Land Use in Mukim Sungai Punggor, Johor, Malaysia

Coconuts, Smallholders, and the Ethnic Mosaic: Some Observations on Land Ownership and Land Use in Mukim Sungai Punggor, Johor, Malaysia Junji NAGATA* land. A variety of factors which may restrict I. Introduction access to resources and their use such as ecologi- cal, technical, economic, sociocultural, ethnic, In peninsular Malaysia it is after the mid- political, and institutional factors will be taken nineteenth century that the large-scale develop- into appropriate consideration. The area which ment of commercial agriculture and the mining was selected as a research site is Mukim Sungai industry in the resource frontier brought about a Punggor, Batu Pahat district, the State of Johor massive influx of people of various socioeconomic (Fig. 1). It is situated in the lowland of western and ethnic backgrounds. During this relatively Johor along the Straits of Malacca and forms a short period the human habitat in peninsular Ma- part of the hinterland of Rengit town (Pekan laysia has been expanded conspicuously. There- Rengit). The area of this mukim is 88.06 km2, the fore to explain the dynamics of Malaysian society population 9,395 and the number of households by using the concept of "frontier society" which is 1,968 according to the 1991 census. This paper defined as a distinctive sociocultural typet) is rel- deals with some essential facts and important evant, challenging and worthwhile work. Espe- issues concerning access to the land and its use in cially the state of Johor, where a great amount of Mukim Sg. (Sungai) Punggor based on data de- agricultural land has been developed by spontane- rived from land titles and other documentary ous pioneering of smallholders and planters sources and field survey. period by planned settle- during the colonial and II. Land Development and Alienation-The ment in the post-independence period, and which Establishment of Smallholding Area has been recently drawn into the vortex of the rapid industrial development, should provide a Mukim Sg. Punggor stretches from coastline good example of a "frontier society". The case to inland for about 20 km (Fig. 2). Most of the study from Johor on the changing socioeconomy land was reclaimed from mangrove forest before related to the exploitation of the resource frontier the Second World War except for the deep peat will not only give us additional information about land in the northeastern part which was devel- a part of peninsular Malaysia which has attracted oped from peat swamp forest in the postwar relatively less attention from scholars compared period. Along with this agricultural land develop- to the areas of former Federated Malay States but ment, most of the land in Mukim Sg. Punggor also contribute to widen and deepen the under- was divided into numerous small lots, and th- standing of Malaysian society from the viewpoint rough the alienation, which is completed by regis- of "frontier society". tration of title, the right over the land was handed The author is now proceeding with field re- from the state to the individual person named in search focusing on a local society in a rural area the title. In Mukim Sg. Punggor the alienation of and the people appearing on that scene. The land began in 1929 and up to 1993 it amounted to analyses are centered upon explaining the rise and 19,668.8 acres (79.59 km2). The area of Mukim fall of social standing and the related accumula- Sg. Punggor is 88.06 km', therefore gOVo of the tion and distribution of economic wealth among land in this mukim has already been alienated. the people, with special reference to their access The remaining lOVo is State land but most of it to the resources and use of them, particularly has already been developed to agricultural land. * Junior Lecturer, Department of Human Geography, The University of Tokyo. 43 Regional Views No. 9 1996 | ・A O周４ざ１副十１ Muar IntCrnational Boundary 日 Batu Pahat StatC BOundary 日 Senggarang District Boundary 日 Mttm鷲 /＼RB長 Railway 記淵匿∃ ポれ | Main Road □ %ぇ Aycr説 % Pontian Kecil 困帥∝ □ 師前 ?Ψ η TT平黎測 Fig. 1. State of Johor and the study area Some parts of the State land are reserves for road, tered and held under the name of an individual drains, coastal and riverside bank, school, person. These facts indicate the land of Mukim mosque, graveyard, government office, and other Sg. Punggor has been developed and held exclu- public purposes. sively by smallholders, not by plantation or Table I summarizes the land alienation in mining companies or government agencies. Mukim Sg. Punggor.2) In this mukim all the land EMR, Grant, and MG are final titles which can is classified as country land, and there is no area be registered after the final survey is completed. declared to be town (bandar) or village (pekan) The alienated land under these titles approximate- land by the State. Out of the land alienated in ly corresponds to the land which was developed Mukim Sg. Punggot, 6l.4Vo was alienated in the before the Second World War and already sur- prewar colonial period, 3.9Vo in Japanese occupa- veyed. On the other hand QT(M) and QT(R) tion period, 7.8Vo in the postwar colonial period, are qualified titles which can be prepared based on and 26.9Vo in the post-independence period. Dur- the provisional survey. Although 9Vo of the ing the colonial period the land was mainly alien- alienated land under QT(M) and all of the alienated under EMR (Extract from the Mukim Regi- ated land under QT(R) are situated in the already ster) and in the post-independence period mainly surveyed area which was developed before the under QT(M) (Qualified Title (Mukim)). Both Second World War, most of the land under QT EMR and QT(M), together with MG (Mukim (M) occupies the northeastern part of Mukim Sg. Grant) , are categorized as Land Office titles Punggor which was developed after the Second which are given to any lot of country land not World War and the final survey has yet to be exceeding ten acres. The land held under Regis- completed. One more area where the alienated try titles such as Grant or QT(R) (Qualified Title land under QT(M) is concentrated is the coastal (Registry)), which are given to any lot of country fringe outside the main bank. For all the QT(M) land exceeding ten acres, is negligible in this in Mukim Sg. Punggor which were registered up mukim, and almost all the titles have been regis- to 1985 the conversion to MG in the future is 一- 44 -一 Coconuts, Smallholders, and Ethnic Mosaic (Nagata) Fig. 2. Rengit area (the early 1970s) Source: Prepared by the author based on "Peta Topografi, Siri L 7OlO", Senggarang (1971), and Yong Peng (1976). 45 Regional Views No.9 1996 Table l. Land alienation in Mukiln Sg.Punggor (acre) Year EMR Grant MG QT(M) QT(D) Total 1929-1941 Prewar colonial period 11,710.7 364.8 12,075.6 (61.4) 1942-1945 Japanese occupation period 766.3 766。 3 (3.9) 1946-1956 Postwar colonial period 1,529.7 1,529。 7 (7.8) 1957-1993 Post-independence period 367 .4 79.2 4,803.1 47.5 5,297.3 (26.9) Total 14,374。 2 364.8 79。 2 4,803.1 47.5 19,668。 8 (100.0) % (73.1) (1・ 9) (004) (24.4) (0.2) (100・ 0) Source: The author's survey of land titles. assured. However, starting with 2 lots in 1986, registration of final titles. On the other hand the for the QT(M) which was registered from 1987 approval of application for final titles rose to a onwards for the newly developed land outside the peak in 1925,1930, and 1933. After a steep rise in surveyed area the future conversion to ML 1933 it became stagnant, and during the Japanese (Mukim Lease) for a term of 99 years has come occupation period no application was approved. to be ensured due to the change of government As to the land which was developed before the policy. The latter accounts for 32Vo of the alien- Second World War in Mukim Sg. Punggor, most ated land under QT(M). of the applications for land titles had been ap- Although the right over the land was passed proved from the middle of the 1920s towards the from the State to the individual officially through early 1930s. We can recognize the gap between land alienation which was completed by registra- the approval of applications and the registration tion of title, normally it took some time to prepare of titles for about fi.ve years. the title after the land had actually been devel- What is important here is that in advance of oped. In Mukim Sg. Punggor the registration of land alienation, agricultural production had al- land title began in 1929, but if we look at the year ready been started, and also land transactions had when application was approved,3) it dates back to occurred as some records preceding land titles 1992 (Fig. 3). The registration of final titles, such as DP (Daftar Permohnan Tanah Yang- mostly EMR, rose to a peak in 1931 and 1937 and Telah Dibenarkan), AO (Register of Approved towards early 1940s was very active. In the Occupants), and SS (Szrat Semantara) indicate. Japanese occupation (1942-1945) and the post- DP is a register of approved application which war period we can also see some amount of appears from 1922 to 1937 in Mukim Sg. Pung- 組 Ю 百‐一‐‐ １１‐‐‐ １・―．＝ 31Ю ――‐‐‐ ― ‐＝ 3硼・―‐． ‐―‐‐‐ 一二 21X) ｏ ‐ｉ山． “ ｅｒ “ ０』椰 2(XЮ ０Ｏｆａく１一 1500 一 ‐‐‐‐‐ Ｉ＝ lⅨЮ ＩＩ‐‐‐ 梓＝獅 ―、＝ピヽ」一 0 ＯＮいｎ〇 η∞ Ｑ〇寸い η ＯηＱ ηηＱ〇つい﹇ ηつい〇 η卜Ｑ﹇〇∞Ｑ】 η 晨】ＮＱ】 “ 寸い卜 ∞い日Ｑ﹇い﹇﹇【】】﹇】〓Ｖ． Fig.

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