Mukim Serasa is a

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 ...

in Brunei-Muara District,

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

. The population was 16,173 in 2016. The mukim encompasses Muara Town, home to Muara Port, the country's only

deepwater port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

Etymology

Serasa is thought to have been given its name by a group of

migrant workers A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers ...

who arrived at one of the village's

waterways A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other ways. A first distinction is necessary betw ...

. They took some of the ''pucuk gajus'' (

cashew Cashew is the common name of a tropical evergreen tree ''Anacardium occidentale'', in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to South America and is the source of the cashew nut and the cashew apple, an accessory fruit. The tree can grow as t ...

leaves) and ''pucuk pawas'' ( sprouts) as side dishes when they stopped to rest and eat their prepared ''pais-paisan'' meals. They discovered the taste of the ''pucuk-pucuk'' to be ''serasa'' (fitted to their palates), after eating it. They settled there and gave the river the name Serasa. Meragang, means red monkey in Dusun.

Geography

Mukim Serasa is the north-easternmost mukim in the district, its land border is only with Mukim Mentiri to the west; the rest are bounded by the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

to the north and the Brunei Bay to the east and south. There are several island bodies off the coast of Serasa and the two which are well-known include Pelong Rocks () and Pulau Muara Besar. There are also two sand spits found on its coast: Pelumpong Island, which is originally a spit but has become a narrow island when an artificial channel was cut to provide access to Muara Port; and Serasa Spit, an artificial spit.

Demographics

As of the 2016 census, the population of Mukim Serasa comprised 8,770 males and 7,403 females. The mukim had 2,946 households occupying 2,878 dwellings. The entire population lived in

urban areas An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

Villages

As of 2021, the mukim encompasses the following

villages A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village ...

Infrastructure

Education

Pengiran Isteri Hajjah Mariam Secondary is the only secondary school within the mukim. Meragang Sixth Form Centre, one of the few

sixth form colleges A sixth form college (pre-university college in Malaysia) is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 study typically for advanced post-school level qualifications such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council lev ...

in the country, is located in Kampong Meragang.

Housing

The RPN Kampong Meragang is a major residential project that would ultimately provide 1,933 housing units, primarily consisting of single detached bungalows, with some attached terrace houses included in phases H1 to H6. Additionally, a lot has been reserved for an extension to the scheme, potentially adding 2,500 more housing units as part of the 2012–2017 National Development Plan. This extension, if approved, would significantly impact population growth and the urban settlement structure of the district. A site within the scheme has also been designated for "apartments," though further details on the project are unavailable.

Mosques

* Kampong Kapok Mosque * Kampong Perpindahan Serasa Mosque * Setia Ali Mosque

Places of interest

The coast of Serasa which borders the South China Sea is lined with the beaches of Meragang, Muara, and Tanjong Batu and they have been designated as places of recreation for the public. The coast of the artificial Serasa Spit is also lined with beach features. The area of this Serasa Beach has also been made into a public recreational area. Brooketon Colliery is a disused coal mine. It was developed during the period of Charles Brooke's rule of

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Muara Naval Base is home to the base of the

Royal Brunei Navy The Royal Brunei Navy (RBN), natively known as (TLDB) is the naval force of Brunei. It is a small but relatively well-equipped military force whose main responsibility is to conduct search and rescue missions, and to deter and defend the Bru ...

References

Serasa Brunei–Muara District {{Brunei-geo-stub