Monday, January 03, 2022

Sanctuary

Today's post is inspired by this entry: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2022/01/759840/batu-pahats-intriguing-past that showed up in my newsfeed.

We have been here in Batu Pahat since the 23rd of December 2021 to spend our year end holidays: rest & relax & literally do nothing (well I managed to write a few pages of my PhD, with difficulty). 

I am a Batu Pahat girl, even though factually I have spent a very short time in this town. Our family moved to Batu Pahat in 1988 when I was 14, By 1990 I was off to boarding school, then to college for my A-Levels, then to university and finally settled down in KL, returning to Batu Pahat once or twice a year for visits to see mum (mostly) and relatives (occasionally). 

This town happened to be my late father's last job posting. He passed away in 1991 at the age of 46 and was buried here. Geographically the town is closest we have ever been to his 'kampung' in Sri Merlong (since my father started working in 1974) and mum decided to stay put; opting not to return to her birth place in Pasir Mas, Kelantan. 

[Please skip this backstory if you find it too long. The actual entry is below 🤣]

The article painted a picture of an interesting Batu Pahat.

What I knew about Batu Pahat:
1- The stone that was 'pahat' (chiseled) is located at Minyak Beku Beach. When the event happened and water gurgled out of the soil, a well was built at the location, but now a dry well remained. 
2- People come here for seafood and nasi briyani... and kerepek (chips) from Parit Raja
3- There is a 100+ year tree in Simpang Rantai that could not be cut down, and the municipal authority created a roundabout with the large tree on it
4- My former school (Temenggong Ibrahim Girls' School TIGS) was used as a hospital during World War II (and the old block is still there being used by students & during my time there were some 'sightings')
5- This town has lots of pineapple and palm oil plantations

What I knew from the article:
1- In 1456 when Siamese fleets were fleeing from an unsuccessful attack on Malacca, they landed on Minyak Beku beach and ran out of water. Out of desperation they chiseled on rocks and water came out from a particular rock. This was observed by a villager who told the story & somehow the "peristiwa" (event) named our town
2- The Batu Pahat Club (which building still stands until today) was officiated on 1 Jan 1894. This makes the building 127 years and 2 days old! It still serves the same (or similar purpose, I think) as a club for government officers
3- Batu Pahat had a black pepper and gambier plantation that yielded US$1,500 in 1894 (+/-US$50,000 in 2022) to US$55,375 in 1909, fifteen years later (+/- US$1.69 million today)
4- We had a Bank of Batu Pahat founded in the 1920s and was acquired by Singapore's OCBC in 1963
5- We are the second largest city after Johor Bahru (our capital city).

Not too shabby, Batu Pahat 💝


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