Sintok is a small town

Kubang Pasu District The Kubang Pasu District is a district in northern Kedah, Malaysia. It contains the border town of Bukit Kayu Hitam as well as the educational hub of Changlun, while Jitra is the largest town and administrative centre of the district. The distr ...

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman and historically as Queda, is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km2, and it consists of the mainland ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malays ...

Universiti Utara Malaysia Universiti Utara Malaysia (literally meaning Northern University of Malaysia, abbreviated as UUM) is a management university established on 16 February 1984 under the Universiti Utara Malaysia 1984 Order. It has a main campus in Sintok, Keda ...

(UUM) is situated here. Sintok is located about 52 kilometres from

Alor Setar Alor Setar ( Jawi: الور ستار, Kedahan: ''Loqstaq'') is the state capital of Kedah, Malaysia. It is the second-largest city in the state after Sungai Petani and one of the most-important cities on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia ...

City and about twelve kilometres from

Changlun Changlun also known as Changlon ( th, จังโหลน; ) is a small town in Kubang Pasu District, Kedah, Malaysia. The word ''changlun'' originates from Thai, ''chang lon'' ( th, ช้างหล่น), which means "fallen elephant". ...

Town. Sintok is reachable via Kuala Perlis-Changlun-Sintok expressway and via a road from Padang Terap.

History

The name "Sintok" is taken from the name of a type of tree. The town was originally a remote settlement area for tin miners. However, due to its close proximity to the border of

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, Sintok was exposed to threats from the banned communist group. Hence, the government had to migrate all the original residents to a safer area, and declared the town are as a 'black area'. History recorded many killings of members of the security forces in the area. By mid 1980s, the federal and state government agreed on building a university in Sintok. The university was named

(UUM), literally translated as "Northern University of Malaysia", and construction started in the late 1980s to replace the temporary campus in Bandar Baru Darul Aman,

Jitra Jitra ( zh, 日得拉) is a town and a mukim in Kubang Pasu District, in northern Kedah, Malaysia. It is the fourth-largest town in Kedah after Alor Setar, Sungai Petani and Kulim. History During World War II, when the Japanese attacked Ma ...

. As a memorial to the sacrifice by the security forces, a memorial structure was built in that UUM campus. A list of names of the members of the security forces that was killed by the communists was placed at this memorial structure. The establishment of UUM campus has expedited the growth of new settlements like Bandar Baru Sintok and Bukit Kachi which is located opposite of Sungai Badak Forest Reserve.

External links

Official website for Universiti Utara Malaysia
Kubang Pasu District Towns in Kedah {{Kedah-geo-stub