Johor Bahru

The settlement began as Tanjung Puteri, a small fishing and trading place on the Johor Strait, developed from the 1850s under Temenggong Daing Ibrahim as Chinese planters were brought in to open pepper and gambier estates along the rivers under the kangchu system, which gave a headman rights over a river and its settlement. In 1866 his son Abu Bakar moved the seat of government across from Telok Blangah in Singapore and renamed the town Johor Bahru, the new Johor.

Abu Bakar, who became sultan in 1886 and is remembered as the father of modern Johor, built the Istana Besar above the water, laid out a grid of streets, and gave the state its own written constitution, the Undang-undang Tubuh Negeri Johor. The state mosque that carries his name was finished after his death. British influence arrived later here than elsewhere on the peninsula, with a general adviser accepted only in 1914, and the causeway to Singapore opened in 1923, binding the two places together.

Johor Bahru was the last place on the peninsula held by British and Commonwealth forces in January 1942 before the retreat across the causeway to Singapore, and the Japanese used the town as a headquarters. After independence it remained a modest state capital until the late 20th century, when manufacturing, the port at Pasir Gudang and cheap land beside a wealthy neighbour transformed it. The Iskandar Malaysia development zone, launched in 2006, brought new townships, university campuses and theme parks to the western side, and the city has grown fast, and unevenly, ever since.

Johor's identity is strongly royal. The sultan and the state flag, the state anthem and Bangsa Johor — the idea of a Johorean people across ethnic lines — are part of everyday public life, and the royal family's affairs are followed closely. The local Malay dialect is distinctive, with vocabulary from Javanese and Bugis brought by settlers from across the archipelago, and Johor's kampung culture includes kuda kepang, a trance dance performed with flat horse figures that came from Java.

The Chinese community, mostly Teochew with Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese and Hainanese alongside, traces itself to the gambier and pepper era, and its most visible expression is the Chingay procession, when deities from the old temple are carried through the streets at night behind lanterns and lion dancers. Indian Malaysians are a long-standing presence too, with Tamil temples in the old town and in the estates outside it.

The strongest single influence on daily culture, though, is Singapore. Hundreds of thousands cross the strait in both directions each day, families are split across the border, television and music from both countries are watched here, and the exchange rate shapes where people shop, eat and work. Locals are used to visitors and to being a day trip; conversation slips easily between Malay, English, Mandarin and Chinese dialects.

About 860,000 people live in the city proper, and some 1.8 million in the wider Johor Bahru district, which takes in Iskandar Puteri to the west and the port town of Pasir Gudang to the east. The population is mixed, with Malay, Chinese and Indian communities and a large number of migrant workers from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal in factories and construction.

The economy runs on manufacturing and electronics, the container and oil terminals along the coast, petrochemicals at Pengerang, property development, retail aimed at Singaporean shoppers, and a fast-growing cluster of data centres drawn by land and power. Tens of thousands of residents commute daily to jobs in Singapore, earning in a currency worth several times the ringgit, which lifts some households sharply above their neighbours and pushes up local prices.

That daily crossing sets the rhythm of the city. Buses and motorcycles queue for the causeway from before five in the morning, and the return flow fills the evening; the length of the queue is a constant subject of complaint and of news reporting. Weekends bring the traffic the other way, with Singaporean cars filling mall car parks. Housing costs, an oversupply of unsold flats in some of the new developments, traffic and flooding after heavy rain are the recurring local issues.

Johor Bahru eats late and eats out. Its best-known local dish is kacang pool, mashed broad beans cooked with minced beef and spices, topped with a fried egg and eaten with toasted bread — a dish of Middle Eastern origin that has become a Johor breakfast. Laksa Johor is the state's own version of laksa, a thick fish and coconut gravy traditionally served not with rice noodles but with spaghetti, a habit attributed to the travelling tastes of the royal household. Mee rebus, yellow noodles under a thick spiced gravy thickened with sweet potato, with boiled egg, green chilli and fried shallots, is sold everywhere.

Chinese food here is Teochew and Hainanese in character: fish ball noodles, braised duck, steamed fish, and the strong local coffee and kaya toast of the old shophouse coffee shops. Seafood restaurants along the eastern shore serve crab in chilli or butter sauce, and the Ramadan bazaars fill with grilled chicken, beef rendang, murtabak and coloured drinks for the breaking of the fast. Indian Muslim stalls supply roti canai in the morning and nasi kandar through the day.

Fruit is a serious matter in Johor: durians from the orchards inland, pineapples from the Pontian district, and, in season, rambutan and mangosteen piled on roadside tables. Cheap local dishes stand beside the international chains of the malls, and many visitors cross the causeway specifically to eat.