Batu Pahat District


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. It is 239 km from Kuala Lumpur. The next nearest town is Muar which is 50 km northwest of Batu Pahat. The town of Kluang is located about 52 km to the northeast.
Johor Bahru is located about 70 km to 100 km 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.
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. 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 of the Malacca Empire. Another possible explanation for the origin of the name is the fortress 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.
Batu Pahat was the location of the headquarters for the 1Bn 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.
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.
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 and village-clusters were annexed to their bigger immediate neighbours into mukims for the purpose of administration. The villages are represented by their village heads who answer to the subdistrict chief 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 to oversee all the subdistricts.
The district is divided into fourteen mukims, each designated with a number :
  1. Lubok, Johor Ditubuhkan 1921
  2. Bagan 峇眼 Ditubuhkan 1921
  3. Peserai Ditubuhkan 1921
  4. Simpang Kiri Ditubuhkan 1925
  5. Simpang Kanan Ditubuhkan 1927
  6. Linau, Johor Ditubuhkan 1935
  7. Tanjung Semberong Ditubuhkan 1940
  8. Sri Gading Ditubuhkan 1942
  9. Minyak Beku 米那务固 Ditubuhkan 1943
  10. Kampung Bahru Ditubuhkan 1946
  11. Sungai Punggor Ditubuhkan 1949
  12. Sungai Kluang Ditubuhkan 1952
  13. Chaah Bahru Ditubuhkan 1957
  14. Sri Medan 铁山 Ditubuhkan 1965
Bandar Penggaram, Batu Pahat is administered by Batu Pahat Municipal Council which was upgraded from the previous District Council 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.
Growth in small and medium industries such as textiles, garments and electronics helped to boost development, and Batu Pahat was upgraded to town status in 2001, alongside Muar, Kluang and Skudai.

Towns

The district of Batu Pahat has a population of about 398,014 local residents. The population growth in 2000 was 1.55%. 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, while the Chinese is the largest minority and the Indian.
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 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. The Lim Sz Chong Su Tian Hou Temple was established in 1912 and is located in the downtown. There are also Buddhist temples or centres like Bhaddekaratta Hermitage, Bhavana Buddhist Society and Batu Pahat Insight Meditation Society.
There are two main mosques in Batu Pahat: Masjid Dato' Bentara Luar and Masjid Sultan Ismail.

Politics

Election results

Due to electoral division by Election Commission of Malaysia, there are three parliamentary and state constituencies dividing Batu Pahat town. There are Parit Sulong parliamentary seat, Semerah state seat; Parliament Sri Gading parliamentary seat, Parit Yanni state seat and Batu Pahat parliamentary seat, Penggaram state seat.
The last election results listed as below:
P150 - Batu Pahat parliament seat
YearGovernmentVotesPctOppositionVotesPctOppositionVotesPct
2018Haji Mohd Rashid Hasnon 45,92956% 28,03534% 8,17310%-
2013Mohd Idris bin Jusi 38,66751% 36,93549%-----
2008 32,59361%Muhammad Abdullah 19,62537%-----
2004 38,98278%Mohamed Hanipa Maidin 9,88020%----

N23 - Penggaram state seat
'
YearGovernmentVotesPctOppositionVotesPctOppositionVotesPct
2018 26,82564.43%Kang Beng Kuan 江明光 9,62023.10%Misran bin Samian 5,18512.47%-
2013 24,27762%Dr. King Ban Siang 龚万祥 14,22637%-----
2008 12,76147%Gan Peck Cheng 颜碧贞 12,18645%-----
2004 16,84569%Gan Peck Cheng 颜碧贞 6,24726%-----
1999 20,80974%Gan Peck Cheng 颜碧贞 7,34926%-----
1995 20,17477%Gan Peck Cheng 颜碧贞 6,13723%----

P149 - Sri Gading parliamentary seat
YearGovernmentVotesPctOppositionVotesPctOppositionVotesPct
2018Dr Shahruddin Salleh 21,51149% 18,22341%Haji M Ashari Sidon 4,54810%-
2013 22,45357%MOHD KHUZZAN BIN ABU BAKAR 16,69242%-----
2008 19,64168%Ali Markom 8,76731%-----
2004 21,51280%Dr Ahmad Faidi Saidi 5,31620%----

N21 - Parit Yanni state seat
'
YearGovernmentVotesPctOppositionVotesPctOppositionVotesPct
2018AMINOLHUDA BIN HASSAN 12,30954%Soh Lip Yan 蘇立言 7,47533%Haji Nasir 2,94313%-
2013AMINOLHUDA BIN HASSAN 11,27852% 10,09047%-----
2008 9,41961%Hashim Jusoh 5,56237%-----
2004 10,53576%Muhamad Yusof Masran 3,25924%----

P147 - Parit Sulong parliamentary seat
YearGovernmentVotesPctOppositionVotesPctOppositionVotesPct
2018 24,28149%Anis Afida 18,14037%Ahmad Rosdi bin Bahari 7,14814%-
2013 30,25861%KHAIRUDDIN BIN A RAHIM 18,50538%-----
2008 26,06666%Faisal Ali 12,46732%-----
2004 26,97471%Suhaizan Kaiat 9,78824%----

N17 - Semerah state seat
'
YearGovernmentVotesPctOppositionVotesPctOppositionVotesPct
2018Khuzzan Abu Bakar''' 12,61942.85% 12,52142.51%Ustaz Wan 4,31414.64%-
2013 14,40455%MD YSAHRUDIN BIN KUSNI 11,75545%-----
2008 13,15661%Muhamad Hasmi Hashim 8,08238%-----
2004 15,71574%Mazlan Aliman 5,04624%----

Economy

The main economy activities in the district are furniture manufacturing, food processing and agritourism.
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. 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.

Shopping / Places to Hangout

  • Batu Pahat Mall
  • SquareOne Mall
  • The Summit Parade
  • Green Point
  • Econsave Yong Peng
  • Save n' Save
  • The Store Batu Pahat
  • Nirwana Maju Hypermarket
  • Tesco Parit Raja
  • Batu Pahat Mall
  • Cowboy Supermarket
  • Starbucks Drive Thru
  • BP Old Streets Business Park
  • D' Garden Business Park
  • Rivercity Business Park
  • Versis Business Park
  • Burger King Drive Thru
  • KFC Drive Thru
  • McDonald's Drive Thru
  • A&W Restaurant
  • Baskin Robin
  • BP Walk
  • Dataran Penggaram
  • BP Waterfront Park
  • Water Theme Park
  • Taman Setia Jaya 2 commercial park
  • Taman Flora Utama commercial park
  • Taman Bukit Pasir commercial park
  • Tasik Y
  • Taman Botani Johor, Seri Medan

    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: