The Baling District is an administrative district in southeastern Kedah, Malaysia. Located about 110 km from Alor Setar, it borders Perak and Betong, the southernmost town of Thailand.
Baling District | |
|---|---|
| Daerah Baling | |
| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Jawi | باليڠ |
| • Chinese | 华玲县 |
| • Tamil | பாலிங் |
|
Flag Seal | |
Location of Baling District in Kedah | |
 | |
Baling District Location of Baling District in Malaysia | |
| Coordinates: 5°40′N 100°55′E / 5.667°N 100.917°E | |
| Country | |
| State | |
| Seat | Baling |
| Local area government(s) | Baling District Council |
| Government | |
| • District officer | Mohd Shahadan Abdullah |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,530 km2 (590 sq mi) |
| Population (2010)[2] | |
• Total | 133,403 |
| • Density | 87/km2 (230/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (MST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+8 (Not observed) |
| Postcode | 09xxx |
| Calling code | +6-044 |
| Vehicle registration plates | K |
Baling District Council Majlis Daerah Baling | |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1 April 1976 |
| Leadership | |
President | Mohd Shahadan Abdullah |
District Secretary | Azwan Azri Akashah John |
| Motto | |
| Bersih Maju Sejahtera (Clean, Progressive and Prosperous) | |
| Website | |
| pbt | |
Name
editThe name Baling can be traced to a series of events detailed in the story of Raja Bersiong (The Fanged King), a popular legend of Kedah, recorded in the Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa. Raja Bersiong was a ruthless vampire-like king with a taste for human blood who preyed on his subjects. His subjects finally rose against him and burned down the palace. When the fanged king fled his palace at the Old Kedah capital in Lembah Bujang, he fled to a place named Merbau and began removing his fangs by twisting them by hand. As a result of the twisting act, Merbau was renamed as Merbau Pulas where pulas in Malay means twisting.
After the king had successfully removed both his fangs, he threw them away to a faraway place. The place where he stood when he threw his fangs is known as Baling which means throw and the place believed to be the site where the fangs landed was named Siong, which means fang in Malay, one of the villages in Baling district.
The name Baling is also from Thai language "Ba Taling" (Thai: บ่าตลิ่ง; "river bank").
History
editBaling was also the site where the leaders of the Malay Races Liberation Army, the newly formed Malayan Government, and the British met in 1955 to try to end the Malayan Emergency. Tunku Abdul Rahman, a leader of the Malayan government, implored the Communists to give up their arms peacefully by promising that no retaliatory action would be taken against them. The MRLA leader Chin Peng expressed skepticism of a pardon promised by the leader of a nation that had yet to gain its independence (Malaya's independence was gained in two years later in 1957). Chin Peng insisted that the Malayan government and the British endorse the MRLA as a legal Communist Party so that it could run in the forthcoming elections. This was denied, however, and thus no agreement was reached.
Administrative divisions
editBaling District is divided into 8 mukims, which are:[1]
- Bakai
- Baling town
- Bongor
- Kupang
- Pulai
- Siong
- Tawar
- Teloi Kanan
Towns in the district include Kuala Ketil, Parit Panjang, Tawar, Kuala Pegang, Kupang, Baling, Kg Lalang and Kota Baling Jaya Batu 42.
One of the small towns in Baling is Parit Panjang. Parit Panjang is situated at the junction of four main roads. The roads are from Kuala Ketil (i.e. from Kulim and Sungai Petani), from Batu Lima, (i.e. from Gurun and Alor Setar),and from Baling Town via Asam Jawa and from Baling via Kuala Pegang. Parit Panjang situated 13 km from Kuala Ketil and 25 km from Sungai Petani. There are six villages in Parit Panjang. The villages are Kg Banggol Berangan, Kg Sungai Tembak, Kg Carok Bakap, Kg Bukit Endoi, Kg Tandop Pisang and Kg Lanai.
In Kampung Pisang, Kupang, there is an Islamic religious school, Sekolah Menengah Agama Yayasan Khairiah. Yayasan Khairiah is one of the biggest religious school in Baling. Now it has about 1700 students coming from all over Malaysia.
Demographics
edit| Year | Pop. | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 114,485 | — | |
| 2000 | 124,830 | +9.0% | |
| 2010 | 132,304 | +6.0% | |
| 2020 | 142,643 | +7.8% | |
| |||
| Source: [3] | |||
Government
editThe district is administered by the Baling District Council
Federal Parliament and State Assembly Seats
edit
List of Baling district representatives in the Federal Parliament (Dewan Rakyat)
| Parliament | Seat Name | Member of Parliament | Party |
|---|---|---|---|
| P16 | Baling | Hassan Saad | Perikatan Nasional (PAS) |
List of Baling district representatives in the State Legislative Assembly of Kedah
| Parliament | State | Seat Name | State Assemblyman | Party |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P16 | N30 | Bayu | Mohd Taufik Yaacob | Perikatan Nasional (BERSATU) |
| P16 | N31 | Kupang | Datuk Najmi Haji Ahmad | Perikatan Nasional (PAS) |
| P16 | N32 | Kuala Ketil | Mansor Zakaria | Perikatan Nasional (PAS) |
Transportation
editBaling is the gateway to the East Coast for Kedah and Penang motorists, as the highways 4 and 67 run across this constituency. Baling is also the northern end of Highway 76 which begins in Kuala Kangsar in Perak and connects to the border town of Pengkalan Hulu.
Tourist attractions
edit- Gunung Pulai and Gunung Baling
Gunung Pulai is a 600 meter mountain located within this district. Rising from the earth some 450 million years ago, Gunung Baling is known to be one of the oldest formations of its kind in Malaysia. It stands opposite of 2 other tall rock formations, Gunung Baling and Gunung Besar, that together make up what some call the Baling Mountain Range. Gunung Pulai also hosts several cave systems that are filled with magnificent stalactites and stalagmites formations that litter its ceiling and floor. Locals have been frequenting the mountain to take advantage of its rich biodiversity, harvesting guano and birds nest from the mountain’s many caves as well as gathering rare plants and herbs at the foot of the tall mountain.The mountain also recently became a popular escape spot for thrill-seekers looking to conquer the mountain's peak, explore its deep caverns and take in the lush greenery of its surrounding forests.[4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "JPS Kominiti Baling Profil" (PDF) (in Malay). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-03-28. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
- ^ "Population Distribution and Basic Demographic Characteristics, 2010" (PDF). Department of Statistics, Malaysia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 May 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ "Key Findings of Population and Housing Census of Malaysia 2020" (pdf) (in Malay and English). Department of Statistics, Malaysia. ISBN 978-967-2000-85-3.
- ^ "Kedah's Gunung Pulai is a Prehistoric Wonder That's Now Under Threat | TRP". 12 February 2020.
Sources
edit- Adam, Ramlah binti, Samuri, Abdul Hakim bin & Fadzil, Muslimin bin (2004). Sejarah Tingkatan 3. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. ISBN 983-62-8285-8.