J.S. Potter worked in Malaya for the firm of Guthrie & Co for nearly 23 years. Initially occupying an administrative post in Kuala Lumpur, between 1935 and 1957 he was a rubber estate manager in Negeri Sembilan. Potter served in Malaya during the Second World War and after its capture by the Japanese was interned at Changi. After the war he became a member of the Negeri Sembilan Council of State and State Executive Council, and of the State War Executive Committee during the Malayan Emergency.