Bentong
Encyclopedia
Bentong is both a town and a district in Pahang
, Malaysia. The district covers an area of 1,831 km². It is located 80 km northeast of Kuala Lumpur
, just across the main range, Titiwangsa Mountains
. The original main street going into Bentong town has been modified to a dual carriageway. It is bordered by Selangor
on the west and Negeri Sembilan
on the south.
.
In earlier times, the center of Bentong was around the market area, at the meeting point of the rivers Repas and Perting.
The most important transportation way at that time was the rivers by using perahu (small boats). The jetty was situated in front of current rest house (near current Bentong Police Station).
Bentong became a focal point when tin
ore was discovered in the two main rivers, Repas and Perting. Tin developers constructed ‘ban’ to extract more ore, hence more profits. The practice became a talking matter to the people outside Bentong, who referred to it as the story of ‘ban untung’ (the Profitable Ban). ‘Ban Untung’ became more well-known than Kapong that later people began to call it Ban Untung. From the name ‘Ban Untung’ was what the name for the district of Bentong derived from.
From other story, according to Pak Zek (Budayawan Dato’ Haji Zakaria bin Hitam), the name Bentong originated from ‘Bapong’ (meaning float). Bentong was once used as a fort by Dato’ Bahaman. The British
army sent over the Gurkhas mercenary to defeat Dato’ Bahaman to take over the area. However, a number of the Gurkhas were killed after they were ambushed by Dato’ Bahaman’s men. Their bodies were thrown into the river and floated in the water. Following the incident, the site was known as Bapong, and later known as Bentong. The exact date of the name change was on 31 August 1957.
Darul Makmur, Malaysia. In the beginning, Bentong subdistrict was under the administration of district of Raub. The administration was separated in 1919 due to the large size of the district of Raub
. The district covers an area of 183,112.35 hectares. It is located northeast of Kuala Lumpur
, just across the main mountain range, Titiwangsa Mountains
. The original main street going into Bentong town has been modified to a dual carriageway. However, the part of the road which leads to Raub and Kuala Lipis
had been upgraded.
As of 2002, Bentong has a population of 101,533 people. Bentong is administered by Bentong Municipal Council and is one of the fastest growing towns in Pahang
. It is similar in size to Raub
. Bentong has many light and medium industries, including timber factories, food industries and electronic components assembly factory. It also has one multinational copper wire factory which is the biggest in the country.
Bentong district is further subdivided into three subdistricts, which are mukim Bentong, mukim Sabai and mukim Pelangai. Other than modern housing area, there are 55 traditional villages, 8 FELDA villages, 15 newer villages, and 14 native villages.
About 98% of Bentong district's water supply come from JBA (Jabatan Bekalan Air). Their ability to produce water for Bentong district is 15.7 thousand Imperial gallons (which is about 4.5 litres per gallon) per day while resident here only use around 8.7 thousand gallons per day.
For electricity, 99% places in Bentong district have electricity supply. There are 4 main electricity transformers with combine capacities up to 90 megavolt-amperes.
For telecommunication, especially line wire telephones, TM (Telekom Malaysia
) provides Bentong district with 6,207 units of household telephones, 1,092 units of business premises telephones and 125 unit of public phones.
Bentong district have paved roads totally 837.26 km, comprising 311.22 km of federal road, 224.51 km of state road, 124.05 km of urban road, and 177.48 km of Felda road.
In terms of education, there are 49 primary schools including national schools, Chinese schools and Indian schools in all over Bentong district with overall 12,272 students and 869 teachers. As for secondary schools, there are 14 of them including vocational and technical schools with overall 9,901 students and 755 teachers. There are also 4 government universities and a private university which are Institut Aminudin Baki, Kolej Komunity Bentung, Kolej IKIP Pahang, Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman, and Sekolah Saleha which is the only private university.
(See also: Education in Malaysia
)
For medical and healthcare service, Bentong District Hospital has 125 beds but only 6 fulltime doctors. There are 19 health clinics and rural (Malay: desa) clinics for health maintenance and disease prevention. There are 4 government dental clinics.
For law enforcement, there are 7 police stations, 9 police hubs, with manpower of 355 policemen.
For safety and fire problems, there are 3 fire stations with 111 personnel.
Bentong district representative in the Federal Parliament (Dewan Rakyat)
List of Bentong district representatives in the State Legislative Assembly (Dewan Undangan Negeri)
Pahang
Pahang is the third largest state in Malaysia, after Sarawak and Sabah, occupying the huge Pahang River river basin. It is bordered to the north by Kelantan, to the west by Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, to the south by Johor and to the east by Terengganu and the South China Sea.Its state...
, Malaysia. The district covers an area of 1,831 km². It is located 80 km northeast of Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, just across the main range, Titiwangsa Mountains
Titiwangsa Mountains
The Titiwangsa Mountains are the main mountain range that forms the backbone of the Malay Peninsula.-Geology:...
. The original main street going into Bentong town has been modified to a dual carriageway. It is bordered by Selangor
Selangor
Selangor also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity") is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sembilan to the south and the Strait of Malacca to the west...
on the west and Negeri Sembilan
Negeri Sembilan
Negeri Sembilan, one of the 13 states that constitutes Malaysia, lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia, just south of Kuala Lumpur and borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the south....
on the south.
History
According to an old story, Bentong was previously known as Kapong. It was changed from Kapong to Bentong before World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
In earlier times, the center of Bentong was around the market area, at the meeting point of the rivers Repas and Perting.
The most important transportation way at that time was the rivers by using perahu (small boats). The jetty was situated in front of current rest house (near current Bentong Police Station).
Bentong became a focal point when tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
ore was discovered in the two main rivers, Repas and Perting. Tin developers constructed ‘ban’ to extract more ore, hence more profits. The practice became a talking matter to the people outside Bentong, who referred to it as the story of ‘ban untung’ (the Profitable Ban). ‘Ban Untung’ became more well-known than Kapong that later people began to call it Ban Untung. From the name ‘Ban Untung’ was what the name for the district of Bentong derived from.
From other story, according to Pak Zek (Budayawan Dato’ Haji Zakaria bin Hitam), the name Bentong originated from ‘Bapong’ (meaning float). Bentong was once used as a fort by Dato’ Bahaman. The British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
army sent over the Gurkhas mercenary to defeat Dato’ Bahaman to take over the area. However, a number of the Gurkhas were killed after they were ambushed by Dato’ Bahaman’s men. Their bodies were thrown into the river and floated in the water. Following the incident, the site was known as Bapong, and later known as Bentong. The exact date of the name change was on 31 August 1957.
Profile of Bentong
Bentong is both a town and a district situated in the west side of PahangPahang
Pahang is the third largest state in Malaysia, after Sarawak and Sabah, occupying the huge Pahang River river basin. It is bordered to the north by Kelantan, to the west by Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, to the south by Johor and to the east by Terengganu and the South China Sea.Its state...
Darul Makmur, Malaysia. In the beginning, Bentong subdistrict was under the administration of district of Raub. The administration was separated in 1919 due to the large size of the district of Raub
Raub
Raub is both a town and a district in Pahang, Malaysia. The town is situated 110 km from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur and 265 km from Pahang's capital, Kuantan. Raub is one of the oldest towns in Pahang. Raub district consist of 7 mukim , namely Batu Talam, Sega, Semantan Ulu,...
. The district covers an area of 183,112.35 hectares. It is located northeast of Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, just across the main mountain range, Titiwangsa Mountains
Titiwangsa Mountains
The Titiwangsa Mountains are the main mountain range that forms the backbone of the Malay Peninsula.-Geology:...
. The original main street going into Bentong town has been modified to a dual carriageway. However, the part of the road which leads to Raub and Kuala Lipis
Kuala Lipis
Kuala Lipis is a big town in Pahang, Malaysia with a population of 200,000. It is located in the district of Lipis.-History:Kuala Lipis was a gold-mining center before the British arrived in 1887. In 1898 it became the capital of Pahang until 1953....
had been upgraded.
Pahang
Pahang is the third largest state in Malaysia, after Sarawak and Sabah, occupying the huge Pahang River river basin. It is bordered to the north by Kelantan, to the west by Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, to the south by Johor and to the east by Terengganu and the South China Sea.Its state...
. It is similar in size to Raub
Raub
Raub is both a town and a district in Pahang, Malaysia. The town is situated 110 km from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur and 265 km from Pahang's capital, Kuantan. Raub is one of the oldest towns in Pahang. Raub district consist of 7 mukim , namely Batu Talam, Sega, Semantan Ulu,...
. Bentong has many light and medium industries, including timber factories, food industries and electronic components assembly factory. It also has one multinational copper wire factory which is the biggest in the country.
Bentong district is further subdivided into three subdistricts, which are mukim Bentong, mukim Sabai and mukim Pelangai. Other than modern housing area, there are 55 traditional villages, 8 FELDA villages, 15 newer villages, and 14 native villages.
About 98% of Bentong district's water supply come from JBA (Jabatan Bekalan Air). Their ability to produce water for Bentong district is 15.7 thousand Imperial gallons (which is about 4.5 litres per gallon) per day while resident here only use around 8.7 thousand gallons per day.
For electricity, 99% places in Bentong district have electricity supply. There are 4 main electricity transformers with combine capacities up to 90 megavolt-amperes.
For telecommunication, especially line wire telephones, TM (Telekom Malaysia
Telekom Malaysia
Telekom Malaysia Berhad , DBA TM, is the largest integrated solutions provider in Malaysia, and one of Asia's leading communications companies, with a market capitalisation of RM13.9 billion and a workforce of 26,629 employees. Established as the Telecommunications Department of Malaya in 1946, it...
) provides Bentong district with 6,207 units of household telephones, 1,092 units of business premises telephones and 125 unit of public phones.
Bentong district have paved roads totally 837.26 km, comprising 311.22 km of federal road, 224.51 km of state road, 124.05 km of urban road, and 177.48 km of Felda road.
In terms of education, there are 49 primary schools including national schools, Chinese schools and Indian schools in all over Bentong district with overall 12,272 students and 869 teachers. As for secondary schools, there are 14 of them including vocational and technical schools with overall 9,901 students and 755 teachers. There are also 4 government universities and a private university which are Institut Aminudin Baki, Kolej Komunity Bentung, Kolej IKIP Pahang, Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman, and Sekolah Saleha which is the only private university.
(See also: Education in Malaysia
Education in Malaysia
Education in Malaysia is overseen by two government ministries. The Ministry of Education handles matters pertaining to pre-school, primary school, secondary school and post-secondary school. Matters regarding tertiary education are dealt with by the Ministry of Higher Education...
)
For medical and healthcare service, Bentong District Hospital has 125 beds but only 6 fulltime doctors. There are 19 health clinics and rural (Malay: desa) clinics for health maintenance and disease prevention. There are 4 government dental clinics.
For law enforcement, there are 7 police stations, 9 police hubs, with manpower of 355 policemen.
For safety and fire problems, there are 3 fire stations with 111 personnel.
Federal Parliament and State Assembly seats
Bentong district representative in the Federal Parliament (Dewan Rakyat)
| Parliament | Seat Name | Member of Parliament | Party |
|---|---|---|---|
| P89 | Bentong | Liow Tiong Lai | BN Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence... |
List of Bentong district representatives in the State Legislative Assembly (Dewan Undangan Negeri)
| Parliament | State | Seat Name | State Assemblyman | Party |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P89 | N33 | Bilut | Hoh Kai Mun | BN Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence... |
| P89 | N34 | Ketari | Ng Keong Chye | BN Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence... |
| P89 | N35 | Sabai | Davendran Murthy | BN Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence... |
| P89 | N36 | Pelangai | Adnan Yaakob | BN Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence... |
Subdistricts
Bentong has 3 subdistricts:- Bentong (68,904 Ha) (Capital)
- Sabai (57,157 Ha)
- Pelangai (57,058 Ha)