Johor Bahru

Johor Bahru
جوهر بهارو

File:Mbjb emblem.gif	File:Mbjb logo.gif
City seal	City Logo

File:JohorBahruLocation.png

District

Johor Bahru District

Area
- Total (City)

185 km²

Population

- City (2004)
- Metropolitan

Approx. 500,000

Approx. 1,500,000

Time zone

UTC+8

Latitude and longitude

1°29′N 103°44′E / 1.483°N 103.733°E

Johor Bahru, also spelled Johor Baru or Johore Bahru and near-universally abbreviated as JB, is the city, capital and the royal town of Johor in southern Malaysia. It is the second largest city in the country, after the national capital, Kuala Lumpur. With a population of approximately 500,000 and about 1.5 million in the metropolitan area, the city is an important industrial, tourism and commercial hub. Tourism is a significant contributor to the city's economy, as it receives 60% of the country's annual 16 million foreign tourists via its bridges and road links to Singapore. However, Johor Bahru's highly developed industrial base has made the city one of the biggest industrial centres of the country.

Johor Bahru enjoys the unique distinction of being the southernmost city of the Asian mainland.

Geography

Johor Bahru city is located at 1°29′N 103°44′E / 1.483°N 103.733°E / 1.483; 103.733. The city council administers a total area of 185 km². It is situated on the Straits of Johor (also known as the Straits of Tebrau), which separates Malaysia and Singapore. Metropolitan Johor Bahru occupies extensive coastal land consisting of ecologically rich swamp lands and important river systems such as Sungai Johor, Sungai Pulai and Sungai Tebrau. The city council administers the highly developed southern coast of the metropolitan area.

History

Johor Bahru was founded in 1855 by Temenggung Daeng Ibrahim, the father of Sultan Abu Bakar, one of the best-remembered of all Malay Sultans. The town was originally named Tanjung Puteri, and it had its beginnings as a small Malay fishing village. Sultan Abu Bakar changed the name to Johor Bahru when he proclaimed it the capital of his kingdom in 1866, after he moved the seat of government from the old capital at Teluk Belanga in Singapore.

Sultan Abu Bakar was descended from Temenggong Abdul Rahman, the local chief who signed the initial treaty with the British when they sought permission to lease Singapore island in 1819. Much of the prosperity Johor enjoys today can be traced directly to Sultan Abu Bakar's success in persuading British and Chinese entrepreneurs to invest in agricultural estates in the area. Sultan Abu Bakar took a great interest in planning and laying out his royal city of Johor Bahru; consequently, much of the city today bears his name and marks. For example, the Royal Abu Bakar Museum and Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque are named after him.

Johor Bahru has witnessed a few major Malaysian historical events such as the establishment of the leading political party in Malaysia, UMNO (United Malays National Organisation), in 1946. With the coming of the independence of Malaysia, Johor Bahru has witnessed massive development under the Malaysian government.

On 1 January 1994, Johor Bahru was officially granted city status and Dato Hashim Yahya became the first mayor (Datuk Bandar).

Government

The metropolian area of Johor Bahru is divided and jointly managed by the following local councils:

Johor Bahru City Council (Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru)
Johor Bahru Tengah Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran Johor Bahru Tengah)
Kulai Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran Kulai)
Local Authority Of Bandar Tenggara (Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan Bandar Tenggara)
Local Authority of Pasir Gudang (Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan Pasir Gudang)
District Council of Pontian (Majlis Daerah Pontian)
District Council of Kota Tinggi (Majlis Daerah Kota Tinggi)

The federal government has also announced in September 2005 the impending establishment of the Southern Johor Development Corporation that will have the mandate to coordinate planning and development in the area. The corporation will be jointly chaired by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Johor Chief Minister Dato' Abdul Ghani Othman.

Demographics

Johor Bahru's population of 500,000 (2004 census) consists of 45% Malay, 41.5% Chinese, 7.1% Indian and 6.4% of other minorities. [1]

Among the Chinese, the Teochew, Hakka, Hokkien, Cantonese and Hainanese are the five major dialect groups in Johor Bahru. A small, significant minority of Hokchew/Foochow does exist. Due to influence by the Singapore mass media and the government policy of using Mandarin in all schools, the majority of the younger generation Chinese speak Mandarin and English at home.

The Teochew had a long standing history as they had established themselves in gambier plantations under the direction of Tan Hiok Nee, who formatted the Kangchu system for the plantation owners to develop their business in the systematic method. Many more later migrated to Johor Bahru and settled there.

The Hakka later migrated to Johor Bahru in large numbers, and also formed a large community among the Chinese in Johor Bahru. The Cantonese, under the leadership of Wong Ah Fook, began settling in Johor Bahru in the wake of Tan Hiok Nee's establishment of the kangchu system from the 19th century onwards.

Economy

As one of the three main urban centres on the peninsular Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur and Penang being the other two), Johor Bahru is an important industrial, logistical and commercial centre. Its major industries include electronics, resource and petrochemical refinery and ship-building.

Johor Bahru is often thought of as Singapore's hinterland, similar to what Shenzhen is to Hong Kong. The presence of Singapore-owned companies and tourists are significant. Johor Bahru's many shopping complexes cater to tourists from Singapore who visit the city for shopping and entertainment, taking advantage of the stronger Singapore dollar. As such, Johor Bahru's retail scene is highly developed for a city of its size. The main shopping districts are located within Johor Bahru city, with a number of large shopping malls located in the suburbs.

The heavy industrial areas are Pasir Gudang and Tanjung Langsat, located east of the metropolitan area. They contain clusters of refineries, chemical processing plants, and ship-building factories. Light to medium industrial areas are mainly located north and north-west of the metropolitan area in Tebrau, Tampoi, Senai, Skudai and Kulai.

Johor Bahru's economy relies heavily on Singapore. There are ten of thousands of Johor Bahru people crossing the causeway to work in Singapore due to higher pay, partly because of the currency exchange rate (as of 2005, one Singapore Dollar is worth more than two Malaysian Ringgit). In addition, many Singaporeans come over to Johor Bahru for shopping as things are generally cheaper there. It is believed that Johor Bahru will suffer most if Singapore economy comes to a downturn.

Infrastructure

Johor Bahru Central Business District (CBD) or Daerah Sentral Johor Bahru, is located on the southern tip of the metropolitan area. Two major highways link the CBD to outlaying suburbs, with Tebrau Highway linking to the north-east and Tun Abdul Razak (TAR) Highway/Senai-Skudai Highway linking to the north-west. Pasir Gudang Highway and the connecting Johor Bahru Parkway crosses Tebrau Highway and TAR Highway about midway and serves as the middle ring road of the metropolitan area.

Additionally, the Johor Bahru Inner Ring Road aids in controlling the traffic in and around the CBD. Access to the national expressway system is possible via the North-South Expressway, with entry-exit points located strategically within the metropolitan area. Additionally, the Causeway links the CBD to the city-state of Singapore with a six-lane road and a railway line. The Second Link Expressway located west of the metropolitan area was constructed in 1997 to help alleviate the congested Causeway. It is linked directly to Johor Bahru Parkway and North-South Expressway.

Senai International Airport is located north-west of the metropolitan area and serves regional and national airlines. The Port of Tanjung Pelepas, located west of the metropolitan area, is Malaysia's biggest transshipment hub while Pasir Gudang Port is located on the eastern side. It is one of Malaysia's most important commodity seaports due to the fact that Johor Bahru is surrounded by large plantation estates.

Johor Bahru is also home to three radio stations. Best 104 is the country's first private radio station, Johor FM is a government-owned regional station, and FMJB, is another government-owned station covering only the city.

Recent construction projects

Danga Bay development (Lido beach)
New CIQ complex with JB Sentral train station under Gerbang Selatan Bersepadu (Southern Integrated Gateway). It is located opposite City Square Mall.

Sungai Segget

The Segget river (commonly known as Sungai Segget in Malay) was covered up and subsequently converted into a pedestrian walk, Legaran Segget. Construction was completed in 2005, and the project cost approximately RM6 million.

Prior to the construction of Legaran Segget, the Segget river emitted a terrible stench, and the city government decided to construct a walkway on top of it. Legaran Segget hosts sevaral water fountains along the walkway.

The construction work have upgraded the outlook on Johor Bahru as Sungai Segget is located just 2 kilometers from Singapore and the Southern entry to Peninsular Malaysia.

External links