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Kukup is a small
fishing village located about 40 km southwest of
Johor Bahru, in the district of Pontian,
Johor, on the Strait of Malacca in Malaysia. It
is famous for its open-air seafood restaurants built on stilts over the
water. Some of the restaurants are geared for tour groups, and it is
particularly popular with tourists from
Singapore.
Kukup became more prosperous when the famous Singapore Arab Syed Mohamed
bin Ahmed Alsagoff (also known as Nong Chik) obtained the approval of the
Sultan of Johor to develop the southwest coast of Johor. Many government
organisations were set up there, including a harbour and port. Boats and
ships from the north to the south would stop there, loading and unloading
cargo, leaving for Singapore
or Malacca. Shops were opened and many people
came there to settle down. At that point, many people disagreed with the
name Kukub on the grounds that it was not a Malay name, so they changed it
to Kukup.
Due to its rapid development, Kukup became one of the big towns in
Johor. This was due to the coming of Tuan Syed
Mohamed Alsagoff (or Nong Chik), as he was also called), a Singapore Arab
who had sought and obtained approval from Sultan Abu Bakar Johor to
explore and open up agriculture lands in the southwest Coast of
Johor, bordered by Sungai Permas, Sungai
Pontian Kechil, Sungai Pontian Besar, and Sungai Jeram Batu. (Sungai in
Malay means river.)
Kukup was
rapidly developed under Constantinople Estate owned by Tuan Syed Mohamed
Alsagoff. Because of this, the whole place was named "Kukup District".
Kukup District was replaced with "Pontian
District" when the main road linking Pontian and
Johor Bahru was completed in 1900. At that
time all the government organisations in Kukup were shifted to
Pontian. While developing the Kukup area, Tuan
Syed Mohamed Alsagoff even issued his own currency.
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