The Batu Pahat District is a district in the state of

Johor Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. It lies southeast of Muar, southwest of Kluang, northwest of Pontian, south of

Segamat The Segamat District () or simply Segamat is a List of districts in Malaysia, district in the Malaysian states of Malaysia, state of Johor. Segamat (town), Segamat is also the name of the district's primary town. Segamat district is one of the t ...

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 from Kuala Lumpur. The next nearest town is Muar which is northwest of Batu Pahat. The town of Kluang is located about to the northeast.

Johor Bahru Johor Bahru, abbreviated as JB, is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Johor. It is the core city of Johor Bahru District, Malaysia's second-largest district by population and the second-largest district economy. Covering an area of ...

is located about 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 (Prime Minister) of the

Malacca Sultanate The Malacca Sultanate (; Jawi script: ) was a Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks as the founding year of the sultanate by King of Singapura, Parameswara, also known as I ...

. 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. Batu Pahat was the location of the headquarters for the

Fiji Infantry Regiment The Fiji Infantry Regiment is the main combat element of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces. It is a light infantry regiment consisting of six battalions, of which three are regular army and three are Territorial Force. The regiment was formed ...

, 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 (kampung-kampung) and village-clusters (kampung rangkaian) were annexed to their bigger immediate neighbours into ''

mukim A mukim is a type of administrative division used in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The word ''mukim'' is a loanword in English language, English. However, it was also originally a loanword in Malay language, Malay from the Arabic word ...

s'' 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. The district (''daerah'') is divided into fourteen

s, each designated with a number (Mukim 1 to 12, 17, 18): #

Lubok A ''lubok'' (plural ''lubki''; ) is a Russian popular print, characterized by simple graphics and narratives derived from literature, religious stories, and popular tales. ''Lubki'' prints were used as decoration in houses and inns. Early exampl ...

(Mukim I) established 1921 #

Bagan Bagan ( ; ; formerly Pagan) is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that w ...

(Mukim II) established 1921 # Peserai (Mukim III) established 1921 # Simpang Kiri (Mukim IV) established 1925 # Simpang Kanan (Mukim V) established 1927 # Linau (Mukim VI) established 1935 # Tanjung Semberong (Mukim VII) established 1940 # Sri Gading (Mukim VIII) established 1942 # Minyak Beku (Mukim IX) established 1943 # Kampung Bahru (Mukim X) established 1946 # Sungai Punggor (Mukim XI) established 1949 # Sungai Kluang (Mukim XII) established 1952 # Chaah Bahru (Mukim XVII) established 1957 # 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. * Batu Pahat Municipal Council consists of the following mukim: Sri Gading, Simpang Kanan, Minyak Beku, Kampung Bahru, Sungai Punggor, Sungai Kluang, Linau,

and Peserai * while Yong Peng District Council consists of the following mukim: Tanjung Semberong, Chaah Bahru, Sri Medan, Simpang Kiri 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:- * Population: >500k * Council Income: >100 million * Others: Availability of best public services (transportation, tertiary education hub, important industrial hub, etc.)

Towns

* Rengit * Yong Peng * Semerah * Parit Sulong * Sri Gading * Parit Raja * Senggarang * Tongkang Pechah * Sri Medan * Parit Yaani

Demographics

The district of Batu Pahat has a population of about 398,014 local residents. The population growth in 2000 was 1.55%.Handbook
gov.my 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 Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Taoism Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

and

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

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

Election results

Due to electoral division by

Election Commission of Malaysia The Election Commission of Malaysia (; Jawi: ), abbreviated SPR or EC, is a commission set up for ensuring fair and equitable operations in undertaking the elections in Malaysia. The agency falls under the purview of the Prime Minister's Depa ...

, there are three parliamentary and state

constituencies An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

(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 N23 - Penggaram state seat
''(Cover most of the area of Batu Pahat town)'' P149 - Sri Gading parliamentary seat N21 - Parit Yanni state seat
''(Part of the division in Batu Pahat town e.g.: Taman Maju, Taman Flora Utama, Parit Besar, BP Mall)'' P147 - Parit Sulong parliamentary seat N17 - Semerah state seat
''(Part of the division in Batu Pahat town e.g.: Taman Pantai, Jalan Syahbandar, Jalan Rugayah)''

Economy

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

agritourism Agritourism or agrotourism involves any agriculturally based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. It encompasses a wide range of activities, including direct-to-consumer sales such as farm stands and u-pick, agricultu ...

. 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 Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

was MYR14,122. Local "''

pasar malam ''Pasar malam'' is a Malay language, Malay word that literally means "night market" (the word ''pasar'' comes from ''bazaar'' in Persian language, Persian). A ''pasar malam'' is a street market in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore that o ...

''" 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

* Mohid Mohamed, Chief Secretary for the Ministry of Youth and Sport