neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural a ...

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the M ...

Penang Island Penang Island ( ms, Pulau Pinang; zh, 檳榔嶼; ta, பினாங்கு தீவு) is part of the state of Penang, on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It was named Prince of Wales Island when it was occupied by the British Ea ...

Bayan Lepas Bayan Lepas is a town in the Malaysian state of Penang. It is located within the Southwest Penang Island District, near the southeastern tip of Penang Island. Founded in the 19th century, Bayan Lepas has various industries. History Bayan Le ...

Penang International Airport Penang International Airport is an airport in northern Malaysia. The airport is located near Bayan Lepas at the southeastern tip of Penang Island, south of the city centre.Second Penang Bridge and the southern end of the

Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway ( zh, 林倉祐大道; ms, Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu) or Federal Route 3113, is an expressway in Penang, Malaysia, that connects the city of George Town to Batu Maung. This expressway stretches along the east ...

. It is also surrounded by fishing villages such as

Permatang Damar Laut Permatang Damar Laut is a coastal village within the city of George Town in the Malaysian state of Penang. It is located within the Southwest Penang Island District, at the southern tip of Penang Island, making it the southernmost human settlemen ...

and

Teluk Tempoyak Teluk Tempoyak is a coastal village within Southwest Penang Island District in the Malaysian state of Penang. It is located within the Southwest Penang Island District, near the southeastern tip of Penang Island. The village lies just south of Bat ...

. Formerly an agricultural village, the development of Batu Maung into a residential neighbourhood began in the late 20th century. Part of the

Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone Bayan Lepas is a town in the Malaysian state of Penang. It is located within the Southwest Penang Island District, near the southeastern tip of Penang Island. Founded in the 19th century, Bayan Lepas has various industries. History Bayan Le ...

actually lies within the township, which also houses the headquarters of WorldFish Center and a deepwater fishing port.

Transportation

Batu Maung is linked to

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the M ...

's capital city, George Town, to the north via the

Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway ( zh, 林倉祐大道; ms, Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu) or Federal Route 3113, is an expressway in Penang, Malaysia, that connects the city of George Town to Batu Maung. This expressway stretches along the east ...

, which has its southern end within Batu Maung itself. In addition, the Second Penang Bridge connects the neighbourhood with

Seberang Perai Seberang Perai is a city in the Malaysian state of Penang. It is situated on the Malay Peninsula opposite Penang Island, bordering Kedah to the north and east and Perak to the south. Its city centre is located in Butterworth, while its local ...

, the mainland half of the State of Penang. Opened in 2014, the long bridge is currently the longest in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. The major roads within Batu Maung are Jalan Batu Maung and Jalan Permatang Damar Laut. Due to the worsening traffic congestion, road-widening projects have commenced along stretches of these roads. Rapid Penang bus routes 302, 305 and 307 include stops within Batu Maung, linking the neighbourhood with Bayan Baru,

SPICE Arena The SPICE Arena is an indoor arena located in the township of Bayan Baru in Penang, Malaysia. It serves as Penang's main indoor sports centre as well as the preferred venue within the city-state for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibiti ...

,

Sungai Nibong Sungai Nibong is a residential neighbourhood near the eastern coast of Penang Island in Malaysia, about south of the centre of George Town, Penang's capital city. The neighbourhood, within the Northeast Penang Island and Southwest Penang Islan ...

and George Town.

Education

Batu Maung is served by two

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s and a

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. Primary school * SRK Batu Maung * SRJK (C) Wen Khai High school * SMK Batu Maung

Infrastructure

Batu Maung is home to an active fisheries industry and a deepwater fishing port. As a hub for the fisheries industry, Batu Maung contains the headquarters of WorldFish Center, an international, non-profit fisheries research organisation, as well as the Fisheries Research Institute of

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 Mal ...

's Fisheries Development Authority. Plans have been mooted by the

Malaysian federal government The Government of Malaysia, officially the Federal Government of Malaysia ( ms, Kerajaan Persekutuan Malaysia), is based in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya with the exception of the legislative branch, which is located in Kuala Lumpur. Malays ...

to develop Batu Maung into an international

tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...

fishing port. However, the construction of the tuna port eventually stalled in 2011 and has never been completed to this day. Following the completion of the Second Penang Bridge in 2014, land prices at Batu Maung have increased tremendously, luring property developers to launch more residential projects within the neighbourhood.

Tourist attractions

Located at Batu Maung, the Penang War Museum was originally a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

fort built in the 1930s. However, when the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...

invaded

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the M ...

in December 1941, the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

forces, led by Lieutenant-General

Arthur Percival Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival, (26 December 1887 – 31 January 1966) was a senior British Army officer. He saw service in the First World War and built a successful military career during the interwar period but is most noted fo ...

, evacuated

Penang Island Penang Island ( ms, Pulau Pinang; zh, 檳榔嶼; ta, பினாங்கு தீவு) is part of the state of Penang, on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It was named Prince of Wales Island when it was occupied by the British Ea ...

without a shot being fired. The abandoned fort was subsequently captured and put to use by the Japanese during the war. Following the war's end, the fort was left forgotten until its eventual conversion into a war museum in 2002. The Penang War Museum still retains the original military structures and equipment left behind by the British forces, such as bunkers, tunnels and machine-gun emplacements. The museum also serves as a venue for paintball activities.

References

{{Penang Southwest Penang Island District Neighbourhoods in George Town, Penang Fishing communities in Malaysia

Transportation

Education

Infrastructure

Tourist attractions

See also

References