Batu Pahat District Explained

Batu Pahat District
Official Name:Daerah Batu Pahat
Translit Lang1:Other
Translit Lang1 Type1:Jawi
Translit Lang1 Type2:Chinese
Translit Lang1 Type3:Tamil
Settlement Type: District of Malaysia
Pushpin Map:Malaysia District
Image Map1:
Coordinates:1.9167°N 103°W
Pushpin Label Position:Center
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of Batu Pahat District in Malaysia
Image Blank Emblem:File:Logo Baharu Majlis Perbandaran Batu Pahat.png
Blank Emblem Type:Emblem
Subdivision Name:Malaysia
Subdivision Name1:Johor
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:State
Seat:Batu Pahat
Parts Type:Local area government(s)
Parts:Batu Pahat Municipal Council
(West)
Yong Peng District Council
(East)
Leader Title:District officer
Leader Name:Haji Zulkiflee bin Haji Abbas
Area Footnotes:[1]
Population As Of:2020
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone:MST
Utc Offset:+8
Timezone Dst:Not observed
Utc Offset Dst:+8
Postal Code Type:Postcode
Postal Code:83xxx and 86xxx
Area Code:+6-07-42 to +6-07-46
Area Code Type:Calling code
Registration Plate Type:Vehicle registration plates
Registration Plate:J

The Batu Pahat District is a district in the state of Johor, Malaysia. It lies southeast of Muar, southwest of Kluang, northwest of Pontian, south of Segamat and Tangkak District. The capital of the district is Bandar Penggaram.

Geography

The capital of the district Bandar Penggaram, Batu Pahat is located at 1.85°N 158°W. It is 239 km (150 miles) from Kuala Lumpur. The next nearest town is Muar which is 50 km (30 miles) northwest of Batu Pahat. The town of Kluang is located about 52 km (32 miles) to the northeast.Johor Bahru is located about 70 km to 100 km (43 miles to 62 miles) to the southeast of the town.

The district itself borders the districts of Segamat to the north, Kluang to the east, Muar to the west and shares a border in the southeast with the district of Pontian. The coast of the Straits of Melaka lies to the south.

History

The town acquired the name Batu Pahat, which means "chiselled stone", from the quarries near the estuary.[2] There are multiple theories as to the origin of this name. In around 1456, the Siamese army, led by Admiral Awi Di Chu, camped in Batu Pahat before attacking Malacca.[3] Legend has it that the invading Siamese troops were chiselling rocks at a rocky spot in the coastal village of Kampung Minyak Beku, in hope to get fresh water during their retreat from the Melaka troops, led by Tun Perak, the famous Bendahara (Prime Minister) of the Malacca Sultanate. Another possible explanation for the origin of the name is the fortress ("A Famosa") built by the Portuguese after capturing Melaka, which was made from granite rocks taken from the mouth of Sungai Batu Pahat.

Renowned for its salted fish in the past, Batu Pahat was formerly known as Bandar Penggaram, which means "town of salt-makers". In 1893/1894, the present township was founded by Dato' Bentara Luar, Mohamed Salleh bin Perang, acting on the orders of the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Abu Bakar.[4]

Batu Pahat was the location of the headquarters for the Fiji Infantry Regiment, serving as part of the Commonwealth forces during the Malayan Emergency, from 1952 to 1956. The 1,600 strong force saw considerable action during the campaign and contributed to the securing of the area during that period.[5]

16 October 1980 was marked as one of Batu Pahat's bloodiest day in recent history. At approximately 9:30 AM, 20 Muslim extremists led by Mohd. Nasir Ismail, stormed into the Batu Pahat Police station with machetes, slashing and injuring 23 police staff and civilians. 8 of the extremists were shot dead by the police. The motive of the attack was never fully determined.[6]

Today, the ancient well can still be found in Minyak Beku, though little was done to maintain this ancient landmark which gives name to the town. For the town's centennial celebration in the early '90s, a quaint monument depicting a floating hand chiselling a rock was set up in the town square. It became the landmark of the town instantaneously. Currently, the newly refurbished town square is popular with locals on weekend nights and also provides as a venue for many public festive celebrations.

Bandar Penggaram, Batu Pahat is growing rapidly and has now developed to become the second major town in Johor state after Johor Bahru.

Subdivisions and administration

The district's 525 gazetted villages (kampung-kampung) and village-clusters (kampung rangkaian) were annexed to their bigger immediate neighbours into mukims for the purpose of administration. The villages are represented by their village heads (ketua-ketua kampung) who answer to the subdistrict chief (Penghulu) administering the mukim. The mukim itself is under the jurisdiction of the Pegawai Daerah or District Officer. The district office of Batu Pahat also has five district engineers (Jurutera Daerah) to oversee all the subdistricts.[7]

The district (daerah) is divided into fourteen mukims,[8] [9] each designated with a number (Mukim 1 to 12, 17, 18):

TypeUPI CodeNamePopulation
(2020 Census[10])
Area
(km2)
Density
(km2 per person)
Mukim010101Bagan8,50640.75208.8
010102Chaah Bahru5,509306.217.99
010103Kampung Bahru9,63667.12143.6
010104Linau30,439110.2276.1
010105Lubok6,89844.75154.2
010106Minyak Beku19,374126.0153.8
010107Peserai9,93319.00522.9
010108Sri Gading89,834207.0433.9
010109Sri Medan26,319248.1106.1
010110Simpang Kanan182,071128.11,422
010111Simpang Kiri25,505116.6218.7
010112Sungai Kluang15,563103.0151.0
010113Sungai Punggor10,17791.17111.6
010114Tanjung Semberong38,539341.6112.8
Town (Bandar)010140Ayer Hitam5250.28951,813
010141Bandar Penggaram11,8373.9822,973
010142Rengit4940.29391,681
010143Senggarang1,9910.83132,395
010144Yong Peng2,1881.0162,154
  1. Lubok (Mukim I) established 1921
  2. Bagan (Mukim II) established 1921
  3. Peserai (Mukim III) established 1921
  4. Simpang Kiri (Mukim IV) established 1925
  5. Simpang Kanan (Mukim V) established 1927
  6. Linau (Mukim VI) established 1935
  7. Tanjung Semberong (Mukim VII) established 1940
  8. Sri Gading (Mukim VIII) established 1942
  9. Minyak Beku (Mukim IX) established 1943
  10. Kampung Bahru (Mukim X) established 1946
  11. Sungai Punggor (Mukim XI) established 1949
  12. Sungai Kluang (Mukim XII) established 1952
  13. Chaah Bahru (Mukim XVII) established 1957
  14. Sri Medan (Mukim XVIII) established 1965

Growth in small and medium industries such as textiles, garments and electronics helped to boost development, and Batu Pahat was upgraded to town status (Majlis Perbandaran) in 2001, alongside Muar, Kluang and Skudai.

Local authorities

Bandar Penggaram, Batu Pahat is administered by Batu Pahat Municipal Council which was upgraded from the previous District Council (Majlis Daerah Batu Pahat Barat) on 9 June 2001 while Yong Peng is administered by Majlis Daerah Yong Peng or Yong Peng District Council which previous named Majlis Daerah Batu Pahat Timur.

As population in Batu Pahat District is about 495k, by merging of both councils’ income, which are Majlis Perbandaran Batu Pahat (MPBP) and Majlis Daerah Yong Peng (MDYP), Batu Pahat is potential to upgrade as Majlis Bandaraya Batu Pahat (MBBP) in the coming years.

Minimum requirement eligible for a council to upgrade as City Council (Majlis Bandaraya 市政局) are:-

Towns

Demographics

The district of Batu Pahat has a population of about 398,014 local residents. The population growth in 2000 was 1.55%.[11] The most populated mukim is Simpang Kanan with more than 311,862 people and the least populated is Bagan with a population of only 4,692.

The Malays are the majority (51%), while the Chinese is the largest minority (46%) and the Indian (3%).

The major religions are Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity and Hinduism.

Batu Pahat has more than four hundred Chinese temples due to the large Chinese population. Some of these temples are more than one century old and many have also become popular tourist attractions. Many devotees and tourists visited these temples and this has become an important part of the local economy. Chong Long Gong Temple (海口石文丁崇龙宫) was founded in 1864, is one of the popular tourist spot for devotees. A Chinese temple located at Bukit Pasir is the Kian Nam Shee Temple (建南寺). The Lim Sz Chong Su Tian Hou Temple (峇株吧辖林氏宗祠天后宫) was established in 1912 and is located in the downtown. There are also Buddhist temples or centres like Bhaddekaratta Hermitage (一夜贤者禅院), Bhavana Buddhist Society and Batu Pahat Insight Meditation Society.

There are two main mosques in Batu Pahat: Dato' Bentara Luar Mosque (located at Jalan Ampuan) and Sultan Ismail Mosque (located at Jalan Kluang)

Federal Parliament and State Assembly Seats

List of Batu Pahat district representatives in the Federal Parliament (Dewan Rakyat)

ParliamentSeat NameMember of ParliamentParty
P147Noraini AhmadBarisan Nasional (UMNO)
P148Wee Ka SiongBarisan Nasional (MCA)
P149Aminolhuda HassanPakatan Harapan (AMANAH)
P150Onn Abu BakarPakatan Harapan (PKR)

List of Batu Pahat district representatives in the State Legislative Assembly (Dewan Undangan Negeri)

ParliamentStateSeat NameState AssemblymanParty
P147N17SemerahMohd Fared Mohd KhalidBarisan Nasional (UMNO)
P147N18Sri MedanZulkarnain KamisanBarisan Nasional (UMNO)
P148N19Yong PengLing Tian SoonBarisan Nasional (MCA)
P148N20SemarangSamsol Bari JamaliBarisan Nasional (UMNO)
P149N21Parit YaaniMohd Najib SamuriBarisan Nasional (UMNO)
P149N22Parit RajaNor Rashidah RamliBarisan Nasional (UMNO)
P150N23PenggaramGan Peck ChengPakatan Harapan (DAP)
P150N24SenggarangMohd Yusla IsmailBarisan Nasional (UMNO)
P150N25RengitMohd Puad ZarkashiBarisan Nasional (UMNO)

Election results

Due to electoral division by Election Commission of Malaysia, there are three parliamentary and state constituencies (DUN) dividing Batu Pahat town. There are (P147) Parit Sulong parliamentary seat, (N17) Semerah state seat; (P149) Parliament Sri Gading parliamentary seat, (N21) Parit Yanni state seat and (P150) Batu Pahat parliamentary seat, (N23) Penggaram state seat. (Election Results of the 13th Malaysian General Elections)The last election results listed as below:

P150 - Batu Pahat parliament seat

Year!!
GovernmentVotesPctOppositionVotesPctOppositionVotesPct
2018Haji Mohd Rashid Hasnon (PH) align="right" 45,92956% (BN) align="right" 28,03534% (PAS) align="right" 8,17310%
2013Mohd Idris bin Jusi (PKR) align="right" 38,66751% (UMNO) align="right" 36,93549%
2008 (UMNO) align="right" 32,59361%Muhammad Abdullah (PKR) align="right" 19,62537%
2004 (UMNO) align="right" 38,98278%Mohamed Hanipa Maidin (PAS) align="right" 9,88020%

N23 - Penggaram state seat
(Cover most of the area of Batu Pahat town)

Year!!
GovernmentVotesPctOppositionVotesPctOppositionVotesPctOppositionVotesPct
2022 (PH-DAP) align="right" 1820853.67%Ter Hwa Kwong 戴華光 (BN-MCA) align="right" 825224.32%Ronald Sia 謝委健 (PN-BERSATU) align="right" 527615.55%Zahari Osman (IND) align="right" 21906.46%
2018 (PH) align="right" 26,82564.43%Kang Beng Kuan 江明光 (BN) align="right" 9,62023.10%Misran bin Samian (PAS) align="right" 5,18512.47%
2013 (DAP) align="right" 24,27762%Dr. King Ban Siang 龚万祥 (MCA) align="right" 14,22637%
2008 (MCA) align="right" 12,76147%Gan Peck Cheng 颜碧贞 (DAP) align="right" 12,18645%
2004 (MCA) align="right" 16,84569%Gan Peck Cheng 颜碧贞 (DAP) align="right" 6,24726%
1999 (MCA) align="right" 20,80974%Gan Peck Cheng 颜碧贞 (DAP) align="right" 7,34926%
1995 (MCA) align="right" 20,17477%Gan Peck Cheng 颜碧贞 (DAP) align="right" 6,13723%

P149 - Sri Gading parliamentary seat

Year!!
GovernmentVotesPctOppositionVotesPctOppositionVotesPct
2018Dr Shahruddin Salleh (PH) align="right" 21,51149% (BN) align="right" 18,22341%Haji M Ashari Sidon (PAS) align="right" 4,54810%
2013 (UMNO) align="right" 22,45357%MOHD KHUZZAN BIN ABU BAKAR (PKR) align="right" 16,69242%
2008 (UMNO) align="right" 19,64168%Ali Markom (PKR) align="right" 8,76731%
2004 (UMNO) align="right" 21,51280%Dr Ahmad Faidi Saidi (PKR) align="right" 5,31620%

N21 - Parit Yanni state seat
(Part of the division in Batu Pahat town e.g.: Taman Maju, Taman Flora Utama, Parit Besar, BP Mall)

Year!!
GovernmentVotesPctOppositionVotesPctOppositionVotesPct
2018AMINOLHUDA BIN HASSAN (PH) align="right" 12,30954%Soh Lip Yan 蘇立言 (BN) align="right" 7,47533%Haji Nasir (PAS) align="right" 2,94313%
2013AMINOLHUDA BIN HASSAN (PAS) align="right" 11,27852% (MCA) align="right" 10,09047%
2008 (MCA) align="right" 9,41961%Hashim Jusoh (PAS) align="right" 5,56237%
2004 (MCA) align="right" 10,53576%Muhamad Yusof Masran (PKR) align="right" 3,25924%

P147 - Parit Sulong parliamentary seat

Year!!
GovernmentVotesPctOppositionVotesPctOppositionVotesPct
2018 (BN) align="right" 24,28149%Anis Afida (PH) align="right" 18,14037%Ahmad Rosdi bin Bahari (PAS) align="right" 7,14814%
2013 (UMNO) align="right" 30,25861%KHAIRUDDIN BIN A RAHIM (PAS) align="right" 18,50538%
2008 (UMNO) align="right" 26,06666%Faisal Ali (PAS) align="right" 12,46732%
2004 (UMNO) align="right" 26,97471%Suhaizan Kaiat (PAS) align="right" 9,78824%

N17 - Semerah state seat
(Part of the division in Batu Pahat town e.g.: Taman Pantai, Jalan Syahbandar, Jalan Rugayah)

Year!!
GovernmentVotesPctOppositionVotesPctOppositionVotesPct
2018Khuzzan Abu Bakar (PH) align="right" 12,61942.85% (BN) align="right" 12,52142.51%Ustaz Wan (PAS) align="right" 4,31414.64%
2013 (UMNO) align="right" 14,40455%MD YSAHRUDIN BIN KUSNI (PKR) align="right" 11,75545%
2008 (UMNO) align="right" 13,15661%Muhamad Hasmi Hashim (PKR) align="right" 8,08238%
2004 (UMNO) align="right" 15,71574%Mazlan Aliman (PAS) align="right" 5,04624%

Economy

The main economy activities in the district are furniture manufacturing, food processing and agritourism.[12] Main industrial towns in the district are Ayer Hitam, Batu Pahat Town, Pekan Sri Wangi, Parit Sulong and Yong Peng. As of 2010, the per capita income was MYR14,122.[11] Local "pasar malam" or night markets are held in residential areas with petty traders setting up stalls and selling a variety of food and daily necessities at bargain prices.

Education

In Batu Pahat, there are 24 national secondary schools, 3 independent Chinese secondary schools and a vocational school. Among some of the best secondary schools in Batu Pahat are:

Notable people

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Profil Daerah. ptj.johor.gov.my. 26 December 2017. 15 April 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210415233935/https://ptj.johor.gov.my/index.php/pejabat-tanah/pejabat-tanah-bp/profil-daerah. dead.
  2. Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia Website https://web.archive.org/web/20030929055444/http://sejarahmalaysia.pnm.my/portalBI/detail.php?ttl_id=8&spesifik_id=82&section=sm03
  3. Web site: 83000 batu pahat, johor » Interesting BP Info. 13 June 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070505194718/http://www.batupahat.org/?page_id=149. 5 May 2007. dead. dmy-all.
  4. Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia Website Web site: Sejarah Malaysia . 2006-04-14 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060413202402/http://sejarahmalaysia.pnm.my/ . 13 April 2006 . dmy-all .
  5. Web site: YouTube. www.youtube.com.
  6. Web site: Malaysians mudah lupa – Malaysia Today. Webmaster. MT. www.malaysia-today.net. 31 March 2014. en-US. 2018-10-16.
  7. Web site: Portal Rasmi Majlis Perbandaran Batu Pahat (MPBP). Portal Rasmi Majlis Perbandaran Batu Pahat (MPBP). 19 August 2023.
  8. Web site: Kod dan Nama Sempadan Pentadbiran Tanah, Unique Parcel Identifier (UPI) JOHOR. 2023. Jawatankuasa Teknikal Standard MyGDI (JTSM).
  9. Web site: Batu Pahat (District, Malaysia) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location . 2024-02-10 . www.citypopulation.de.
  10. Book: BANCI MALAYSIA 2020: MUKIM/BANDAR/PEKAN. MyCENSUS 2020: MUKIM/TOWN/PEKAN. Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia. 2024. 978-967-253-706-9. Putrajaya.
  11. http://jpbd.johor.gov.my/images/jpbd_DokumenTerbitan/Handbook.pdf Handbook
  12. Web site: Muafakat ke Arah #Johor Berkemajuan. Muafakat Johor. 17 March 2018. ms.