Modern-day Mejar Cina Wong

Last week, I met with Johor Royal Court Council president, Dato Abdul Rahim Ramli in his office to clarify certain details from research on Sultanah Fatimah of Johor.

The iconic pepper and gambier motif
on the lamp-post on a street in Johor Baru

Our discussion covered a wide range of topics in Johor’s early history, mainly on the consorts of Maharajah Abu Bakar and his coronation as Sultan Abu Bakar, along with his commitment to establish a strong bond with the Chinese community here.

While chatting with him, Dato mentioned that he had an early start that day because he had an audience with His Majesty, the Sultan of Johor, to discuss various matters.

Their meeting must have gone on pretty well because Dato smiled and said that he will be making two announcements next week. And he did. 

On September 1, Dato issued a statement to announce that Sultan Ibrahim has revived the title of Mejar Cina as a continuation in the history of modern Johor.

I received a copy of this two-page statement in Malay shared on the Official Sultan Ibrahim Facebook page and as I read on and digested it contents, I started to gasp!

It was uncanny because just recently, Dato and I were discussing how the early Johor rulers established strong relationships with the Chinese community, a tradition that continues to this day.

With this statement, we were in fact witnessing history-in-the-making where the Johor Sultan was appointing a Modern-day Mejar Cina in the 21^st Century!

I read on to page two of the statement which listed two familiar names of prominent Chinese leaders in Johor who were appointed to their roles as Mejar Cina Tan Hiok Nee (Kangkar Tebrau) and Kapitan Cina Seah Tai Heng (Skudai), from the Teochew clan.

In that era, their roles were especially significant because they also represented the Chinese community in the Johor State Assembly and had the responsibility to relay royal decrees to the Chinese community.

The partnership between Chinese leaders or Kangchu (River Masters) and Malay landowners transformed Johor’s economy through the export of pepper and gambier and put Johor on the world map as the world’s largest producer of gambier.

We may be familiar with pepper but what is gambier?

Johoreans in particular, need to know how pepper and gambier earned its place of honour in Johor.

For a start, just open your eyes, look around and take notice of the iconic motifs that adorn public places, landmarks and lampposts throughout the city and state.

If this has piqued your curiosity, read about, Our Pepper and Gambier Heritage, published in my bestseller book, My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage.

In the statement issued by Dato Rahim, I read on to the next paragraph that announced that the Modern-day Mejar Cina was David Wong Khong Soon.

Mejar Cina David Wong Khong Soon

I took a moment to consider who he is before I let out an unladylike whoop and rushed to ask my mother if his name sounded familiar to her.

And it did not take long for her to recognise David Wong as the son of her Uncle, Dato Wong Peng Long, members of the Wong family in Johor Baru

I read the news that reported Mejar Cina David Wong as a member of the Wong family whose ancestor was Johor pioneer and builder, Wong Ah Fook.

More specifically, his grandfather was the nephew of Wong Ah Fook, the patriarch of the Wong family here.

We know that Wong Ah Fook was credited for building landmarks in Johor so while he was busy with his contractor work, his nephew Wong Kwong Yam, was his business manager to look after his plantations and other businesses.

My Johor Stories, Book One and Book Two, with
a photo of Wong Kwong Yam featured at Right
on the cover design for Book Two.

Known to locals as Towkay Ah Yam, the nephew of Wong Ah Fook was married to our grandmother’s aunts, the Mak sisters who were the mothers of the Wong brothers – our grandmother’s cousins.

The most famous of the Wong brothers must be Wong Peng Soon, acknowledged as one of the greatest badminton players of all time who started his training with our grandfather on a badminton court they built together in the compound of their house.

More details of our family link are shared in, Family Ties, published in my book sequel, My Johor Stories 2: Interesting Places and Inspirational People.

A poster with well-wishes from UTM to
Professor Dr Haji Kassim Thukiman on his appointment

I quickly shared this exciting announcement with members of the extended Wong family including the Mak family, for everyone to send their Congratulatory messages to the newly appointed Mejar Cina Wong.

The appointment of Mejar Cina Wong was one announcement, so what was the other exciting announcement?

Keen to find out, I did not hesitate to ask Dato Rahim and was delighted to discover that our mutual friend, UTM Professor Dr Haji Kassim Thukiman, was appointed to his role as Johor Royal Court Council advisor.

I cannot forget meeting Prof Kassim at an event organized by Yayasan Warisan Johor or the Johor Heritage Foundation to discuss the subject of the Pepper and Gambier Heritage in Johor.

And the first thing Prof said when we met was how happy he was to read my story, Going back to Masai-chusetts, in my book because he was born in Kampung Kong Kong Laut and his birthplace was registered at the nearest town, Masai!

Congratulations to Prof Kassim and Mejar Cina Wong on your appointments by His Majesty the Sultan of Johor on 1 September 2020.