Batu Pahat District

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

WWW johordt.gov.my/pdbatupaha...

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 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 of the Malacca Sultanate. Another possible explanation for the origin of the name is the fortress 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, 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 and village-clusters were annexed to their bigger immediate neighbours into mukims for the purpose of administration. The villages are represented by their village heads who answer to the subdistrict chief 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 to oversee all the subdistricts.
The district is divided into fourteen mukims, each designated with a number :

Lubok established 1921
Bagan established 1921
Peserai established 1921
Simpang Kiri established 1925
Simpang Kanan established 1927
Linau established 1935
Tanjung Semberong established 1940
Sri Gading established 1942
Minyak Beku established 1943
Kampung Bahru established 1946
Sungai Punggor established 1949
Sungai Kluang established 1952
Chaah Bahru established 1957
Sri Medan 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 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 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, Lubok, Bagan 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 and Majlis Daerah Yong Peng, Batu Pahat is potential to upgrade as Majlis Bandaraya Batu Pahat in the coming years.
Minimum requirement eligible for a council to upgrade as City Council are:-

Population: >500k
Council Income: >100 million
Others: Availability of best public services

Towns

Demographics

The district of Batu Pahat has a population of about 398,014 local residents. The population growth in 2000 was 1.55%. 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, while the Chinese is the largest minority and the Indian.
The major religions are Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity and Hinduism.
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 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. The Lim Sz Chong Su Tian Hou Temple was established in 1912 and is located in the downtown. There are also Buddhist temples or centres like Bhaddekaratta Hermitage, Bhavana Buddhist Society and Batu Pahat Insight Meditation Society.
There are two main mosques in Batu Pahat: Dato' Bentara Luar Mosque and Sultan Ismail Mosque

Federal Parliament and State Assembly Seats

List of Batu Pahat district representatives in the Federal Parliament

Parliament	Seat Name	Member of Parliament	Party
P147	Parit Sulong	Noraini Ahmad	Barisan Nasional
P148	Ayer Hitam	Wee Ka Siong	Barisan Nasional
P149	Sri Gading	Aminolhuda Hassan	Pakatan Harapan
P150	Batu Pahat	Onn Abu Bakar	Pakatan Harapan

List of Batu Pahat district representatives in the State Legislative Assembly

Parliament	State	Seat Name	State Assemblyman	Party
P147	N17	Semerah	Mohd Fared Mohd Khalid	Barisan Nasional
P147	N18	Sri Medan	Zulkarnain Kamisan	Barisan Nasional
P148	N19	Yong Peng	Ling Tian Soon	Barisan Nasional
P148	N20	Semarang	Samsol Bari Jamali	Barisan Nasional
P149	N21	Parit Yaani	Mohd Najib Samuri	Barisan Nasional
P149	N22	Parit Raja	Nor Rashidah Ramli	Barisan Nasional
P150	N23	Penggaram	Gan Peck Cheng	Pakatan Harapan
P150	N24	Senggarang	Mohd Yusla Ismail	Barisan Nasional
P150	N25	Rengit	Mohd Puad Zarkashi	Barisan Nasional

Election results

Due to electoral division by Election Commission of Malaysia, there are three parliamentary and state constituencies dividing Batu Pahat town. There are Parit Sulong parliamentary seat, Semerah state seat; Parliament Sri Gading parliamentary seat, Parit Yanni state seat and Batu Pahat parliamentary seat, Penggaram state seat.
The last election results listed as below:
P150 - Batu Pahat parliament seat

Year	Government	Votes	Pct	Opposition	Votes	Pct		Opposition	Votes	Pct
2018	Haji Mohd Rashid Hasnon	45,929	56%		28,035	34%			8,173	10%	-
2013	Mohd Idris bin Jusi	38,667	51%		36,935	49%	-	-	-	-	-
2008		32,593	61%	Muhammad Abdullah	19,625	37%	-	-	-	-	-
2004		38,982	78%	Mohamed Hanipa Maidin	9,880	20%		-	-	-	-

N23 - Penggaram state seat
'
Year Government Votes Pct Opposition Votes Pct Opposition Votes Pct Opposition Votes Pct
2022 18208 53.67% Ter Hwa Kwong 戴華光 8252 24.32% Ronald Sia 謝委健 5276 15.55% Zahari Osman 2190 6.46% -
2018 26,825 64.43% Kang Beng Kuan 江明光 9,620 23.10% Misran bin Samian 5,185 12.47% - - - - -
2013 24,277 62% Dr. King Ban Siang 龚万祥 14,226 37% - - - - - - - - -
2008 12,761 47% Gan Peck Cheng 颜碧贞 12,186 45% - - - - - - - - -
2004 16,845 69% Gan Peck Cheng 颜碧贞 6,247 26% - - - - - - - - -
1999 20,809 74% Gan Peck Cheng 颜碧贞 7,349 26% - - - - - - - - -
1995 20,174 77% Gan Peck Cheng 颜碧贞 6,137 23% - - - - - - - -

P149 - Sri Gading parliamentary seat
Year Government Votes Pct Opposition Votes Pct Opposition Votes Pct
2018 Dr Shahruddin Salleh 21,511 49% 18,223 41% Haji M Ashari Sidon 4,548 10% -
2013 22,453 57% MOHD KHUZZAN BIN ABU BAKAR 16,692 42% - - - - -
2008 19,641 68% Ali Markom 8,767 31% - - - - -
2004 21,512 80% Dr Ahmad Faidi Saidi 5,316 20% - - - -

N21 - Parit Yanni state seat
'

Year	Government	Votes	Pct	Opposition	Votes	Pct		Opposition	Votes	Pct
2018	AMINOLHUDA BIN HASSAN	12,309	54%	Soh Lip Yan 蘇立言	7,475	33%		Haji Nasir	2,943	13%	-
2013	AMINOLHUDA BIN HASSAN	11,278	52%		10,090	47%	-	-	-	-	-
2008		9,419	61%	Hashim Jusoh	5,562	37%	-	-	-	-	-
2004		10,535	76%	Muhamad Yusof Masran	3,259	24%		-	-	-	-

P147 - Parit Sulong parliamentary seat

Year	Government	Votes	Pct	Opposition	Votes	Pct		Opposition	Votes	Pct
2018		24,281	49%	Anis Afida	18,140	37%		Ahmad Rosdi bin Bahari	7,148	14%	-
2013		30,258	61%	KHAIRUDDIN BIN A RAHIM	18,505	38%	-	-	-	-	-
2008		26,066	66%	Faisal Ali	12,467	32%	-	-	-	-	-
2004		26,974	71%	Suhaizan Kaiat	9,788	24%		-	-	-	-

N17 - Semerah state seat
'
Year Government Votes Pct Opposition Votes Pct Opposition Votes Pct
2018 Khuzzan Abu Bakar''' 12,619 42.85% 12,521 42.51% Ustaz Wan 4,314 14.64% -
2013 14,404 55% MD YSAHRUDIN BIN KUSNI 11,755 45% - - - - -
2008 13,156 61% Muhamad Hasmi Hashim 8,082 38% - - - - -
2004 15,715 74% Mazlan Aliman 5,046 24% - - - -

Economy
The main economy activities in the district are furniture manufacturing, food processing and agritourism.
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 was MYR14,122. Local "pasar malam" 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