Johor Bahru Chinese Heritage Museum

About this place

A small museum in an old multi-storey shophouse on Jalan Ibrahim, in the heart of the old town, telling the story of the Chinese community that helped build Johor Bahru from its earliest days, when Johor's rulers invited Chinese planters in the nineteenth century to grow pepper and gambier along its rivers. The permanent exhibition traces the community's history from the late nineteenth century to the present through documents, old photographs, coins, musical instruments and porcelain, showing how the first migrants lived and the trades and traditions they brought with them. The museum closed in mid-2025 for upgrades and reopened at the end of December that year with a new lift and better air conditioning, and all five of its floors are now in use, with a café on the top floor. Entry is six ringgit for adults and three for children, students and seniors; it usually opens from nine to five and closes on Mondays. It stands a few steps from the Old Chinese Temple and café-lined Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, so combine them in one walk through the old town, best in the morning before the heat.