Batu Gajah (population 133,422) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in Kinta District, Perak,

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. It is the capital of Kinta District.

Etymology

The name ''Batu Gajah'' in Malay means "elephant rock", it is presumably derived from two large boulders (''batu'', 'stone') that resembled elephants (''gajah'', 'elephant') found along the

Kinta River Kinta River (Malay: ''Sungai Kinta'') is a river in Perak, Malaysia. It gets its name from the Kinta Valley, which surrounds Ipoh, the capital of Perak. Ipoh sits along this river. There are many limestone hills in the area surrounding the river, ...

. Folklore claims that huge elephant figures were made of stones to scare away the elephants that destroyed the villagers' sugar cane crops.

History

Famous for its

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

long before the Independence Day of Malaya, Batu Gajah had been an ideal place for Chinese immigrants to stay and work during those years. This contributes to a significant percentage of Chinese in the population of Batu Gajah today. The Indian Settlement village (the name was changed to Kampung Baru Desa Changkat) at Changkat has a large Indian population of Tamils and also a small minority of Punjabis who built a Sikh temple which becomes the pride of the residents and a landmark in the village today. Batu Gajah had an established pre-war

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

English

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...

, which was renamed Sultan Yussuf School (SYS) after the war. The

Sultan of Perak The Sultan of Perak (سلطان ڤيراق) is one of the oldest hereditary seats among the Malay states. When the Sultanate of Malacca empire fell to Portugal in 1511, Sultan Mahmud Syah I retreated to Kampar, Sumatra, and died there in ...

DYMM Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan Yussuf Izzuddin Shah Ghafarullahu-lah is an alumnus of this school. Formerly known as the Government English School (GES), it was founded by Mr. Malai Perumal Pillay in 1907. The school was built from the rubble of an old jail. Over the years, it has produced many successful students. Batu Gajah since lies on the bank of Sungai Kinta, a little downstream from the major confluence of Sungai Raya. It started out as one of the many villages of mukim Sungai Terap, developed under its titular chief, the Sri Amar DiRaja, the early 19th century.

Features

The attractions here include two

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

courses, Kinta Golf Club and Clearwater Sanctuary Golf Course, and nearby pre-independence castle built by a Scottish rubber plantation owner, Sir William Kellie Smith:

Kellie's Castle Kellie's Castle (sometimes also called Kellie's Folly) is a castle located in Batu Gajah, Kinta District, Perak, Malaysia. The unfinished, ruined mansion, was built by a Scottish planter named William Kellie-Smith. According to differing ac ...

. There are many hawker stalls and restaurants serving food such as

noodles Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings. Noodles are a staple food in many cultures (for example, Chinese noodles, Filipino noodles, Ind ...

, laksa, and Indian-Muslim

mee goreng ''Mee goreng'', or ''mi goreng'', refers to fried noodles in the Malay-speaking cultures of several countries, such as the Southeast Asian states of Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore. A notable variant, ''mee goreng mamak'' is associated with ...

and

mee rebus Mee rebus, also known as mie rebus/mi rebus in Indonesian spelling, is a Maritime Southeast Asian noodle soup dish. Literally translated as "boiled noodles", it is popular in Maritime Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, ...

. Youths spend time at cybercafés and around the local supermarket. In recent years, Western style food franchises such as 7-Eleven, KFC, Marry Brown, OldTown White Coffee and Pizza Hut opened branches in the town. A supermarket named TF has opened and is in business.

Development

In recent years, Batu Gajah has seen a lot of improvement. In September 2012, Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co. Ltd., one of the major electric locomotive manufacturers in China, agreed to build a rolling-stock factory in Batu Gajah.

Transport

In 2007, Batu Gajah received a new

Batu Gajah railway station The new Batu Gajah railway station is a Malaysian railway station stationed at the northeastern side of and named after the town of Batu Gajah, Perak. It was officiated by Dato’ Sri Chan Kong Choy Tan Sri Dato' Sri Chan Kong Choy (; b ...

. Near Kampung Pisang at the southern end of town, it replaced the old station at Jalan Pusing which is being turned into a museum and then foodstalls. In addition, the Malaysian railway operator,

Keretapi Tanah Melayu Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) (Jawi: كريتاڤي تانه ملايو برحد) or Malayan Railways Limited is the main rail operator in Peninsular Malaysia. The railway system dates back to the British colonial era, when it was firs ...

, is constructing a new central workshop in the vicinity of Batu Gajah to replace its facility in Sentul. Located near the new railway station, the centre will house repair workshops, training facilities and staff quarters. The center was scheduled for completion in August 2009 at a projected cost of RM 430 million. A new four-lane highway connects to the Ipoh-Lumut Highway at Seputeh and ties to the North–South Expressway at

Gopeng Gopeng is a town located in Mukim Teja, Kampar District, Perak, Malaysia. It is situated approximately south of Ipoh, the state capital. History Gopeng was the most important town in the Kinta Valley until 1890, when Ipoh became more prom ...

. The highway passes near the new railway station through Bemban at the West side of town.

Education

Primary schools

* SK Sultan Yussuf * SK St Bernadette's Convent * SK Toh Indera Wangsa Ahmad * SK Pusing * SK Tanjung Tualang * SK Seri Jaya * SK Bakap * SJK(T)Changkat * SJK(T)Ladang Kinta Valley * SJK(C)Yuk Kwan * SJK(C)Thung Hon * SJK(C)Bemban * SJK(C)Bandar Seri Botani

Secondary schools

* SMK Sultan Yussuf * SMK St Bernadette's Convent * SMK Toh Indera Wangsa Ahmad * SMJK Yuk Kwan * SMK Dato' Bendahara CM Yusuf * SMK Pusing * SMK Tronoh

Notable people

* David Fasken (1932–2006), English cricketer and businessman, was born in Batu Gajah * Des Lock (born 1949), New Zealand Olympic rower, was born in Batu Gajah * Dato' Rahim Razali, a renowned artist/director, was born in Batu Gajah *

Amy Mastura Amy Mastura Suhaimi (born 10 May 1971) is a Malaysian singer and actress. Her entertainment career began in the music industry, following her performance at the 1993 Asia bagus talent show in Japan. Her self-titled debut studio album was rel ...

, a pop artist and actress, was born in Batu Gajah * Augustine Paul, federal court judge known for presiding over the

Anwar Ibrahim sodomy trials The Anwar Ibrahim sodomy trials are a source of considerable political controversy in Malaysia. The first trial was held in 1998, and resulted in former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim being convicted, and given a nine-year prison sentence. Th ...

was born in Batu Gajah *

David Tibet David Tibet (born David Michael Bunting; 5 March 1960) is a British poet and artist who founded the music group Current 93, of which he is the only full-time member. He was given the name "Tibet" by Genesis P-Orridge, and in January 2005 he ...

, a British poet, singer (

Current 93 Current 93 are an English experimental music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet, who has been Current 93's only constant member. Background Tibet has been the only const ...

outsider artist Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrates ...

, and painter was born in Batu Gajah *

Toh Chin Chye Toh Chin Chye ( zh, s=杜进才, p=Dù Jìncái; 10 December 1921 – 3 February 2012) was a Singaporean politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1968. Toh is widely recognised as one of the founding fa ...

, a Singaporean politician who served as the

Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore The deputy prime minister of Singapore is the deputy head of government of the Republic of Singapore. The incumbent deputy prime ministers are Heng Swee Keat and Lawrence Wong, who took office on 1 May 2019 and 13 June 2022 respectively. His ...

from 1959 to 1968 was born in Batu Gajah * Dato' Dr Afifi al-Akiti, the first Malay to hold a chair at the Faculty of Theology, University of Oxford was born in Batu Gajah *

Tuanku Aishah Rohani Tuanku Aishah Rohani binti Almarhum Tengku Besar Mahmud is the current Tunku Ampuan Besar or Queen consort of Negeri Sembilan. She is married to the current Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Muhriz ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir. ...

, the current Tunku Ampuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan and also Terengganu royal family member was born in Batu Gajah *

Raja Zarith Sofia Raja Zarith Sofiah binti Almarhum Sultan Idris Iskandar Al-Mutawakkil Alallahi Shah Afifullah (born 14 August 1959) is the Permaisuri ( Queen consort) of Johor. She was born as a member of the Perak Royal Family. While still attending Somervi ...

, Permaisuri of Johor and also Perak royal family member was born in Batu Gajah Hospital * Sultan Azlan Shah of Perak, the 34th

and the ninth Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, was born in Batu Gajah

Landmarks

Some heritage buildings and landmarks in Batu Gajah that are famous throughout Perak: *

(an old unfinished castle built by a Scottish

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, an ...

tycoon) *Sri Maha Mariamman Hindu Temple of Kinta Kellas Estate * Tanjung Tualang Tin Dredge No. 5 *Sultan Yussuf School or SMK Sultan Yussuf, the oldest school in Batu Gajah, established in 1907
Batu Gajah Prison
the second oldest in Malaysia after th

*Batu Gajah old courthouse established in 1892 *St. Joseph Catholic Church *Kinta Golf Course * Batu Gajah Hospital *Royale Hotel Batu Gajah *God's Little Acre: A cemetery for the British pioneers, military servicemen, policemen, tin miners, planters and civilians named after the memorial cross erected by the Perak Planter's Association and others to commemorate their lives in fighting the Communist Insurgency 1949–1960.

References

External links

Official Website of Batu Gajah District Council

Rancangan Tempatan Majlis Daerah Batu Gajah 2025
{{Coord, 4, 28, N, 101, 03, E, region:MY_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Kinta District Populated places in Perak