Kulai

Kulai is a town in the Malaysian state of Johor and the capital of Kulai District. It is administered by the Kulai Municipal Council, known by its Malay initials MPKu, whose planning area covers 747 square kilometres and had an estimated population of 352,290 in 2023. The name comes from the Chinese name Gui Lai, meaning the coming of tortoises, which the Hainanese community used because the flooding Kulai River drove tortoises into the town during rainy seasons. According to the town history the area was wild jungle until Huang Guo Mao arrived in 1892 and brought Chinese labourers to clear the land and found the first settlement, and a New Town was pioneered from 1902. A local council was set up in 1950, the Kulai District Council was formed in 1976 by merging nine local councils, and the authority became a municipal council on 21 April 2004. About 95 percent of the municipal area is lowland below 150 metres, and the highest point is Mount Pulai at 654 metres.