Yong Peng - History

History

During the reign of Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor and under the influence of the British rule in the 1870s, a policy was initiated to modernise Johor and increase tax revenue by opening up more of the forest and swamp area for plantation purposes (initially for spices such as pepper and gambier; then followed by rubber). But to do so, they need massive number of workers. Coincidentally the political and social chaos in Southern China during that period (ref: History of China) made the Chinese migrants an obvious choice. Most of these immigrants were poor, and so to pay for the travel fees, they had to sell themselves as indented slaves. Some of these early Chinese pioneers travelled from the river mouth starting from Batu Pahat and along the Bekok River (Sungai Bekok) and settled upon a fertile land not far from where Sungai Bekok and Sungai Sedi meets.

In fact, in 1800, there were only five Malay houses standing on the banks of Sungai Bekok and on Bukit Jambu (once sited the Bee Seng Sawmill and now the Yong Peng District Council). The town was known at that time as ‘Sri Bertam’, named after a tree by the name ‘Bertam Tree’ in Kampong Bukit Jambu. The Malays were then ruled by Arujamin Bin Runshut and most of them had just escaped from the Dutch after losing the war to the latter in Acheh.

In November 1847, four Chinese immigrants from Chaozhou led by Boo Koh Lak Loo (better known as Ah Loh) came to Sri Bertam by boat after paddling up Sungai Bekok. They then built three houses at the present Government Clinic compound. Later he and his men with the help of his Malay friends began to clear some thick forests around the river banks. When this small settlement prospered and progressed, Boo named the place Yong Peng or Everlasting Peace in Chinese.

Boo ruled Yong Peng according to the ‘Kangchu’ or headman system where the Chinese word "Kang” means river while "Chu" means house. But essentially, "Chu" is the clan name of the first headman in charge of the plantations in the area.

When more Chinese of other dialects began moving to Yong Peng, the settlement was also expanded further up the river, opening up two more areas - one was Mah Kau Kang and the other one was Seng Kang (now Kangkar Bahru).

During this time, Sungai Bekok river was navigable by small ocean-going steamers. Local produce such as pepper and gambir were transported by boat to Batu Pahat and some to as far as Singapore; the whole journey taking about 16 days.

Kangchu Boo would also give a yearly report of Yong Peng to Sultan Abu Bakar. In order to keep law and order, one Malay by the name of Ismail was appointed the policeman of Yong Peng. Minor offences were dealt with by Kangchu Boo whilst more serious ones were sent to the magistrate’s court in Batu Pahat.

Kangchu Boo died in 1907 at the age of 76. His body was buried in Tang Hak (old name for Jalan Masjid). It is around Jalan Ann Peng. After his death, his son Kangchu Boo Koh Soon Meng took over at the young age of 25. He ruled for about 35 years until his death in 1942. As he did not have a son, the Kangchu system also began to decline and it was also in the same year Yong Peng was conquered by the Japanese.