 In the first phase of Abu Bakar 's administration , the British only recognised him as a maharaja rather than a sultan . In 1855 , the British Colonial Office start to recognise his status as a Sultan after he met Queen Victoria . He managed to regain Kesang territory for Johor after a civil war with the aid of British forces and he boosted the town 's infrastructure and agricultural economy . Infrastructure such as the State Mosque and Royal Palace was built with the aid of Wong Ah Fook , who had become a close patron for the Sultan since his migration during the Temenggong reign . As the Johor @-@ British relationship improved , Abu Bakar also set up his administration under a British style and implemented a constitution known as Undang @-@ undang Tubuh Negeri Johor ( Johor State Constitution ) . Although the British have long became the adviser for the Sultanate of Johor , the Sultanate never came under direct colonial rule of the British . The direct colonial rule only came into effect when the status of the adviser was elevated to a status similar to that of a Resident in the Federated Malay States ( FMS ) during the reign of Sultan Ibrahim in 1904 . In Johor Bahru , the Malay Peninsula railway extension was completed in 1909 , and the completion of the Johor – Singapore Causeway , a causeway in 1923 that linked the railway and road systems between Singapore and the Malay Peninsula . Johor Bahru developed at a modest rate between the First and Second World Wars . The secretariat building — Sultan Ibrahim Building — was completed in 1940 as the British colonial government attempted to streamline the state 's administration . 
