Sitiawan
Encyclopedia
Sitiawan, Malaysia is a region in the Manjung
district of Perak
, Malaysia.
The region covers an area of 331.5 square kilometres (128 sq mi) and as of year 2000, its population was 95,920. Sitiawan town, the principal town of Sitiawan sub-district (mukim
), is located at 4°13′N 100°42′E.
in Fuzhou
, China.
According to legend, Kampung Sungai Gajah Mati (literally: "the village by the river where elephants died") is the place where two large elephant
s drowned after one of them, overladen with tin ore, got stuck in the mud of the Dinding River at low tide. Efforts to help save the elephant were in vain and everyone gave up and left. However, the second elephant refused to budge and hung on to its friend, resulting in them drowning together in the rising tide. Thus the setia kawan (loyal friend) name was derived.
In the late 19th century, tin, together with rubber sheets, formed the main commodities of commerce. They were often carried by elephants and loaded onto waiting steamships destined for Penang
. In the 1870s, when an outbreak of smallpox struck the settlement, and in line with the Chinese belief of naming a place to enhance its feng-shui, the locals chose to name the locality Setia Kawan -- the "loyal friend" -- to harmonise with nature and appease the dead elephants. The name eventually became shortened to Sitiawan.
In September 1903, the settlement got a boost with the arrival of more than 360 Christian Foochows desperate to escape the poverty in Fujian. They were led by two Chinese pastors and settled down in what is today known as Kampung Koh. Most of these immigrants worked in rubber plantations in Sitiawan. The Foochows also built four wells, two in the 1930s and another two in the 1950s. These heritage wells still exist but are no longer used.
Chin Peng
, who led the Malayan Communist Party
for many years, was born in Sitiawan in 1924.
and latex processing as the main economic activity. The town was flanked by various Chinese settlements comprising mostly descendants of immigrants from the Kutien
district of Fuzhou
, China. The original settlers were encouraged by the British to plant rice. The settlers, however, found that paddy-planting is not suited to the soil of the region and so they changed to livestock farming, before discovering that the land was much better suited for rubber plantations.
The rapid development of the urban settlements saw the plantation and estate areas developed and converted into residential and commercial areas. In the 1980s, the large remainder of the rubber
estates underwent mass conversion into oil palm
plantations because prices of palm oil were better than those of rubber sheets and latex. Oil palm is also a much less labour intensive crop than rubber as rubber needs to be tapped regularly.
Tourism has not been a major economic activity, but the town centre derives some economic advantages from its close proximity to Pangkor Island
which is a famous niche tourist destination.
The development of the town had been rapid in the 1990s. One of the main reasons was the establishment of the Royal Malaysian Navy
's Naval Base in Lumut
, approximately 10 km from the town centre. The Naval Base is currently the largest in Malaysia. The base has acted as a catalyst for the development of commercial activities in the town, serving both the residents of the base and sailors visiting from other countries.
, Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan Nan Hwa,Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Sitiawan, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan ACS (Anglo Chinese School) Sitiawan. The first mentioned school is named after Ahmad Boestamam, an historical figure who helped to gain independence from the British
.
SMJK Nan Hwa, was previously a private Chinese school which has been converted into a government partially subsidised school. Its 70th anniversary was celebrated on 1 September 2006 in SMJK Nan Hwa school hall. A thousand-person dinner was held at Ku Tien Association Hall to commemorate that auspicious day.
ACS, formerly an English school was founded by Chinese Christian missionaries. Its 100th anniversary was celebrated in 2003 and making it the oldest secondary school in Sitiawan. As of 2006 it is still standing strong even at the advanced age of 103. ACS is the first school in Manjung to set up a scout troop.
Around the year 2000, Sitiawan residents began to be involved in swiftlet
bird breeding activities.
Manjung
Manjung, previously also known as Dinding, is a district in the southwestern part of the state of Perak, Malaysia. It is well-known for Pangkor Island, a major attraction in Perak and the home of the Royal Malaysian Navy Lumut Naval Base and dockyard...
district of Perak
Perak
Perak , one of the 13 states of Malaysia, is the second largest state in the Peninsular Malaysia bordering Kedah and Yala Province of Thailand to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, Selangor the Strait of Malacca to the south and west.Perak means silver in Malay...
, Malaysia.
The region covers an area of 331.5 square kilometres (128 sq mi) and as of year 2000, its population was 95,920. Sitiawan town, the principal town of Sitiawan sub-district (mukim
Mukim
In Brunei, a mukim is a subdivision of a daerah . The equivalent of the word 'mukim' in English would be 'sub-district'.In Malaysia, a mukim can either be a subdivision of a daerah or a subdivision of sub-district, In Singapore, a mukim is one of two varieties of survey...
), is located at 4°13′N 100°42′E.
History
Folklore mentions Sitiawan as Kampung Sungai Gajah Mati. It became a thriving Foochows (Chinese: Fuzhou) settlement of industrious migrants, mostly from the district of KutienGutian County
Gutian County , also known as Edible Mushroom County, is a county lying in the southwest of Ningde, Fujian province, China. It is also known as "the town of the former worthy", as Zhuxi, a famous Chinese scholar once lived there...
in Fuzhou
Fuzhou
Fuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area....
, China.
According to legend, Kampung Sungai Gajah Mati (literally: "the village by the river where elephants died") is the place where two large elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s drowned after one of them, overladen with tin ore, got stuck in the mud of the Dinding River at low tide. Efforts to help save the elephant were in vain and everyone gave up and left. However, the second elephant refused to budge and hung on to its friend, resulting in them drowning together in the rising tide. Thus the setia kawan (loyal friend) name was derived.
In the late 19th century, tin, together with rubber sheets, formed the main commodities of commerce. They were often carried by elephants and loaded onto waiting steamships destined for Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
. In the 1870s, when an outbreak of smallpox struck the settlement, and in line with the Chinese belief of naming a place to enhance its feng-shui, the locals chose to name the locality Setia Kawan -- the "loyal friend" -- to harmonise with nature and appease the dead elephants. The name eventually became shortened to Sitiawan.
In September 1903, the settlement got a boost with the arrival of more than 360 Christian Foochows desperate to escape the poverty in Fujian. They were led by two Chinese pastors and settled down in what is today known as Kampung Koh. Most of these immigrants worked in rubber plantations in Sitiawan. The Foochows also built four wells, two in the 1930s and another two in the 1950s. These heritage wells still exist but are no longer used.
Chin Peng
Chin Peng
Chin Peng, former OBE , was born Ong Boon Hua in Sitiawan, and was a long-time leader of the Malayan Communist Party...
, who led the Malayan Communist Party
Malayan Communist Party
The Malayan Communist Party , officially known as the Communist Party of Malaya , was founded in 1930 and laid down its arms in 1989. It is most famous for its role in the Malayan Emergency.-Formation:...
for many years, was born in Sitiawan in 1924.
Development
Sitiawan grew from a small settlement with rubber tappingRubber tapping
Rubber tapping is the process by which the sap is collected from a rubber tree. An incision is made in the tree's bark, which cuts through the planting cycle to optimise the latex yield....
and latex processing as the main economic activity. The town was flanked by various Chinese settlements comprising mostly descendants of immigrants from the Kutien
Gutian County
Gutian County , also known as Edible Mushroom County, is a county lying in the southwest of Ningde, Fujian province, China. It is also known as "the town of the former worthy", as Zhuxi, a famous Chinese scholar once lived there...
district of Fuzhou
Fuzhou
Fuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area....
, China. The original settlers were encouraged by the British to plant rice. The settlers, however, found that paddy-planting is not suited to the soil of the region and so they changed to livestock farming, before discovering that the land was much better suited for rubber plantations.
The rapid development of the urban settlements saw the plantation and estate areas developed and converted into residential and commercial areas. In the 1980s, the large remainder of the rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
estates underwent mass conversion into oil palm
Oil palm
The oil palms comprise two species of the Arecaceae, or palm family. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African Oil Palm Elaeis guineensis is native to West Africa, occurring between Angola and Gambia, while the American Oil Palm Elaeis oleifera is native to...
plantations because prices of palm oil were better than those of rubber sheets and latex. Oil palm is also a much less labour intensive crop than rubber as rubber needs to be tapped regularly.
Tourism has not been a major economic activity, but the town centre derives some economic advantages from its close proximity to Pangkor Island
Pangkor Island
Pulau Pangkor is an island off the coast of Perak in north-west peninsular Malaysia, reached by ferry from Lumut . It has a land area of only 8 square kilometers, and a population of approximately 25,000 islanders...
which is a famous niche tourist destination.
The development of the town had been rapid in the 1990s. One of the main reasons was the establishment of the Royal Malaysian Navy
Royal Malaysian Navy
The Royal Malaysian Navy is the naval arm of Malaysian Armed Forces. All commissioned ships of the RMN have the prefix KD , which means Royal Ship.-Straits Settlement Naval Volunteer Reserve:...
's Naval Base in Lumut
Lumut
Lumut is a coastal town in the state of Perak, Malaysia, situated about 84 km from Ipoh, 12 km from the town of Sitiawan and it is the gateway to Pangkor Island. It is a quaint little town famous for its beautiful seashell and coral handicrafts...
, approximately 10 km from the town centre. The Naval Base is currently the largest in Malaysia. The base has acted as a catalyst for the development of commercial activities in the town, serving both the residents of the base and sailors visiting from other countries.
Education
There are many schools in Sitiawan, such as Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Ahmad BoestamamSekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Ahmad Boestamam
Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Ahmad Boestamam is an SMK in the Sitiawan region of Malaysia named after Ahmad Boestamam, a historical figure who helped in gaining independence from the British. The school used to be known as SMK Sitiawan.Founded in 1972, it started with 298 students. In 2007 the...
, Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan Nan Hwa,Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Sitiawan, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan ACS (Anglo Chinese School) Sitiawan. The first mentioned school is named after Ahmad Boestamam, an historical figure who helped to gain independence from the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
SMJK Nan Hwa, was previously a private Chinese school which has been converted into a government partially subsidised school. Its 70th anniversary was celebrated on 1 September 2006 in SMJK Nan Hwa school hall. A thousand-person dinner was held at Ku Tien Association Hall to commemorate that auspicious day.
ACS, formerly an English school was founded by Chinese Christian missionaries. Its 100th anniversary was celebrated in 2003 and making it the oldest secondary school in Sitiawan. As of 2006 it is still standing strong even at the advanced age of 103. ACS is the first school in Manjung to set up a scout troop.
Fuzhou Heritage
Foochows heritage has been prominently identified with Sitiawan. The making of "mien sian" (with red rice wine), ong piang}} which is known as the chinese traditional buns and "goroow" (sweet and sour soup cooked with fish maw) are all part of the unique tradition which is a vital part of the daily living of the residences of Sitiawan, especially those in Kampung Koh today.Modern Sitiawan
Recent intense development on transportation routes between Lumut, Seri Manjung and Sitiawan along the Dindings river have brought both prosperity and pollution to what was once a relatively quiet town. The primary industries within Sitiawan are rubber, palm oil, mineral ore, fishing, prawn farming and ship building.Around the year 2000, Sitiawan residents began to be involved in swiftlet
Swiftlet
Swiftlets are birds contained within the four genera Aerodramus, Hydrochous, Schoutedenapus and Collocalia. They form the Collocaliini tribe within the swift family Apodidae. The group contains around thirty species mostly confined to southern Asia, south Pacific islands, and northeastern...
bird breeding activities.
External links
- Majlis Perbandaran Manjung (Manjung Municipal Council) website in Bahasa Malaysia.
- Manjung Land and District Office website.
- Sitiawan pictures.
- List of Factory Outlets in Sitiawan
- Photos of Mangrove Swamp 'Venice of Perak' (in Basaha Melayu: Taman Baya Bakau)