Batu Pahat District

**Batu Pahat 峇株吧辖**
Batu Pahat is highlighted on this map
District	Batu Pahat
Area	1,878 km²
District Population	335,368 (2000)
Time zone	UTC+8

Batu Pahat (also known as Bandar Penggaram) is a town and a district located on the west coast of the state of Johor, Malaysia. It lies south-east of Muar, south-west of Kluang, north-west of Pontian and south of Segamat.

Origin of Name

The name Batu Pahat means 'chiseled rock' in Malay. The origin of this name can be dated back to the 19th century; when the Siamese soldiers were chiselling rocks at a rocky spot in the coastal village of Kampung Minyak Beku, in hope to get fresh water to continue their seafare.

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 90's, 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 to chill out on weekend nights and also provides as a venue for many public festive celebrations.

Location

Batu Pahat is located 1°5′N 102°56′E / 1.083°N 102.933°E / 1.083; 102.933. It is 239 km from Kuala Lumpur. Next nearest town is Muar which is 50 km north of Batu Pahat. The town of Kluang is located about 52 km to the east. Johor Bahru is located about 70 to 100 km to the south east of the town.

Population

The town of Batu Pahat has a population of about 140,000 local residents. There are about 59,587 households with 295,474 population in this district ^[1]

Batu Pahat is administered by Majlis Perbandaran Batu Pahat or Batu Pahat Municipal Council based at Batu Pahat and Majlis Daerah Yong Peng or Yong Peng District Council based at the town of Yong Peng.

Attractions

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 1960's - 1970's. However, there are only 1-2 bars of such kind left in town now like Tiong Ah Bar, the oldest bar in town.

The Summit, a shopping complex of an admirable size is popular among townfolks and also attracting Singaporean tourists for a stop-over shopping day tour on the weekends.

The town square was built in the 1990s on the occasion of the town's centennial celebration. The landmark, which depicts a floating hand chiselling a rock, is popular among locals to chill out at night. Common activities such as children playing with balloon, remote-control cars and kite-flying can be seen during weekend nights.

Among some of the schools in Batu Pahat are: SMK Tinggi Batu Pahat, SMK Convent, SMK Jalan Kolam Air, SMK Temenggung Ibrahim and SMK Tun Aminah.

The place of Parit Sulong Massacre (The Bridge of Pekan Parit Sulong) was situated in this district. It is located in Mukim Simpang Kiri at Pekan Parit Sulong. The original bridge has now been demolished and it was replaced by new bridge, the plaque of the massacre existing until today.