Kongkek  

From Johor Bahru Directory

Kongkek was the Gambier and Pepper Society of Singapore that was formed in 1867 "for the mutual protection and benefit of the financiers and planters and of the trade between Johor and the island". In actuality, however, its main purpose was to form a cartel that would control the pepper and gambier trade, the effects of which reaching out to Riau in Indonesia and other parts of Malaya.^[1]

2.   Kongkek was formed in the aftermath of the Tanjung Puteri Controversy when Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor attempted to acquire some degree of economic independence from Singapore which in 1864 was then facing a financial crisis. The most controversial of the Sultan's new regulations was the one requiring the pepper and gambier boats to call at Johor Bahru to declare their cargo. The Singapore merchants accused the Sultan of trying to establish a monopoly on the trade and regarded his regulations as a means of forcing them to relocate to Johor. The matter generated much friction on both sides and was resolved only in 1866 when the Sultan designated five additional centers for the registration of cargo.

3.   As a result of this less than satisfactory resolution of the matter, the financiers and planters in Singapore decided that it would be wiser and more profitable for them to unite for a common purpose. The man who played the most significant role in Kongkek was Tan Seng Poh who held the Singapore Opium Farm from 1863 to 1868 and the Spirit Farm from 1866 to 1870. Subsequently, from 1870 until his death in 1879, Tan Seng Poh, together with Cheang Hong Lim and Tan Hiok Nee, collaborated to form the powerful business organization that has been called the Great Opium Syndicate. These three men and their partners controlled the two most important levers of Johor's trade and revenue, i.e.:

• the pepper and gambier industry through Kongkek; and
• the opium and spirit farms through the Great Opium Syndicate.

By controlling the finances, the investment and development of the farms, the labor, and the retail trade, Kongkek became an extremely powerful organization for the pepper and gambier traders, much to the economic and financial despair of Johor. In addition, Kongkek was behaving like a sovereign authority, having its own customs officers who were empowered to levy fines and order confiscation.^[1]

4.   When Tan Seng Poh died in 1879, no one seemingly took over the Kongkek leadership, with his Johor counterpart, Tan Hiok Nee, selling off his concessions and withdrawing completely from Johor in the 1880s.^[1] This gave the Johor government an opportunity to move in, and Dato' Jaafar bin Mohamed, the then Menteri Besar of Johor, sought the assistance of well-trusted and well-established Johor Chinese to regain control of its own revenue by penetrating the Teochew-controlled Kongkek. Wong Ah Fook, a Cantonese, was subsequently chosen to assist the government in this task.