Tioman Island ( ms, Pulau Tioman) 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. However, it was also originally a loanword in Malay from the Arabic word: (meaning ''resident''). The c ...

and an island in Rompin District,

Pahang Pahang (; Jawi: , Pahang Hulu Malay: ''Paha'', Pahang Hilir Malay: ''Pahaeng'', Ulu Tembeling Malay: ''Pahaq)'' officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific ''Darul Makmur'' (Jawi: , "The Abode of Tranquility") is a sultanate and ...

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 located off the east coast of the state, and is some long and wide. It has seven villages, the largest and most populous being Kampung Tekek on the central western coast. The densely forested island is sparsely inhabited, and is surrounded by numerous

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

s, making it a popular

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chri ...

snorkelling Snorkeling ( British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped breathing tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins. In cooler waters ...

, and surfing spot. There are many resorts and chalets for tourists around the island, which has duty-free status. In the 1970s, ''

TIME Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on M ...

'' selected Tioman as one of the world's most beautiful islands. The island is part of

territory. However, it is geographically closer to mainland

Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the northwest. Johor shares maritime b ...

than to mainland Pahang and is accessed via ferry service from the Johorean coastal town of

Mersing Mersing ( Terengganu Malay: ''Merecing'' or ''Ngesing'') is a town, mukim and the capital of Mersing District, Johor, Malaysia. As of 2010, the town has an estimated population of 70,894. Mersing town, is particularly significant for a numbe ...

. Within Tioman Island there are seven kampungs: Salang, Air Batang, Tekek, Paya, Genting, Mukut and Juara. The telephone numbers in Tioman start with 09-413, 09-419, 09-582, 09-583 and 09-584.

History

Tioman has been used for thousands of years by

Austronesian Austronesian may refer to: *The Austronesian languages *The historical Austronesian peoples The Austronesian peoples, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, M ...

fishermen as an essential navigation point and a source of fresh water and wood. During the past thousand years, it has played host to Chinese,

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

, and European trading ships, and often Chinese

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

shards can be found on beaches around the island. In more recent history, Tioman played host to both the British and the Japanese navies during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. As a result, the waters around the island are littered with war remains, including HMS ''Repulse'' and HMS ''Prince of Wales''. Tioman island does not allow buildings to have more than three stories. Tioman Island is to be granted municipality status soon.

Nature

The marine area around Tioman Island and eight other nearby islands have been declared as marine parks and marine reserves. Apart from its diverse

marine life Marine life, sea life, or ocean life is the plants, animals and other organisms that live in the salt water of seas or oceans, or the brackish water of coastal estuaries. At a fundamental level, marine life affects the nature of the plane ...

, the inland

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfo ...

area was protected in 1972 as the Pulau Tioman Wildlife Reserve. However, a large part of the original reserve was sacrificed for agricultural and touristic development in 1984; the remaining area is approximately . There are several protected species of

mammals Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fu ...

on the island, including the

binturong The binturong (''Arctictis binturong'') (, ), also known as the bearcat, is a viverrid native to South and Southeast Asia. It is uncommon in much of its range, and has been assessed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because of a declining po ...

, long-tailed macaque,

slow loris Slow lorises are a group of several species of nocturnal strepsirrhine primates that make up the genus ''Nycticebus''. Found in Southeast Asia and bordering areas, they range from Bangladesh and Northeast India in the west to the Sulu Archi ...

black giant squirrel The black giant squirrel or Malayan giant squirrel (''Ratufa bicolor'') is a large tree squirrel in the genus '' Ratufa'' native to the Indomalayan zootope. It is found in forests from northern Bangladesh, northeast India, eastern Nepal, Bhutan, ...

red giant flying squirrel The red giant flying squirrel or common giant flying squirrel (''Petaurista petaurista'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae (squirrels). It is found in a wide variety of forest–types, plantations and more open habitats with scatt ...

, mouse deer,

brush-tailed porcupine The brush-tailed porcupines are a genus, ''Atherurus'', of Old World porcupines found in Asia and Africa. Characteristics The brush-tailed porcupines have bodies covered in quills like their New World relatives. These quills are shorter and ...

, and

common palm civet The Asian palm civet (''Paradoxurus hermaphroditus''), also called common palm civet, toddy cat and musang, is a viverrid native to South and Southeast Asia. Since 2008, it is IUCN Red Listed as Least Concern as it accommodates to a broad ran ...

, from a total of 45 species of mammals and 138 species of birds, including the majestic

frigatebird Frigatebirds are a family of seabirds called Fregatidae which are found across all tropical and subtropical oceans. The five extant species are classified in a single genus, ''Fregata''. All have predominantly black plumage, long, deeply forke ...

. Moreover, Tioman has species that are endemic to its shores. The Tioman walking catfish '' Clarias batu'' can be seen on rainforest walks.

Kajang slender litter frog ''Leptobrachella kajangensis'', also known as the Kajang slender litter frog, is a species of amphibian in the family Megophryidae. It is endemic to Malaysia and only known from its type locality, a small cave near the top of Gunung Kajang (= ...

is only known from Mount Kajang. Tioman's corals have been affected by a mass bleaching event in 2010 whereby the island lost a significant portion of its live coral cover. That resulted in many corals turning a dull white colour and some even fragmenting into pieces of dead coral skeleton. The 2016 bleaching event only just touched on Tioman's Coral Reefs, and as such, the coral has remained in good and healthy condition.

Tourist attractions

Tioman Island

* Tioman Airport * Panuba Bay * Salang * Tekek Village * Minang Cove - The only cove of Tioman Island * Asah Waterfall * Bagus Place Retreat - The most eco-friendly area on Tioman Island * Juara Turtle Project - volunteer sea turtle and environmental conservation * Golden City - part of Salang village * Air Batang - also known as ABC

Around Tioman

* Pulo Jehat * Tulai Island * Three Little Islands ** Sepoi Island ** Labas Island ** Soyak Island

Climate

Politics

Tioman Island lends its name to the state constituency of Tioman, comprising the island and part of the Rompin District including the town of Kuala Rompin. Its representative to the State Legislative Assembly is Mohd. Johari Hussain from

UMNO The United Malays National Organisation ( Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its i ...

Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 se ...

. Its representative to the Malaysian Parliament is Hasan Ariffin, also from

Non-governmental organisations

* Juara Turtle Project- volunteer sea turtle and environmental conservation

Transportation

Air

The island houses the Tioman Airport with flights from Subang.

Water

The island is served by ferries from Mersing, Johor and Tanjung Gemok, Pahang. Both are located in Malaysia. Currently, two ferry companies are operating in both jetties. You can purchase the ticket at the counter book directly from their respective website to secure your seats in advance. 1. Bluewater Ferry
bluewater.my
2. Cata Ferry - cataferry.com 3. Jetty Location
Google Map

Legend

According to legend, Tioman Island is the resting place of a beautiful dragon princess. Whilst flying to visit her prince in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, this beautiful maiden stopped to seek solace in the crystal-clear waters of the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

. Enraptured by the charms of the place, she decided to discontinue her journey. By taking the form of an island, she pledged to offer shelter and comfort to passing travellers. Local mythology claims that the island is the embodiment of the mighty dragon Sri Gumom. The dragon was on his way to visit his sister Gunung Linga (Lingin Peak). Still, the great Sri Rama forbade the meeting, and Sri Gumom was turned into a stone and fell into the deep sea where he now remains, frozen in eternity as this beautiful island with its distinctive topography.

Radio and television

Radio

Community radio within Tioman: *FM 90.0 *FM 96.8 (

Pahang FM Pahang FM (stylised as PAHANG fm) is a Malay language-radio station in the state of Pahang, Malaysia. It is maintained by the State Radio Televisyen Malaysia Radio Televisyen Malaysia ( en, Radio Television of Malaysia, abbreviated as R ...

) - owned by

Radio Televisyen Malaysia Radio Televisyen Malaysia ( en, Radio Television of Malaysia, abbreviated as RTM, stylised as rtm), also known as the Department of Broadcasting, Malaysia ( ms, Jabatan Penyiaran Malaysia) is the national public broadcaster of Malaysia. Establ ...

*FM 100.7 Nasional FM *FM 103.2 (Airport radio) *FM 104.0 (Tioman community radio) *FM 104.1 From Malaysian mainland: * FM 88.3 Minnal FM - owned by

* FM 89.1 Ai FM - owned by

* FM 90.1 Radio Klasik - owned by

* FM 92.1 Johor FM - owned by

* FM 92.9 ( TraXX FM) - owned by

* FM 102.5 Best FM

Television

* TV1 - Channel 50 (Temporarily unavailable) *

TV2 Channel 2 or TV 2 may refer to: Television networks, channels and stations *Channel 2 (Iran), operated by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting *Channel 2 (Israel), a commercial television station *, entertainment and music television in Latvia * ...

- Channel 53 (Temporarily unavailable) - Currently broadcasting on Channel 11 *

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso *Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala *Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by EPTV ...

- Channel 32 * NTV7 - * 8TV - Channel 7 * TV9 - Channel 9 * TV Alhijrah - Channel 40 Local: * TV5 - Channel 5

References

External links

*
Tioman Island Travel Information Website

Tourism Malaysia - Tioman Island

(Supplement 6 of the

Raffles Bulletin of Zoology ''The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology'' is a peer-reviewed open-access scientific journal published by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum at the National University of Singapore. It covers the taxonomy, ecology, and conservation of Southeast ...

)
Tioman island Travel Informations
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