Batu Pahat

(Wikipedia, 2013)

Batu Pahat is a district in the state of Johor, Malaysia. It lies southeast of Muar, southwest of Kluang, northwest of Pontian, and south of Segamat and the new Ledang district. The capital of the district is Bandar Penggaram, Batu Pahat.

Several years back, during the writer's last visit to Batu Pahat, it appears to be a small district which hadn't developed just like the writer's hometown. The writer got a shocked after looking at the great development of the town, especially Sri Gading.

Sri Gading, Batu Pahat, Johor has developed well as you may see foreign investors setting up their factories and bases along the way from Johor Bahru. The writer saw companies like Fujitsu also set up their factory in Sri Gading, which is one of the industrial zone in Batu Pahat. This had proven that Batu Pahat could be a world-recognized industrial region as foreign investment has confident in investing their business in Batu Pahat.

(Wikipedia, 2013)

Batu Pahat is Johor's second largest manufacturing industrial town; encompassing textiles, electronics, food-processing, timber, porcelain and plastic industry. It produces 50% of the textile exported from Malaysia and there are about 300 garment and textile factories.

There are several industrial zones including Tongkang Pecah, Parit Raja and Sri Gading. Private industrial zones include Sri Sulong, Lian Aik and Buditama, ranging from 20 acres (81,000 m²) to 200 acres (0.81 km²). Foreign investments include Sharp Roxy, Sony, Fujitsu, Hitachi and Mitsumi. There over 20 public listed companies, including Harta Packaging, PCCS, Baneng Holdings, S&P, Sharp Roxy, Ramatex, Southex, Prolexus, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Yong Tai, Hwa Tai, AE, Kia Lim, Kayu Wangi, Hup Seng, Xiang Leng, Magnum, SKP, SPI Plastics, BP Plastics, Cheng Yap Sdn. Bhd. and Fast Track Solutions Bhd.

Agriculture is another important source of income for the locals. Batu Pahat has some of the largest rubber, oil palm, coconut and cocoa plantations in Johor. Fruit produce such as watermelons,papayas, bananas, pineapples, durians and 20 varieties of vegetables are exported. There are also several fishing villages near the Strait of Malacca, providing rich sources of fisheries. Ornamental fish such as the arowana are major exports for some companies such as Xiang Leng.

The above mentioned quote really shows that Batu Pahat had a rapid growth in economic as they manage to attract well-established foreign companies to invest in their district. The factors could be that Batu Pahat is centralized as it is located on the south-east of Muar, south-west of Kluang, north-west of Pontian and south of Segamat.

Several kilometres from Sri Gading, the writer spotted lots of entertainment spots, such as hypermarkets and shopping complexes. As a result, to understand more on the rapid growth of Batu Pahat, the writer googled around and found out in details the local attractions that were scattered around Batu Pahat district.

Batu Pahat is famous for its local delicacies and textile industry. Once regarded as the "Little Paris" of Malaysia, Batu Pahat was famed for its "red-light town" reputation in the 1960s and the 1970s. However, the efforts of the state government in cleaning up the town in the 1980s succeeded and now there are only one or two bars of such kind left in town now, like Tiong Ah Bar, the oldest bar in town.

Notable local attraction include:

• The Batu Pahat town square (Dataran Penggaram,大草坡) was renovated in the 1990s on the occasion of the town's centennial celebration. Sitting right in the middle of the square is the landmark, which depicts a floating hand chiselling a rock. Common activities in the square such as children playing with balloons, remote-control cars and kite-flying can be seen during weekend nights. Surrounding the square are some old government offices.
• BP Walk (峇株星光大道), located at Jalan Rahmat (大马路), is also a famous place for townfolks and there are quite a number of stalls selling the food along the walk.
• Tasik Y, a abandon tin mining lake in the past and now become the green lung in Batu Pahat town, near Taman Soga.
• Lover Bridge (情人桥), famous for couples and for those who like to fishing which located in Segenting, 8 km away from town.
• Pantai Minyak Beku, a historical site in Batu Pahat which is 10 km away from town. One of the historical site is Perigi Batu Pahat (Batu Pahat well).
• Batu Pahat Mall (BP Mall)
• Aeon Big Batu Pahat (previously known as Carrefour Batu Pahat)
• Square One Shopping Mall
• The Summit Shopping Mall

The writer felt regretful as he only managed to cover Batu Pahat Town Square, Batu Pahat Mall and The Summit Shopping Mall for this visit. He also noted down the place that he had missed for a second revisit, perhaps during his Chinese New Year holidays.

The writer was also impressed with the beautiful scenery of Bagan, which is one of the region in Batu Pahat. It reflects on the imbalance of economic growth in the district because Bagan certainly looks like a rural area as compared to region such as Sri Gading, Tongkang Pecah and Parit Raja. As a result, the environment is well-preserved from pollution.

(Wikipedia, 2013)

Bagan parish is one of 14 parishes found in Batu Pahat district, Johore state and parishes covers several villages. Whole district of Batu Pahat has a population of about 468,058 local residents. 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.

Perhaps due to the lack of population that may go even worse with migration factors that lead to the imbalance of economic growth, Bagan is certainly left out as the writer along the way sees only paddy fields and villages. This can also be an effort for the Ministry of Tourism of Malaysia to continue preserving the nature, but come out with ideas in promoting this place to the public. The writer believes that by doing this, unemployment rate (u-rate) that contributed by villagers may decreased and helped out in Malaysia's economic growth.

Batu Pahat now is a developing district as compared to the past. The writer believes that Batu Pahat will be soon becoming one of the district that are recognized widely in the nation for it's rapid growing development. The writer decided to visit Batu Pahat once again and explore the local attraction that are mentioned in Wikipedia.