Kangchu
Encyclopedia
The Kangchu system was a socio-economic system of organization and administration developed by Chinese agricultural settlers in Johor
during the 19th century. The settlers organized themselves into informal associations (similar to the Kongsi
organizations found in other Chinese communities), and chose a leader from among themselves. In Chinese, "Kangchu" (Chinese
: 港主, Pinyin: Gáng Zhǔ, Teochew: Kaang6 Zhu8) literally means ‘lord of the river’, and was the title given to the Chinese headmen of these river settlements. The "Kangchu" leaders are also called "Kapitan".
The term "Kangchu" became widely used during the 19th century, as Chinese immigrants began to settle in and around Johor state and set up gambier
and pepper
plantations. The social and economic welfare of the early Chinese settlers came under the charge of local Chinese
leaders, who were responsible for running these agricultural plantations, which were situated along the river banks.
The Kangchu system traces its origins from the 18th century when Chinese coolies settled in Penang
and Riau and set up gambier and pepper plantations there. The sovereign rulers of Johor, Temenggong Ibrahim and his successor, Sultan
Abu Bakar, took up the Kangchu system during the first half of the 19th century to provide a more organised form of administration as Chinese immigrants began to settle in the state in great numbers and developed the state's agricultural economy. Variants of the Kangchu system also thrived in other parts of the Malay Archipelago
, where gambier and pepper were extensively cultivated and where there were significant Chinese populations. The Kangchu and coolies who worked in the gambier and pepper plantations were mainly of Teochew
origin, and were generally first- or second-generation Chinese immigrants. In 1917, the British colonial government in Johor implemented an act which abolished the Kangchu system in the state, and the value for gambier declined during the early 20th century.
experimented in cash crop
plantations with various types of crops, including pepper, gambier, betelnut and clove
. The plantations were later abandoned by the late 18th-century, as Penang experienced wars from Buginese
seafarers that resulted in many gambier plantations being destroyed; contributing to the decline in plantations was the growing popularity of the spice trade
that reaped much greater profits. At the beginning of the 19th century, these Chinese settlers began to look south to Malacca
and Singapore
, where gambier and pepper plantations had also been established.
In the late 1820s, Chinese settlers from Singapore also began to look towards Johor
for gambier and pepper cultivation at the encouragement of Temenggong Abdul Rahman and his successor, Daing Ibrahim. As more Chinese settlers established gambier and pepper plantations in Johor during the 1840s, Temenggong Ibrahim formed a bureaucracy made up of Malay officials to oversee administrative affairs upon the Kangchu. He began issuing official permits, known as Surat Sungai (transliterated as "river documents") in Malay
, to the Kangchu (leaders of the settlers) which permitted them to establish these plantations along the river banks. In turn, the Kangchu were required to pay tax
es from the profits generated by the gambier and pepper farms and the Surat Sungai, which had to be renewed after a specified period of time.
, Plentong
and Stulang
were cleared for the cultivation of gambier and pepper. By the time Temenggong Ibrahim's son, Abu Bakar took office from his father in 1862, at least 37 Surat Sungai have been issued to various Kangchu, all of whom were collectively responsible for the operations of the 1,200 gambier and pepper farms in the state. Most of these Chinese leaders were also members of secret societies, and communal warfare often broke out in Singapore between different dialect groups as a result of conflicting economic interests. From the late 1850s onwards, the Kangchu began to exert political influence in the state affairs by establishing close ties with Temenggong Abu Bakar. In 1865, Abu Bakar granted official recognition to the Teochew
-dominated Johor branch of the Ngee Heng Kongsi
after a Kangchu, Tan Kee Soon, raised a small army to subdue Sultan Ali's
forces, from whom Abu Bakar was facing considerable dissent but was unable to raise an organised army. Abu Bakar nevertheless called for the Ngee Heng Kongsi to accept Chinese settlers of other dialect groups to prevent possible communal warfare as a result of conflicting economic interests.
The crop produce from these plantations were generally exported to other countries from Singapore
with the assistance of Chinese merchants based in that city. From the 1860s onwards, many of these Kangchu chalked up debts and began to sell their property rights to these merchants or to larger business magnates (Kongsi in Teochew) based in Singapore, who were known to the locals as Tuan Sungai (literally Masters of the River). The Kangchu then were often hired as supervisors or managers by the merchants to keep watch on the day-to-day operations of the gambier and pepper plantations. Temenggong Abu Bakar began to issue contract-style letters of recognition to these Kangchu; the letters were known by their Malay name Surat Tauliah.
As the gambier and pepper plantations expanded in the 1870s, the more established Kangchu were entrusted with larger blocks of farms and made contracts with Chinese merchants from Singapore. The profits generated from harvests of these plantations formed the bulk of Johor's economy, and financed the development of Johor's infrastructure. Abu Bakar's relationship with the Chinese leaders was excellent, and he appointed many of them to political positions in the state. Of particular note, Abu Bakar appointed two Chinese leaders to the Johor State Council: a Kangchu from Chaozhou
, Tan Hiok Nee, and a contractor from Taishan
, Wong Ah Fook, who also owned gambier and pepper farms in Mersing
in the 1880s. As the land along the river banks in Southern Johor was already taken by the earlier waves of Chinese settlers, newer Chinese settlers began migrating northwards in the 1870s and established new gambier and pepper plantations further north; new plantations were established in Yong Peng
, Batu Pahat
, Benut
, Endau
and Kota Tinggi
. In particular, Abu Bakar actively encouraged Chinese settlers to establish plantations in Muar
, shortly after the British Colonial Government ruled in favour of Abu Bakar over Tengku Alam Shah (Sultan Ali's eldest son) and his family, and granted Abu Bakar control of Muar.
in 1881, crops such as tapioca
, tea
, pineapple
and rubber
were introduced into the state. Coffee and tapioca was quickly abandoned in the 1890s when the value of these crops experienced a drop, while rubber was introduced and quickly established a strong foothold in Johor, as the world demand for rubber increased
greatly around 1910. Prices for gambier plunged between 1905 and 1906, and many Kangchu abandoned gambier in favour of rubber. Further decline in the number of gambier and pepper plantations was fuelled by the colonial government's suppression of traditional farming methods employed by the Kangchu for planting gambier and pepper; these method led to soil exhaustion and a depletion of forests which was used as firewood in small factories. A few years before the Kangchu system was abolished, exports for both gambier and pepper plunged by a further 60% between 1912 and 1917.
The British had long frowned upon the Kangchu because of their links with secret societies in Singapore as well as their indulgence in social vices such as gambling
and opium
smoking, activities which the British had been actively suppressing in Singapore and the Federated Malay States. As early as 1890, the Governor of the Straits Settlements, Cecil Clementi Smith
had lobbied Abu Bakar to adopt the Societies Ordinance and ban the Ngee Heng Kongsi, but was promptly turned down. Shortly after the British appointed an adviser to Johor, the British began attributing the high crime rates in the state to Chinese settlers loyal to the Kangchu. In 1915, the Johor state government, now effectively under the control of the British Colonial Government, passed the Societies Enactment which prompted the dissolution of the Ngee Heng Kongsi the following year. The Kangchu system was officially abolished December 1917 in an enactment passed by the Johor state government, which was by then effectively administered by the British colonial government.
) conferred upon the Kangchu with a large degree of administrative autonomy within the plot of land which each was granted. These included the right to collect taxes on behalf for the Temenggong, as well as for the welfare needs among the Chinese coolie
s living within the plot of land. The Kangchu generally granted tax exemption for the basic consumption by workers within the settlement. Some coolies took on new jobs such as shopkeepers and traders to serve the needs of other coolies within the settlement, and the Kangchu granted tax exemptions to these shopkeepers and traders on the sale of pork
, opium
and alcohol
as well. The Kangchu reserved a portion of the land for the construction of a settlement for the coolies, from which small towns were formed and became the administrative centre of the Kangchu. These administrative centres were generally established within the coolie settlements located at the foot of the river, and were known as Kangkar (literally "Foot of the river", Chinese
: 港脚, Pinyin: Gáng Jiǎo, Teochew: Kaang6 Caar8).
The Kangchu acted as the middleman in the bulk purchase of the settlement's commodities through suppliers based in Singapore. In particular, opium was highly popular among the coolies, although frowned upon by the British who took strong measures to suppress its distribution. The Kangchu formed illegal opium syndicates which had links to Chinese leaders from Singapore and other Malay states in the north, particularly Selangor
. British contempt for the Kangchu was also fuelled by the coolies' preference for gambling and prostitution, both of which were seen as social vices by the British colonial government. The Kangchu maintained friendly relations with the Temenggong (later Sultan), and worked closely with the Ngee Heng Kongsi in administrative matters. In particular, the state government attempted to forge close relations with the Kangchu by the appointment of a Malay official who was conversant in Teochew and literate in Chinese character
s, Mohamed Salleh bin Perang, as the liaison officer between the Temenggong and the Kangchu. Several years later, in the early 1870s, the state government worked closely with the Ngee Heng Kongsi to draft the Kanun Kangchu which had legal clauses that defined the powers of the Kangchu in Johor. The Kanun Kangchu contained 81 clauses in total, and was implemented in 1873.
by Sir Stamford Raffles
in 1819. The native Malays
joined the Chinese in growing gambier, although they cultivated it for subsistence rather than for commercial purposes. The number of gambier and pepper farms expanded greatly between 1819 and 1840, fuelled by the increasing demand for gambier by Chinese traders from China as well as pepper by European traders. As land nearer to the town in the south was quickly used up in the 1820s, the Kangchu began to establish farms near the northern parts of Singapore, particularly stretches of land across the Straits of Johor
from Jurong
, to the west of Punggol
in the northeast. By 1851, there were about 800 gambier and pepper farms which covered 75% of Singapore's land surface, of which 24220 acres (98 km²) was dedicated to gambier while 2,614 was dedicated to pepper.
In the 1850s and 1860s, many Kangchu abandoned their plantations in Singapore as gambier produce declined due to over farming of the soil, and began to establish new gambier and pepper plantations in neighbouring Johor. Nevertheless, many of these Kangchu settled down as merchants in Singapore and managed the gambier and pepper farms by proxy, mainly through the liaison body of the Ngee Heng Kongsi which had members in Singapore and Johor. Some of these merchants purchased the property rights of gambier and pepper farms from the Kangchu in Johor, who would then assume managerial tasks to ensure the smooth operation of the plantation and the settlement.
Unlike its counterpart in Johor, the Ngee Heng Kongsi (also called "Ghi Hin Kongsi" in Hokkien
) was recognised as an illegal society in Singapore and its activities were actively suppressed by the colonial government. Factionalism appeared within the Ngee Heng Kongsi in Singapore by the 1850s, as business leaders from various dialect groups were unable to agree upon key issues. In particular, relations between the Teochews and Hokkiens were hostile, partly because some Hokkien merchants competed with the Teochew merchants in the gambier and pepper trade, most of whom had established their bases in the Boat Quay
area along the Singapore River
.
The existence of the Kangchu was not recognised by the British colonial government, even though they exercised a similar degree of autonomy as their counterparts in Johor. Nevertheless, the Kangchu in Singapore had easy access to forested land in Singapore compared to their counterparts in Johor, as the British colonial government adopted a laissez-faire
attitude to the Kangchu and imposed very little regulation on their agricultural activities. However, the British were wary of the fact that many Kangchu in Singapore were members of the Ngee Heng Kongsi, which was illegal in Singapore and enjoyed monopoly rights over the regional opium trade. The British appointed a Chinese official among the Kangchu to oversee the social and economic affairs of the gambier and pepper plantations in Singapore and to act as the intermediary.
warrior and second Yamtuan Muda of Riau, Daing Chelak, brought Chinese coolies from Malaya to Riau for the purpose of gambier cultivation, which was then widely used for medication among the locals. Another exodus of Chinese migrated to Riau in 1740 following unrest which erupted in Batavia
, during which many Chinese were massacred. Chinese settlement in Riau continued into the 18th century, the majority of them coming from the Chaoshan
area in Guangdong
province, along with a sizeable minority from the southern parts of Fujian province.
Gambier and pepper farming were mainly confined to the Bintan
(formerly spelled as Bentan) and Galang Islands. Similar to the Kangchu system in Johor, gambier and pepper plantations were established on grants of land by the Yamtuan Muda of Riau, who would issue land permits (Surat Sungai) to the Kangchu who would direct the operations of the plantation and workers within the settlement. In the early and middle 19th century, many Chinese settlers and merchants from Riau relocated their businesses to Singapore, and established trading links between Riau and Singapore. These settlers and merchants still maintained trading links with Riau, as the Kangchu from Riau often shipped their produce to Singapore for free trade
to evade taxes imposed by the Dutch
colonial government. Like Singapore, competition for the gambier and pepper trade between the Teochews and Hokkiens in Riau led to communal tensions and sporadic violence in Riau during the 1840s and 1850s. In the early 20th century, the Chinese abandoned gambier and pepper plantations in favour of other agricultural practices, as the worldwide prices for gambier experienced a drastic drop in value and many pepper plants fell prey to a disease plaguing the archipelago.
in significant numbers from the 18th century onwards and were engaged in the metal mining industry, mainly for gold
and bauxite
. As the supply of gold became exhausted from the 1820s onwards, the Chinese miners gradually turned to trade and agriculture. The Chinese of Teochew and Hakka heritage established gambier and pepper plantations in the 1870s and 1880s, and the White Rajah of Sarawak
began to organise an administrative system for these plantations similar to the Kangchu system in Johor. The Kangchu of each plantation was appointed by the Charles Brooke, the then-White Rajah. Each Kangchu was given responsibilities to oversee the operations of the plantations under his jurisdiction and the welfare of the coolies living there. In 1875, the British promulgated a set of laws which defined the roles and responsibilities of the Kangchu; they were modelled very closely to the Kanun Kangchu that was introduced by Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor in 1873.
Charles Brooke encouraged the immigration of the Chinese coolies, beginning in the 1860s, to expand the state's gambier and pepper industry. Chinese settlers in neighbouring Sabah
and Pontianak
also established gambier and pepper plantations, although they existed as independent fiefdoms. These plantations rose to become one of the state's major industries as worldwide prices for gambier went up during 1880s and 1890s. In the 20th century, as worldwide gambier prices took a dive, the Kangchu channelled their efforts into pepper and opium cultivation in the state. Sarawak's Kangchu system fell into obscurity in the 1920s, as the opium trade with Hong Kong
steadily declined during the course of the decade.
in the state, although many Chinese coolies relocated to Singapore or other parts of Malaya as the gambier and pepper industry declined in the 20th century. Several towns and other places in Johor and Singapore, built upon sites of former gambier and pepper plantations, are named after former features of the Kangchu system, and are largely populated by ethnic Chinese.
The Teochew dialect became the lingua franca
among the Chinese in many parts of Johor and Riau, as the majority of the Chinese from these areas were of Teochew
origin, many of whom were descended from the Chinese coolies who had worked in the gambier and pepper plantations. The Teochews form the second-largest dialect group among Chinese Singaporeans, and many families can trace their family ancestry to immigrants who were Kangchu or coolies in these plantations.
Johor
Johor is a Malaysian state, located in the southern portion of Peninsular Malaysia. It is one of the most developed states in Malaysia. The state capital city and royal city of Johor is Johor Bahru, formerly known as Tanjung Puteri...
during the 19th century. The settlers organized themselves into informal associations (similar to the Kongsi
Kongsi
Kongsi or "clan halls", are benevolent organizations of popular origin found among overseas Chinese communities for individuals with the same surname. This type of social practice arose, it is held, several centuries ago in China...
organizations found in other Chinese communities), and chose a leader from among themselves. In Chinese, "Kangchu" (Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: 港主, Pinyin: Gáng Zhǔ, Teochew: Kaang6 Zhu8) literally means ‘lord of the river’, and was the title given to the Chinese headmen of these river settlements. The "Kangchu" leaders are also called "Kapitan".
The term "Kangchu" became widely used during the 19th century, as Chinese immigrants began to settle in and around Johor state and set up gambier
Uncaria
Uncaria is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It has about 40 species. Their distribution is pantropical, with most species native to tropical Asia, three from Africa and the Mediterranean and two from the neotropics. They are known colloquially as Gambier, Cat's Claw or Uña de...
and pepper
Black pepper
Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...
plantations. The social and economic welfare of the early Chinese settlers came under the charge of local Chinese
Malaysian Chinese
Malaysian Chinese is a Malaysian of Chinese origin. Most are descendants of Chinese who arrived between the fifteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries. Within Malaysia, they are usually simply referred to as "Chinese" in all languages. The term Chinese Malaysian is also sometimes used to refer to...
leaders, who were responsible for running these agricultural plantations, which were situated along the river banks.
The Kangchu system traces its origins from the 18th century when Chinese coolies settled in Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
and Riau and set up gambier and pepper plantations there. The sovereign rulers of Johor, Temenggong Ibrahim and his successor, Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
Abu Bakar, took up the Kangchu system during the first half of the 19th century to provide a more organised form of administration as Chinese immigrants began to settle in the state in great numbers and developed the state's agricultural economy. Variants of the Kangchu system also thrived in other parts of the Malay Archipelago
Malay Archipelago
The Malay Archipelago refers to the archipelago between mainland Southeastern Asia and Australia. The name was derived from the anachronistic concept of a Malay race....
, where gambier and pepper were extensively cultivated and where there were significant Chinese populations. The Kangchu and coolies who worked in the gambier and pepper plantations were mainly of Teochew
Teochew people
The Chaozhou people are Han people, native to the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong province of China who speak the Teochew dialect. Today, most Teochew people live outside China in Southeast Asia especially in Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. They can also be found almost anywhere in the...
origin, and were generally first- or second-generation Chinese immigrants. In 1917, the British colonial government in Johor implemented an act which abolished the Kangchu system in the state, and the value for gambier declined during the early 20th century.
Early years
The origins of the Kangchu system dates back to the mid-18th century, when early Chinese settlers in PenangPenang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
experimented in cash crop
Cash crop
In agriculture, a cash crop is a crop which is grown for profit.The term is used to differentiate from subsistence crops, which are those fed to the producer's own livestock or grown as food for the producer's family...
plantations with various types of crops, including pepper, gambier, betelnut and clove
Clove
Cloves are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae. Cloves are native to the Maluku islands in Indonesia and used as a spice in cuisines all over the world...
. The plantations were later abandoned by the late 18th-century, as Penang experienced wars from Buginese
Bugis
The Bugis are the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi, the southwestern province of Sulawesi, Indonesia's third largest island. Although many Bugis live in the large port cities of Makassar and Parepare, the majority are farmers who grow wet rice on the...
seafarers that resulted in many gambier plantations being destroyed; contributing to the decline in plantations was the growing popularity of the spice trade
Spice trade
Civilizations of Asia were involved in spice trade from the ancient times, and the Greco-Roman world soon followed by trading along the Incense route and the Roman-India routes...
that reaped much greater profits. At the beginning of the 19th century, these Chinese settlers began to look south to Malacca
Malacca
Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...
and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, where gambier and pepper plantations had also been established.
In the late 1820s, Chinese settlers from Singapore also began to look towards Johor
Johor
Johor is a Malaysian state, located in the southern portion of Peninsular Malaysia. It is one of the most developed states in Malaysia. The state capital city and royal city of Johor is Johor Bahru, formerly known as Tanjung Puteri...
for gambier and pepper cultivation at the encouragement of Temenggong Abdul Rahman and his successor, Daing Ibrahim. As more Chinese settlers established gambier and pepper plantations in Johor during the 1840s, Temenggong Ibrahim formed a bureaucracy made up of Malay officials to oversee administrative affairs upon the Kangchu. He began issuing official permits, known as Surat Sungai (transliterated as "river documents") in Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
, to the Kangchu (leaders of the settlers) which permitted them to establish these plantations along the river banks. In turn, the Kangchu were required to pay tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
es from the profits generated by the gambier and pepper farms and the Surat Sungai, which had to be renewed after a specified period of time.
Mid to late-19th century
The first gambier and pepper plantations appeared in Southern Johor, notably Skudai. Lau Lib Keng, a Chinese settler based in Skudai, was the first person to receive a Surat Sungai, whereby the river banks of Skudai were leased to Lau for the cultivation of gambier and pepper. More Chinese settlers came to Johor from the 1850s onwards, and forested areas in Southern Johor such as TebrauTebrau
Tebrau or Teberau is a largest mukim in Johor Bahru District, Johor, Malaysia.-Townships:*Bandar Dato' Onn*Adda Heights*Taman Delima*Taman Daya*Setia Indah*Taman Mount Austin*Desa Tebrau*Taman Istimewa*Taman Bukit Mutiara...
, Plentong
Plentong
Plentong began as a Kangchu settlemement known as Tey Chu Kang in 1859 and then an old Chinese new village that is now a busy town in Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. Many hypermarkets are found here like Giant and Tesco, along with several major boutiques and showrooms such as Beethoven ,Toyota ,...
and Stulang
Stulang
Stulang is suburb in Johor Bahru city area, Johor, Malaysia.It is located about 5 km from Johor Bahru Town Centre. It is divided by two main roads: Jalan Stulang Darat and Jalan Stulang Laut. Previously it was a small fishing village facing toward Johor Straits...
were cleared for the cultivation of gambier and pepper. By the time Temenggong Ibrahim's son, Abu Bakar took office from his father in 1862, at least 37 Surat Sungai have been issued to various Kangchu, all of whom were collectively responsible for the operations of the 1,200 gambier and pepper farms in the state. Most of these Chinese leaders were also members of secret societies, and communal warfare often broke out in Singapore between different dialect groups as a result of conflicting economic interests. From the late 1850s onwards, the Kangchu began to exert political influence in the state affairs by establishing close ties with Temenggong Abu Bakar. In 1865, Abu Bakar granted official recognition to the Teochew
Teochew people
The Chaozhou people are Han people, native to the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong province of China who speak the Teochew dialect. Today, most Teochew people live outside China in Southeast Asia especially in Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. They can also be found almost anywhere in the...
-dominated Johor branch of the Ngee Heng Kongsi
Ghee Hin Kongsi
The Ghee Hin Kongsi is a secret society in Singapore and Malaya, formed in 1820. Ghee Hin literally means "the rise of righteousness" in Chinese. The Ghee Hin often fought against the Hakka-dominated Hai San secret society....
after a Kangchu, Tan Kee Soon, raised a small army to subdue Sultan Ali's
Sultan Ali of Johor
Sultan Ali Iskandar Shah ibni Hussein Muazzam Shah was the 19th Sultan of Johor, who succeeded his father, Sultan Hussein after the latter died of natural cause in 1835. Over the next twenty years, Sultan Ali's claims to the office of Sultan of Johor were only recognised by some merchants and a...
forces, from whom Abu Bakar was facing considerable dissent but was unable to raise an organised army. Abu Bakar nevertheless called for the Ngee Heng Kongsi to accept Chinese settlers of other dialect groups to prevent possible communal warfare as a result of conflicting economic interests.
The crop produce from these plantations were generally exported to other countries from Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
with the assistance of Chinese merchants based in that city. From the 1860s onwards, many of these Kangchu chalked up debts and began to sell their property rights to these merchants or to larger business magnates (Kongsi in Teochew) based in Singapore, who were known to the locals as Tuan Sungai (literally Masters of the River). The Kangchu then were often hired as supervisors or managers by the merchants to keep watch on the day-to-day operations of the gambier and pepper plantations. Temenggong Abu Bakar began to issue contract-style letters of recognition to these Kangchu; the letters were known by their Malay name Surat Tauliah.
As the gambier and pepper plantations expanded in the 1870s, the more established Kangchu were entrusted with larger blocks of farms and made contracts with Chinese merchants from Singapore. The profits generated from harvests of these plantations formed the bulk of Johor's economy, and financed the development of Johor's infrastructure. Abu Bakar's relationship with the Chinese leaders was excellent, and he appointed many of them to political positions in the state. Of particular note, Abu Bakar appointed two Chinese leaders to the Johor State Council: a Kangchu from Chaozhou
Chaozhou
Chaozhou is a city in eastern Guangdong province of the People's Republic of China. It borders Shantou to the south, Jieyang to the southwest, Meizhou to the northwest, the province of Fujian to the east, and the South China Sea to the southeast...
, Tan Hiok Nee, and a contractor from Taishan
Taishan
Taishan is a coastal county-level city in Guangdong Province, China. The city is part of the Greater Taishan Region....
, Wong Ah Fook, who also owned gambier and pepper farms in Mersing
Mersing
Mersing is a town in Mersing District in the northeast corner of the state of Johor, Malaysia.Mersing town is a lively tourist town visited by Malaysians and foreign tourists....
in the 1880s. As the land along the river banks in Southern Johor was already taken by the earlier waves of Chinese settlers, newer Chinese settlers began migrating northwards in the 1870s and established new gambier and pepper plantations further north; new plantations were established in Yong Peng
Yong Peng
Yong Peng is a regional town in Malaysia in the state of Johor. It has an area of 1911.6 hectares with an estimated population of 29,046. Yong Peng has two main interchanges on North-South Expressway including north to Kuala Lumpur and south to Johor Bahru....
, Batu Pahat
Batu Pahat
Batu Pahat is a district in the state of Johor, Malaysia. It lies south-east of Muar, south-west of Kluang, north-west of Pontian, and south of Segamat and the new Ledang district. The capital of the district is Bandar Penggaram, Batu Pahat....
, Benut
Benut
Benut is a town in Pontian, Johor, Malaysia. The island of Pulau Pisang is located in Benut. The word benut originated from a tree called "asam bunut". It is the birthplace of famous Irish libertine Andrew Meagher....
, Endau
Endau
Endau is a small town in Malaysia. It lies on the northern tip of east Johor and the southern tip of Pahang. It is famous as one of the largest fishing ports on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia.Located north of Mersing...
and Kota Tinggi
Kota Tinggi
Kota Tinggi is a town in the state of Johor of Malaysia, located around 42 kilometers north-east of Johor Bahru, on the road to Mersing. Hometown of Azizul Hanipah. Kota Tinggi can also be reached by ferry from Changi terminal in Singapore where tourists need to pass through the immigration check...
. In particular, Abu Bakar actively encouraged Chinese settlers to establish plantations in Muar
Muar (district)
Muar District is a district in the state of Johor, Malaysia. The name "Muar" is also used for the name of its district, which formerly sub-divided between the Town of Muar and the sub-district of Tangkak. Tangkak sub-district has been upgraded into a full district known as Ledang District in year...
, shortly after the British Colonial Government ruled in favour of Abu Bakar over Tengku Alam Shah (Sultan Ali's eldest son) and his family, and granted Abu Bakar control of Muar.
Decline
At the end of the 19th century, Johor's economy began to diversify from gambier and pepper plantations to other agricultural crops. Starting with coffeeCoffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
in 1881, crops such as tapioca
Tapioca
Tapioca is a starch extracted Manihot esculenta. This species, native to the Amazon, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and most of the West Indies, is now cultivated worldwide and has many names, including cassava, manioc, aipim,...
, tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
, pineapple
Pineapple
Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...
and rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
were introduced into the state. Coffee and tapioca was quickly abandoned in the 1890s when the value of these crops experienced a drop, while rubber was introduced and quickly established a strong foothold in Johor, as the world demand for rubber increased
Rubber boom
The rubber boom was an important part of the economic and social history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related with the extraction and commercialization of rubber...
greatly around 1910. Prices for gambier plunged between 1905 and 1906, and many Kangchu abandoned gambier in favour of rubber. Further decline in the number of gambier and pepper plantations was fuelled by the colonial government's suppression of traditional farming methods employed by the Kangchu for planting gambier and pepper; these method led to soil exhaustion and a depletion of forests which was used as firewood in small factories. A few years before the Kangchu system was abolished, exports for both gambier and pepper plunged by a further 60% between 1912 and 1917.
The British had long frowned upon the Kangchu because of their links with secret societies in Singapore as well as their indulgence in social vices such as gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
and opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
smoking, activities which the British had been actively suppressing in Singapore and the Federated Malay States. As early as 1890, the Governor of the Straits Settlements, Cecil Clementi Smith
Cecil Clementi Smith
Rt Hon Sir Cecil Clementi Smith G.C.M.G. , was a British colonial administrator. He was known for his effective work in quelling Chinese secret societies in the Straits Settlements, such as those in Singapore...
had lobbied Abu Bakar to adopt the Societies Ordinance and ban the Ngee Heng Kongsi, but was promptly turned down. Shortly after the British appointed an adviser to Johor, the British began attributing the high crime rates in the state to Chinese settlers loyal to the Kangchu. In 1915, the Johor state government, now effectively under the control of the British Colonial Government, passed the Societies Enactment which prompted the dissolution of the Ngee Heng Kongsi the following year. The Kangchu system was officially abolished December 1917 in an enactment passed by the Johor state government, which was by then effectively administered by the British colonial government.
Role of the Kangchu
The Temenggong of Johor (later Sultan of JohorSultan of Johor
Sultan of Johor is a hereditary seat and the nominal ruler of the Malaysian state of Johor. In the past, the sultan held absolute power over the state and was advised by a bendahara...
) conferred upon the Kangchu with a large degree of administrative autonomy within the plot of land which each was granted. These included the right to collect taxes on behalf for the Temenggong, as well as for the welfare needs among the Chinese coolie
Coolie
Historically, a coolie was a manual labourer or slave from Asia, particularly China, India, and the Phillipines during the 19th century and early 20th century...
s living within the plot of land. The Kangchu generally granted tax exemption for the basic consumption by workers within the settlement. Some coolies took on new jobs such as shopkeepers and traders to serve the needs of other coolies within the settlement, and the Kangchu granted tax exemptions to these shopkeepers and traders on the sale of pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
, opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
and alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
as well. The Kangchu reserved a portion of the land for the construction of a settlement for the coolies, from which small towns were formed and became the administrative centre of the Kangchu. These administrative centres were generally established within the coolie settlements located at the foot of the river, and were known as Kangkar (literally "Foot of the river", Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: 港脚, Pinyin: Gáng Jiǎo, Teochew: Kaang6 Caar8).
The Kangchu acted as the middleman in the bulk purchase of the settlement's commodities through suppliers based in Singapore. In particular, opium was highly popular among the coolies, although frowned upon by the British who took strong measures to suppress its distribution. The Kangchu formed illegal opium syndicates which had links to Chinese leaders from Singapore and other Malay states in the north, particularly Selangor
Selangor
Selangor also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity") is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sembilan to the south and the Strait of Malacca to the west...
. British contempt for the Kangchu was also fuelled by the coolies' preference for gambling and prostitution, both of which were seen as social vices by the British colonial government. The Kangchu maintained friendly relations with the Temenggong (later Sultan), and worked closely with the Ngee Heng Kongsi in administrative matters. In particular, the state government attempted to forge close relations with the Kangchu by the appointment of a Malay official who was conversant in Teochew and literate in Chinese character
Chinese character
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...
s, Mohamed Salleh bin Perang, as the liaison officer between the Temenggong and the Kangchu. Several years later, in the early 1870s, the state government worked closely with the Ngee Heng Kongsi to draft the Kanun Kangchu which had legal clauses that defined the powers of the Kangchu in Johor. The Kanun Kangchu contained 81 clauses in total, and was implemented in 1873.
Singapore
Chinese settlers began migrating from the Riau Islands to Singapore in the 19th century shortly before the founding of SingaporeFounding of modern Singapore
The founding of modern Singapore in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles paved the way for Singapore to become a modern port and established its status as a gateway between the Western and Eastern markets....
by Sir Stamford Raffles
Stamford Raffles
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, FRS was a British statesman, best known for his founding of the city of Singapore . He is often described as the "Father of Singapore"...
in 1819. The native Malays
Malays in Singapore
Malays in Singapore are defined by the Singaporean government using the broader and antiquated "Malay race" concept, rather than modern-day Malay ethnic group. Although Malays have inhabited the area that is now Singapore since the 17th century, most of the Malays in Singapore today are immigrants...
joined the Chinese in growing gambier, although they cultivated it for subsistence rather than for commercial purposes. The number of gambier and pepper farms expanded greatly between 1819 and 1840, fuelled by the increasing demand for gambier by Chinese traders from China as well as pepper by European traders. As land nearer to the town in the south was quickly used up in the 1820s, the Kangchu began to establish farms near the northern parts of Singapore, particularly stretches of land across the Straits of Johor
Straits of Johor
The Straits of Johor is a strait that separates the Malaysian state of Johor to the north from Singapore to the south....
from Jurong
Jurong
Jurong is the largest town in the western part of Singapore, consisting of 11 residential precincts, 14 industrial districts, 1 military zone and 1 Waterfront district. It resembles Woodlands, the largest town in the northern part of Singapore, which is smaller in size, has smaller industrial area...
, to the west of Punggol
Punggol
Punggol, or Ponggol, is a neighbourhood in northeastern Singapore. Presently, much of Punggol is undeveloped, although plans to turn the area into a residential new town under the "Punggol 21" initiative have begun to take place in the south-eastern parts of the area bordering neighbouring...
in the northeast. By 1851, there were about 800 gambier and pepper farms which covered 75% of Singapore's land surface, of which 24220 acres (98 km²) was dedicated to gambier while 2,614 was dedicated to pepper.
In the 1850s and 1860s, many Kangchu abandoned their plantations in Singapore as gambier produce declined due to over farming of the soil, and began to establish new gambier and pepper plantations in neighbouring Johor. Nevertheless, many of these Kangchu settled down as merchants in Singapore and managed the gambier and pepper farms by proxy, mainly through the liaison body of the Ngee Heng Kongsi which had members in Singapore and Johor. Some of these merchants purchased the property rights of gambier and pepper farms from the Kangchu in Johor, who would then assume managerial tasks to ensure the smooth operation of the plantation and the settlement.
Unlike its counterpart in Johor, the Ngee Heng Kongsi (also called "Ghi Hin Kongsi" in Hokkien
Hokkien
Hokkien is a Hokkien word corresponding to Standard Chinese "Fujian". It may refer to:* Hokkien dialect, a dialect of Min Nan Chinese spoken in Southern Fujian , Taiwan, South-east Asia, and elsewhere....
) was recognised as an illegal society in Singapore and its activities were actively suppressed by the colonial government. Factionalism appeared within the Ngee Heng Kongsi in Singapore by the 1850s, as business leaders from various dialect groups were unable to agree upon key issues. In particular, relations between the Teochews and Hokkiens were hostile, partly because some Hokkien merchants competed with the Teochew merchants in the gambier and pepper trade, most of whom had established their bases in the Boat Quay
Boat Quay
Boat Quay is a historical quay in Singapore which is situated upstream from the mouth of the Singapore River on its southern bank.It was the busiest part of the old Port of Singapore, handling three quarters of all shipping business during the 1860s...
area along the Singapore River
Singapore River
The Singapore River is a river in Singapore with great historical importance. The Singapore River flows from the Central Area, which lies in the Central Region in the southern part of Singapore before emptying into the ocean...
.
The existence of the Kangchu was not recognised by the British colonial government, even though they exercised a similar degree of autonomy as their counterparts in Johor. Nevertheless, the Kangchu in Singapore had easy access to forested land in Singapore compared to their counterparts in Johor, as the British colonial government adopted a laissez-faire
Laissez-faire
In economics, laissez-faire describes an environment in which transactions between private parties are free from state intervention, including restrictive regulations, taxes, tariffs and enforced monopolies....
attitude to the Kangchu and imposed very little regulation on their agricultural activities. However, the British were wary of the fact that many Kangchu in Singapore were members of the Ngee Heng Kongsi, which was illegal in Singapore and enjoyed monopoly rights over the regional opium trade. The British appointed a Chinese official among the Kangchu to oversee the social and economic affairs of the gambier and pepper plantations in Singapore and to act as the intermediary.
Riau Islands
The first gambier and pepper plantations appeared in the Riau Islands in the 1730s, after the BugineseBugis
The Bugis are the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi, the southwestern province of Sulawesi, Indonesia's third largest island. Although many Bugis live in the large port cities of Makassar and Parepare, the majority are farmers who grow wet rice on the...
warrior and second Yamtuan Muda of Riau, Daing Chelak, brought Chinese coolies from Malaya to Riau for the purpose of gambier cultivation, which was then widely used for medication among the locals. Another exodus of Chinese migrated to Riau in 1740 following unrest which erupted in Batavia
History of Jakarta
The history of Jakarta begins with its first recorded mention as a Hindu port settlement in the 4th century. Ever since, the city had been variously claimed by the Indianized kingdom of Tarumanegara, Hindu Kingdom of Sunda, Muslim Sultanate of Banten, Dutch East Indies, Empire of Japan, and finally...
, during which many Chinese were massacred. Chinese settlement in Riau continued into the 18th century, the majority of them coming from the Chaoshan
Chaoshan
Cháoshàn refers to the linguistic and cultural region in the east of Guangdong, a southeastern province of China. This region is the origin of the Min Nan dialect Teochew. The area is known as Teochew for most people overseas, although it also consists of the cities of Shantou and Jieyang...
area in Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
province, along with a sizeable minority from the southern parts of Fujian province.
Gambier and pepper farming were mainly confined to the Bintan
Bintan
Bintan Island or Negeri Segantang Lada is an island in the Riau archipelago of Indonesia. It is part of the Riau Islands province, the capital of which, Tanjung Pinang, lies in the island's south and is the island's main community....
(formerly spelled as Bentan) and Galang Islands. Similar to the Kangchu system in Johor, gambier and pepper plantations were established on grants of land by the Yamtuan Muda of Riau, who would issue land permits (Surat Sungai) to the Kangchu who would direct the operations of the plantation and workers within the settlement. In the early and middle 19th century, many Chinese settlers and merchants from Riau relocated their businesses to Singapore, and established trading links between Riau and Singapore. These settlers and merchants still maintained trading links with Riau, as the Kangchu from Riau often shipped their produce to Singapore for free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
to evade taxes imposed by the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
colonial government. Like Singapore, competition for the gambier and pepper trade between the Teochews and Hokkiens in Riau led to communal tensions and sporadic violence in Riau during the 1840s and 1850s. In the early 20th century, the Chinese abandoned gambier and pepper plantations in favour of other agricultural practices, as the worldwide prices for gambier experienced a drastic drop in value and many pepper plants fell prey to a disease plaguing the archipelago.
Sarawak
The first Chinese immigrants settled along the coastal regions of SarawakSarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
in significant numbers from the 18th century onwards and were engaged in the metal mining industry, mainly for gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
and bauxite
Bauxite
Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...
. As the supply of gold became exhausted from the 1820s onwards, the Chinese miners gradually turned to trade and agriculture. The Chinese of Teochew and Hakka heritage established gambier and pepper plantations in the 1870s and 1880s, and the White Rajah of Sarawak
Kingdom of Sarawak
The Kingdom of Sarawak was a state in Borneo established by Sir James Brooke in 1842 by receiving independent kingdom status from the Sultanate of Brunei as a reward for helping fight piracy and insurgency...
began to organise an administrative system for these plantations similar to the Kangchu system in Johor. The Kangchu of each plantation was appointed by the Charles Brooke, the then-White Rajah. Each Kangchu was given responsibilities to oversee the operations of the plantations under his jurisdiction and the welfare of the coolies living there. In 1875, the British promulgated a set of laws which defined the roles and responsibilities of the Kangchu; they were modelled very closely to the Kanun Kangchu that was introduced by Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor in 1873.
Charles Brooke encouraged the immigration of the Chinese coolies, beginning in the 1860s, to expand the state's gambier and pepper industry. Chinese settlers in neighbouring Sabah
Sabah
Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...
and Pontianak
Pontianak, Indonesia
Pontianak is the capital of the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan. It is a medium-size industrial city on the island of Borneo. Pontianak occupies an area of 107.82 km² in the delta of the Kapuas River...
also established gambier and pepper plantations, although they existed as independent fiefdoms. These plantations rose to become one of the state's major industries as worldwide prices for gambier went up during 1880s and 1890s. In the 20th century, as worldwide gambier prices took a dive, the Kangchu channelled their efforts into pepper and opium cultivation in the state. Sarawak's Kangchu system fell into obscurity in the 1920s, as the opium trade with Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
steadily declined during the course of the decade.
Legacy
The Kangchu system facilitated the growth of the gambier and pepper plantations and developed Johor's and Singapore's economies in the 19th century. The development of Johor's inland towns were attributed to the efforts by the various Kangchu, who were responsible for drawing the settlement plan for the coolies living within the plantation they were working on, from which new towns were formed. The Chinese immigrant population in Johor and Singapore grew in size during this period; Riau also experienced a similar growth during the 18th century. As a result of mass immigration by the Chinese into Johor, the Chinese quickly outnumbered the MalaysMalay people
Malays are an ethnic group of Austronesian people predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, including the southernmost parts of Thailand, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and the smaller islands which lie between these locations...
in the state, although many Chinese coolies relocated to Singapore or other parts of Malaya as the gambier and pepper industry declined in the 20th century. Several towns and other places in Johor and Singapore, built upon sites of former gambier and pepper plantations, are named after former features of the Kangchu system, and are largely populated by ethnic Chinese.
The Teochew dialect became the lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
among the Chinese in many parts of Johor and Riau, as the majority of the Chinese from these areas were of Teochew
Chaozhou
Chaozhou is a city in eastern Guangdong province of the People's Republic of China. It borders Shantou to the south, Jieyang to the southwest, Meizhou to the northwest, the province of Fujian to the east, and the South China Sea to the southeast...
origin, many of whom were descended from the Chinese coolies who had worked in the gambier and pepper plantations. The Teochews form the second-largest dialect group among Chinese Singaporeans, and many families can trace their family ancestry to immigrants who were Kangchu or coolies in these plantations.
See also
- MuarMuar (town)Muar, also known as Bandar Maharani is a town geopolitically situated in Muar District in the region or area of Muar in northwestern Johor, Malaysia...
History section. - Chua (Muar) Chua Clan Chiyang Association Muar.
- Sultan Abu Bakar
- Dato' Bentara Luar Muhamad Salleh bin PerangMuhamad Salleh bin PerangMuhamad Salleh bin Perang , carrying the title Dato' Bentara Luar, held an important post in the administration of the Malaysian state of Johor from 1856 to 1912...
- Kapitan Cina
- List of place names of Kangchu system origin