The local government of Jeram, Pasir Puteh, and Kelantan was taken over by British administrators. British officer Encik Abdul Latiff took over the administration of Kelantan from the local leader, Engku Jeram. Latiff was viewed as an outsider by the Kelantan locals, both for his subservience to the British colonial administration and for the fact that, although Malay, he was not from Kelantan, which has a culture and dialect distinct from other Malay areas of Southeast Asia. Furthermore, anecdotal evidence suggests that Latif perhaps considered himself above the largely rural Kelantanese and was notably stern in his tax collection duties.