 300,000. There is a bit of a night life here as well with a dance club,a couple of bars, the most popular being the Coffee Trap with live entertainment from local and overseas band and not forgeting the juicytrap , there are many chinese style cafes, but these cater mainly for the local chinese community and singaporeans.Little known is the
Vinayagar temple here which sits on hill with a panoramic view of Johor Bahru and Singapore. The shrine is built around a large rock which is shaped like the head of an elephant. The rock was hidden when the area was forested and was discovered by aHindu woman, guided by the premonitions and visions she had of GoddessDurga . The temple draws a large and diverse crowd of devotees, Hindu, Sikh and Chinese during the annualVinayagar Chathurthi festival. AKavadi procession starting from the Senibong beach and aThimithi ritual are the main events during the festival.
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