WHAT’S THE FIRST thing that comes to mind when you think of Batu Kawan? For me, it’s those juicy IKEA meatballs! Maybe a quick stop at Design Village too. But honestly, what’s a trip to Batu Kawan without hitting both? And with the two establishments merely a block away from each other, I wish there was a pedestrian walkway or bridge connecting the two, so I wouldn’t have to drive from one to the other. Imagine this: while shopping, I suddenly get a craving for meatballs. Instead of walking over, I have to get back in the car, drive there, look for and pay for yet another parking space. It makes me wonder—was Batu Kawan ever meant to be explored on foot?
It is a planned development, after all. My first impression of the suburb was that everything feels like it was there by design—residential zones on one side, industrial buildings on the other, and a sprinkle of cafés, parks and shops in between. It looks neat on paper, but if you actually tried to walk around—which I did, by the way, for this article—you will quickly realise that it is not a town curated and designed for walking.
