Our hometown is where our roots lie; that is where our ancestors were born. My roots lie in a small sea-side town in Malaysia called Mersing. It is situated in the south-east of Malaysia, near the South China Sea. It is a small town with a population of about fifty thousand people. It is a peaceful and beautiful town. It is one of the main districts in the state of Johor. The is a truck road connecting Johor Baru, the capital of Johor in the South while in the north is Kuantan, capital of Pahang is of almost equal distance as Johor baru.
The main occupation of the people there is fishing as the sea provides great source of fish. The sea is their livelihood. Fishermen go fishing with their self-built sampan while those who venture in deep sea fishing will take on big vessels or ships into South China Sea. Besides fishing, tourism has also become quite popular. Tourists stop over at Mersing on their way to the islands off Mersing. The most popular island is Pulau Tioman. Sometimes, tourists will linger around this fishing costal town for a meal of delicious fresh seafood.
The population here is made up of Malays, Chinese and Indians. The majority of the people are Malays. There are either fishermen or farmers. The Chinese are mostly shopkeepers and restaurant and hotel owners. The Indians who are the minority are either civil servants or rubber tappers. Everyone in the town is friendly and they live harmoniously. One would be surprised to see that though every ethnic consists of their unique language, belief and culture, they live peacefully under a big roof of Malaysian culture.
The town consists of three streets of shops. There are three schools, a Chinese, a Malay and an English medium schools. There is a hospital and a few private clinics, a cinema hall, library and a big wet market by the sea. There are a number of hotels to accommodate tourists who flock to Mersing to visit the Islands.
The people in my hometown live in peace and