Labis is town and a mukim (township) in

Segamat District The Segamat District ( ms, Daerah Segamat) or simply Segamat is a district in the Malaysian state of Johor. Segamat is also the name of the district's primary town. Etymology It is believed that 'Segamat' is derived from the Malay phrase ...

in northern

Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the northwest. Johor shares mariti ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

. A main trunk road that runs north-south

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...

passes through it, as well as the

KTM KTM AG (Kraftfahrzeug Trunkenpolz Mattighofen, formerly KTM Sportmotorcycle AG) is an Austrian motorcycle, bicycle and sports car manufacturer owned by Pierer Mobility AG and the Indian manufacturer Bajaj Auto. It was formed in 1992 but traces ...

railway line that connects it with the state's capital in the south,

Johor Bahru Johor Bahru (), colloquially referred to as JB, is the capital city of the state of Johor, Malaysia. It is located at the southern end of Peninsular Malaysia,along the north bank of the Straits of Johor, opposite of the city-state Singapore. ...

History

Labis started as a small village known as Kampung Paya Merah. The village got its name from a type of river grass which became the favorite food for river terrapins. In early 20th century, British officers came to the villages to survey for new areas to be developed in

Segamat Segamat ( Jawi: سڬامت Chinese: 昔加末) is a town located in the Segamat District, Johor, Malaysia. It is 95 km travel distance via North–South Expressway from Johor Bahru to Yong Peng, and another 77 km from Federal Route 1. Strat ...

district. The British officers were surprised to see the river terrapins since they had not seen those animals before. They asked the villagers the name of those animals and the villagers answered, ''"Labi-labi, tuan,"'' ("River terrapins, sir"). Because they didn't know the name of those animals, the British officers referred to them as ''labis'' in the plural form. Therefore, the British officers decided to name the settlement Labis. Another theory is that in the 17th century, a member of the Malaccan royal family was travelling through the area. He saw something that intrigued him. He called out to his advisors to tell him what it was, he went "Habis? Habis?" thus accidentally blurting out the name Labis. Malays here planted

paddy field A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-A ...

and poultry as the main source of food, living in villages such as Kampung Paya Merah, Kampung Tenang and Kampung Sungai Gatom. During the British era, there was a rubber estate known as North Labis Estate was established and the British brought Indian labor as the workforce. During the communist insurgency around 1948, the government brought in Chinese ethnic to the town.

Geography

Labis is situated in the north of Johor, bordering the Segamat sub-district and the state of Pahang to the north, the mukim of Bekok to the east, the mukim of Pogoh to the west and the mukim of Cha’ah to the south. Labis covers an area of 422 km², making it the second largest

mukim A mukim is a type of administrative division used in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The word ''mukim'' is a loanword in English. However, it was also originally a loanword in Malay from the Arabic word: (meaning ''resident''). The cl ...

in Johor after

Bekok Bekok is a mukim in Segamat District, Johor, Malaysia. It is the western entrance to Endau Rompin National Park and has a waterfall known as Sungai Bantang Waterfall. Bekok also houses several aborigine settlements ''(Perkampungan Orang Asli)' ...

. Labis town, along with the adjacent commune of Bekok and Cha’ah, are granted autonomy from

and administered by the Labis District Council (''Majlis Daerah Labis''). There is a waterfall known as Taka Melor famous among locals situated 15 km from the town near Pekan Air Panas and Kampung Tenang. Labis Street Art 01

Economy

Labis is an

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

town whose main export is

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

and is one of the main rubber producer in Johor.

Education

Primary schools

Secondary schools

Demographics

As of 2010, Labis has a total population of 36,053 people. It has a large Chinese community.http://apps.water.gov.my/jpskomuniti/dokumen/Segamat%20Profil%20(LATEST).pdf

Transportation

Public transportation

The town is accessible from Labis railway station.

Car

National Highway National highway or National Highway may refer to: * National Highways (England) * National Highway (Australia) * List of National Roads in Belgium * Brunei National Roads System * National Highway System (Canada) * Trans ...

References

External links

{{Local governments in Malaysia Mukims of Segamat District Towns in Johor