tile pioneers of modern johore...

TilE PIONEERS Of MODERN JOHORE

by

Malek ~Iunip Jab,,\anSt-jarah,

Uni,<rrlili 111:1.1,,\' ''' Ku;l.!a Lumpur.

An E.nglish lady travdlcr of the late 19th Century, Mrs. Florence Caddy, wrote in her book, To Siam and Malaya, in the Duke of Southerland's Yacht 'San Pcaur' (Lo ndon, 1889), that if in Siam civilisation was beginning 10 bc introduced, in Johore it was in progress. It is imcrcsting to note thai such a favourable remark was made by a keen ousel'ver (as evident from the book) al a time when Uritish political control was being ex tended to th e ncighbou ring rich tin-bearing ~'Ia.lay stales in the Pcn in ~lia north of Johore - the major arenas of political connicls and disturbances.. Perhaps it was the abundant royal hospitality, she being a member of the Duke's c::n tollr.lge, or the absence: of colonial orricials' enthusiasm for extending the frontiers of western civili sa tion, ;md with it the acquisition of natural resourCes so basic to the manufacturing industry of the home country, that enabled her 10

judb>c, devoid of any political consideration_

J ohore was one of the later ~talay states to come under British nile_ Its geographical position at the tip of the Malay J>en insu la, separated from the isl:md of Singapore by thc narrow J ohore Straits. augured well for the political adroi tn ess of its early mlen:_ Sing;IIJOre. since 1819. had become the scat of Briti sh colon ial expansion in the

Far East, :md with the Anglo-Du tch Trea ty o f 1824 providing the line of demarcati on between llritish and Dutch spheres of influence, it cou ld casily make its immediate neighbour a t;lrget of priority for colonial asgr.lIIdizc..'11lent. But Tc.."nl cnggu ng Ib rahim and later his son, Temenggung Abu Bakar, who, as the de facto mien of the state, werc able to preserve: Johore's independence throu gh political manoeuvres and denied the colonial auth ority at Johore's doorstcp any pretext of political encroachment by providing internal political stab ility and security followed by socio-economic development. Temenggung Abu Bakar, who was able to sense the political reality of the day, took advantage of his close proximity with Singapore to acquire the British sty le of living and more importantly, 10 learn their subtle politicaJ diplomacy whkh he later used, not to oppose them, but to accommodate the rising tide of British colon ialism. In a style calcu latc..-d to reflect his position as the sove reign head of a state, Abu Dakar, :Iccompanicd by an entourage of his top oHieials. made several visits overseas, ranging from Japan to Europe, exp loiting personal favollrs of Kings and Quecn (Victoria). By 1881 he had already been bestowed with sllch titl es as G_C.~I.G _ ; K.C.S.I.; Royal Pmssian Ordcr of the Crown (First Class);

Hak Cipta Terpelihara © 1977 – Persatuan Sejarah Malaysia


SuI/ail Abu Bakar johar /Arkib Nl!gara Malaysia/

2



Comm~mder of the Cross of 11"ly; Cummander of the Order SaxeLoburg and Gotha; and Presentation Gold ~Ieditl from Ii .R.IL Prince of Wales.

:\.11 these hdped to dev.ne Jahore's image as it sovcreign entity and it was treated as such even in a period when co lonial acquisition of 'uncivilised' territories was accq)led as " n;!!Ural extension of national grandeur. 'nle famous court case, Mighcll vs. AJbert Baker, though reflecLing the flamboyant side of Abu Bakar's character, was a testi· many of British official view of Johore's political position. Albert Baker was an English name used by the Johore ruler when he was in England. In 1885, an English lady, Miss Mighcll summoned him in a lower court in England for a breach of promise in marriage. But the colonial ofrice advised the case to be dropped as the imperial court had no jurisdiction over another sovereign. 'Ibe traditional title of Temcnggung of Johore, which, in Malay political concqH, implied a high position within the political hierarchy of the Johore.Riau-Lingga empire, was changed to that of Mahar.tja of Johore in 1868. Again in 1885 this title: was changed to that of Sultan of Johore and wrapped with the. tacit approval and recoRnition of London.

Abu Bakar's political successes in foreign rdations were equally matched by the progress he made within the state. Between 1855-1866, beginning from the time of his father's reign, Tanjung I'u teri was opened up and a new administrat ive headquarters was established with Raja Ahmad appointed as a Resident in charge of law and order. It appears that

bdore 1855, his father, Temenggung Ibrahim, had already acquired the scrvices of a ccrtain Englishman, Mr. W. Napier, as his legal adviser, t a wise step 10 deal with his British adversaries schooled in the tradition of colonial legal intrigue. But it was Abu Bakar, suc, ceeding his father in 1862. who was mainly respons ible for bringing about internal changcs in J ohorc. In 1866, he officially established Tanjung Puu::ri as the capital of ule State of JOhore and renamed it Johore Bahru. In the same year a fonn of State Council was crea led with the primary function of enacling laws bascd on Islamic and English laws to regulate the: adm inistration of ule State_ By 1873, the State Council in its capacity as an advisory body to the Maharaja was enlarged to twenty-three members headed by Ungku Abdul Rahman. It is interesting to notc that two members of the State Council were Olinese. signifying the state recognition of the important role they played in deVdoping the gambier and pepper industries_ The twO export items that they produced enabled Johore in thc 1880s to occupy the position of the world's leading exporter of both products. A Chinese Wazir or Mayor was also appointed responsible for the general supervision of Chinese aHairs in the state assisted by a number of Kapitan China who were appointed for every major

C.M. Turnbull. ''The Orillinl of Britilh Conlfol in the ~Li.by SLuel before C0-lonial Rule" in J. &uin Ie R. Roolvink (edt.).Mgllr)'g,.,..d /rullmn;'IJnSt"din. Odord.1964.p.l7l.



district with a large Chinese popu, lation. 2

By 1873 also the state admi· nistration had dt.''Veloped into a more systematic bureaucracy with eight sq:>arate departments dealing with specialised state affairs: fi· nance, law, police, jail, survey, sea, health and railway. All heads of dcpartmenu were members of the State Cou neil." The Maharaja also appointed an Englishman as his private secretary. Thus a year before the signing of the Pangkor Treaty (in 1874), the bible of early Uritish colonial expansion into the Malay Statcs, Johore had already enjoyed an efficient form of bu· reaueratic machinery which was yet to be more elaborately dC\lc1oped in those states which came under British nde. Jahore's written cons· titu tion which came into dfect in 1895 contained, inter alia, a gua· rantee for basic human rights and rrecdom from abitrary State prosecution; it w~s indeed a true legacy of an enlightened monarch.

Such achiC\lCJncnt was made possible in large measure owing to the illustrious services of a handrul of Jahore administrators. TIle first Mentri 8esar in Tanju ng Pu teri, Datuk Jaafar b. Mohamad, whose long career af" the helm of power, had the wisdom to help steer the state away from the political pit· falls that embroiled her neighbours in a state of anarchy, a"moral ground' sufficient for coJonial intervention. Datuk Jaafar was a true nationalist and was very sensitive to all the trappings of national image. For a long time it was made com· pulsory for British oHicials serving in Johore, be he a British Advisor or a lesser official, to wear Johore

Official drcss. TIle Union Jack., symbol of Her Imperial Majesty, was never allowed to be flown higher than the State nag and aU o ((icial correspondence to the h igheSl office was conduc ted only in Malay.

Datuk Jaafar was assisted by the very able Abdul Rahman bin Andak, the Datuk Sri Amar Oi Raja, who was mainly responsible for Johore-European rdations. A .man equally at home moving among the topnotch of Bri tish officials and weaJthy traden, he had a deep perception of subtle British political moves, an asset regarded with disfavour by London. There is evidence to suggest that it was colonial pressure that helped forced him later to rdinquish his post. Another illustrious son of Johore was Md. Salldl bin Perang, who, as the indefatigable Datuk Bentarn Luar, was the man most responsible in opening up the coontry for development. As one of the monarch's most trusted aids, he was given the dual task of an administrator and state engineer cum surveyor. Upon him feU the duty of mapping the van virgin land of J ohare for agricul tural dC\lclopment, planning all the major towns and roads as well as supervi· sing the financial administration of the new emerging centres of po-

2. SC't Muhamnuod bin Ibjl AUu. TllriAh ilGtuJc BtnUnI Lt'llT Jollor, Johor Bahn!, 1978, pp. 67·74: Capt. Muhammad Said bin Hajl SWaimul, J/ilGy8t Jolior dfflt TIIIWQriJch Al MlIII'lIl1m 5 ... 11.,. Abu Bdllll", Johor 1Wltu, 194(1, pp. 19; SttaiU xulcmtntl Record, '5, BlundcU Govcrnot-Ctntt1ll.No. 76. 12 May 1859.

1M Colrmi41 Dirr"ory 01 tht 5t'lIIirs Sttlltmtnts 1813. p. I;TJL lIill, {itpo,t on/ohor, Sinppore. 1878,9. 14.



pu~ation. On th e wall or the J ohore Archives today, there hangs a state map whic h was drawn by him in 1904 from an earlier copy prepared in 1899. Consideri ng the facilities th at exis ted the n, this is a highly aCCUr.l.te and detailed represent ati on of the geograp hical land scape:: o f the state, the first o r its kind in the Malay Peninsula. Indeed it spcaks well for its a uthor.

' 111 C most ramous Malay social critic o f the 19 th Century, Munsyi Abdullah, did not livc long enough to witncss hi s youngest son, Mohammed Ibrahim, borow up to bc

O<II"" .. /l2rl>. ""0104.,,., ("'tltl...,., R, ... ,jolu"I)

the man most respo nsible for the cstablishme nt or modern educa tion inJohorc. His knowledge of Engli sh helpcd to make him almost indispensiblc in ma tters concerned with J oho re·F.nglish rdalions. It is hi ghly probable that he: was one of those who played a major role in laying the:: round at ion of bureauc rJ.tic proccdures in the Sta te , modified rrom th ose or the British in Singapore. But it wao; in education that much o f his encrb'Y seemed to have been directed. Althou gh the initial s tages of formal education in Johore had begun as ea rly as the 1860s, it was only ill 1883 that an educat ion department was estab· lished which enabled a more systematic effort towards promoting vemacular education to be ca rried out." Mohammed Ibrahim was the fi rst Preside nt of this department and look stl'pS to bu ild sc hools no t on ly around the town of J oho re Uahn!, but also in aU the ou tIying districts- '!1lOugh he WOI5 th e Presi· dent, he never shu rmcd the honourable task of actual teaching, ;uul carried the additional rcsponsibility of a 'v isiting teacher'. lie also in itiated the formation o f a M,uay language society OInd personally played an important role in promo tin g the devdoprnent or the lanh'llage. Modem Malay lette r wrili ng as we know it now owes mll ch to him. In the I 890s, he implemented the State La\\' pertaining to compul sory education. It was 01 measure o r the ma n's wide ab ility that during his active service, he also occup ied such ot her importan t positions as State Secretary as

Sinj/llPOTt' and SI ... ;I. Dirt'('lory lor U18J. p. 1 2~.



weU as Deputy Mentri Besar. His contribution as an administrator apart, he also revealed the kind of talent which made his father famous - writing. His Kisah Pela),,,r,,n Muhammed rbrahim Munsh i offers us one of the most lively and accurate observations of the western Malay States during that era. It is a pity that among students of Malaysian history so little is kno .... n of this man who played such an imponant role in the development of modern Johore, apan from the occas ional references in Malay history book to "The Datuk Bcntara Dalam," a title that was rightly bestowed upon him by the ruler of J ohore.

It is much to be regretted that Malaysian historiography in English

does not usually provide the same focus as Malaysian historiography in Malay. Those ""il0 have had the benefit of reading Ma1ay historical writings on J ohore are likely to be familiar with the names of Datuk Jaafar, Abdul Rahman bin Andak, Md. Salleh bin Perang and Muham· mad Ibrahim Munsyi. For those who have read Johore history only in English, it has to be pointed out that modem Johore history is more than just the story of Abu Bakar and his relations with the British. Th e whole process of construc tion and dt."vdopment owed much to indigenous initiative and effort. ntis is what sets Johore apart from the Federated Ma1ay States where change was imposed essentially by an alien administration.



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