Labis is a town and a mukim (township) in Segamat District in northern

Johor Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. A main trunk road that runs north-south

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

passes through it, as well as the KTM railway line that connects it with the state's capital in the south,

Johor Bahru Johor Bahru, abbreviated as JB, is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Johor. It is the core city of Johor Bahru District, Malaysia's second-largest district by population and the second-largest district economy. Covering an area of ...

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 British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

officers came to the villages to survey for new areas to be developed in

Segamat The Segamat District () or simply Segamat is a List of districts in Malaysia, district in the Malaysian states of Malaysia, state of Johor. Segamat (town), Segamat is also the name of the district's primary town. Segamat district is one of the t ...

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 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 language, English. However, it was also originally a loanword in Malay language, Malay from the Arabic word ...

in Johor after Bekok. 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 encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

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. Types of polyisoprene ...

and is one of the main rubber producer in Johor.

Education

Source:

Primary schools

Secondary schools

Demographics

As of 2010, Labis has a total population of 36,053 people. It has a large Chinese community.

History

Geography

Economy

Education

Primary schools

Secondary schools

Demographics

Transportation

Public transportation

Car

See also

References

External links