Batu Gajah (population
34,000) is a town located in the state of
Perak
in Malaysia
, about
24 km from Ipoh
, the Perak
state capital.
Origins and History
The name
Batu Gajah, which literally means "stone
elephant" in the
Malay language, is
presumably derived from 2 large boulders that resembled elephants
found along the Kinta River. Folklore claims that huge elephant
figures were made of stones to scare away the elephants that
destroyed the villager's sugar cane crops.
Famous for
its tin mining long before
the Independence Day of Malaya
, Batu Gajah had been an ideal place for Chinese immigrants to stay and work during
those years. This contributes to a significant percentage of
Chinese in the population of Batu Gajah today. The Indian
Settlement village at Changkat has a large population of Indians
and Punjabis who built one of the oldest Sikh temples in
Perak.
Batu Gajah had an established pre-war [British] English [school],
which was renamed Sultan Yussuf School (SYS) after the war. The
current Sultan of Perak is a former student of this school.
Formerly known as the Government English School (GES), it was
founded by Mr. Malai Perumal Pillay in 1907. The school was built
from the rubble of an old
jail. Over the years,
the school has produced many successful students.
Clearwater Sanctuary Golf Resort
Clubhouse
Features
Batu Gajah is a very quiet town, ideal for pensioners and young
families. The attractions here include two
golf
courses - Royal Golf Club and Clearwater Sanctuary Golf Course, and
nearby pre-independence castle built by a Scottish rubber
plantation owner, Sir William Kellie -
Kellie's Castle. There are also many hawker
stalls and restaurants serving food such as
noodles,
laksa, and
Indian-Muslim
mee goreng and
mee rebus. Youths spend time at
cybercafés and around the local
supermarket. In recent years, Western style food
franchises such as 7-Eleven, KFC, Marry Brown and Pizza Hut had
opened up branches in the town.
Development
In recent years, Batu Gajah has seen a lot of improvement.
Recently, a new large post office has been built and the scenery
around Batu Gajah has been greatly improved. MDKB has greatly
enhance the scenery of this town by planting trees, applying a new
paint job and keeping this town clean on a continual basis.
In 2007, Batu Gajah got a new operational railway station. Located
near Kampung Pisang at the Southerly end of town, it replaces the
old station at Jalan Pusing which is being planned into a
museum.
In addition, the Malaysian railroad operator,
Keretapi Tanah Melayu, is currently
constructing a new central workshop within the vicinity of Batu
Gajah to replace its existing facility in
Sentul. Located near the new railway
station, the centre will house repair workshops, training
facilities and staff quarters. The center is scheduled for
completion in August 2009 at a projected cost of
RM 430 million.
A new four
lane highway is currently under construction that connects to the
Ipoh-Lumut Highway at Seputeh and
ties to the North-South
Expressway at Gopeng
. The
new highway will pass near the new railway station through Bemban
at the West side of town.
A new district land office is being constructed in Changkat and
should be operational before the end of 2008.
People
Amy Mastura, a famous pop artist and
actress was born on May 10th 1971 at the Batu Gajah Hospital. She
once worked as a
Malaysia Airlines
flight attendant for 5 years and won the Asia Bagus singing
competition in Japan, 1993 which launched her singing career.
She is now
married to Alvin Tham Suffian from Ipoh with two
lovely children, Adriana and Adalia.
Landmarks
Some heritage buildings and landmarks in Batu Gajah that are famous
throughout Perak and even the whole country are:
References
- Keretapi Tanah
Melayu Infrastructure Development in Batu Gajah
rubber tycoon)
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