Jelebu District

Map of Jelebu within Negeri Sembilan

The Jelebu District (Chinese: 日叻务；colloquial Jolobu) is the second largest district in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia after Jempol, with a population over 40,000. Jelebu borders on the Seremban district, Jempol district, Kuala Pilah district, Pahang and Selangor. Jelebu is a suburban district with blossoming semi-agricultural industry. Jelebu is also a parliamentary constituency of the Dewan Rakyat in the Malaysian Parliament. Kuala Klawang is the principal town of the district.

Jelebu has an infamous recorded history of British and Japanese colonization as compared to other parts of Negeri Sembilan. Numerous priceless colonial artifacts were discovered in the small semi-agricultural town of Sungai Muntoh, which was a once-booming mining town a century ago. These artifacts are now displayed in the state museum. Titi and neighbouring Sungai Muntoh were the most developed towns of all mining sites in Jelebu. The booming tin industry was one of the main reasons of the massacre in Titi, where more than 1,500 people (mainly Chinese) were killed. Altogether, there were about 5,000 people killed under the Japanese-led army during World War II.

Jelebu has the warmest climate in recorded Malaysian history. The southwestern part of Jelebu is arguably the driest place in Malaysia.

However, in the morning the temperatures are quite low and visibility is moderate due to the foggy climate.

The rubber and the mining business made Malaya one of the richest in natural resources during the British colonial period. Jelebu was one of the districts that produced some of the world's best quality rubber and steel. Pineapple production there is ranked one of the top in Peninsular Malaysia. For some unknown reasons, Jelebu is home to some of the state's biggest and most advanced rehabilitation centers.

Politics

Presently Jelebu constituency is represented in the Dewan Rakyat by Dato' Zainudin bin Haji Ismail of UMNO, the leading party of the federal ruling coalition Barisan Nasional.^[1]

In turn, Jelebu contributes 4 seats to the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly:

Chennah;
Kuala Klawang;
Pertang; and
Sungai Lui.

Sungai Lui constituency is part of Jelebu parliamentary constituency but is administered by the Jempol district council (Majlis Daerah Jempol). With the exception of Chennah, the other three seats are also currently represented by UMNO.^[2] Chennah is presently held by Anthony Loke Siew Fook of the DAP, who is also the incumbent Member of Parliament for Seremban.^[3]