Directory_and_Chronicle_1925 — Page 1469

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THE UNFEDERATED MALAY STATES-JOHORE

Settlements; and in any matter which tends to their common advantage, yet does not affect their individuality, there is ready co-operation. The States differ from one another in many respects, both great and small. As examples of the difference in the smaller matters, it may be mentioned that Kedali, Perlis and Trengganu adhere to the Mohammedan calendar, whereas Johore and Kelantan have adopted the Christian calendar. The system of internal administration differs very greatly; on broad lines, however, the resemblance between the States is strong. They are all Mohammedan countries, and are governed by a Ruler who is advised by a State Council. (Johore has separate Legislative and Executive Councils; in the other States the Councils are both Legislative and Exccutive.) They use the coinage and the currency notes of the Straits Settlements. Their European officials are British officers, almost all of whom are lent, on deputation, to them by the Governments of the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States. Johore, Kedah, Kelantan and Trengganu have- their separate issues of stamps. The small State of Perlis (which in earlier days was a part of Kedah, and which is still closely connected with it) uses the Kedah stamps.

JOHORE

This State occupies the southern portion of the Malayan Peninsula, and has an area. of about 7,500 square miles. The State is ruled by a Sultan, who is independent, but under the protection of the British Government so far as external policy is concerned. The present Sultan, Ibrahim, was born in 1873, and succeeded his father, the late Sultan Abubakar, in 1895, being crowned on the 2nd of November of that year. On the 1st January, 1916, the dignity of an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George was conferred on His Highness the Sultan by His Majesty the King, and the investiture took place at Johore Bahru on May 11th, 1916. More recently, His Highness has been decorated with the Order of the British Empire in further recognition of his services during the Great War. Since 1910, the Sultan has had the services of an officer of the Straits or F.M.S. Civil Services as General Adviser, and other members of these services are seconded to control various departments, with the result that the government is now on a better footing and the finances have materially improved. The country has made great progress in material prosperity, and its orderly condition has attracted a good deal of European capital, invested in planting enterprises.

The revenue for 1923 amounted to $11,094,954 against $8,625,223 in 1922, and the expenditure to $7,064,166 in 1923 against $8,785,873 in 1922. Improved methods of collection and administration and the expansion of the agricultural and tin-mining industries are factors in the increase of revenue. Surplus assets at the end of 1923 amounted to $8,296,220. The railway, which connects Singapore with the F.M.S. system, was completed in 1909, and its construction has already given a great impetus to the opening up of this fertile State. Along its 120 miles it provides access to the extensive areas of valuable forest land not conveniently reached by the natural waterways. It is operated and leased by the F.M.S. Railway Department, which now controls the whole of the railways in the Malay Peninsula. A causeway has been constructed over the Straits of Johore, between the mainland of Johore and the Island of Singapore, carrying a railway track and a roadway. It was opened for passenger trains on 1st October, 1923. The roadway was opened to vehicular traffic on 28th June, 1924. The State owns a light railway in Muar, but this has now been closed to passenger traffic, the opening up of a road system making the district more accessible. Seventy-seven schools are maintained by the Government, and four of these are English Schools passing boys through the Cambridge Higher Certificate Examination. At the English College, which is conducted on the lines of an English Public School, there were 80 boys in residence in 1924. English is also taught in some of the larger Vernacular Boys' Schools and in two Vernacular Schools for Girls. A Training College for Vernacular Masters is to be built shortly.

The capital is the town of Johore Bahru, or new Johore, as distinguished from Johore Lama, or old Johore, the former seat of the Sultans of Johore, which was. situated a few miles up the wide estuary of the Johore river. The new town is a.