Lumut is a coastal town (population 31,880) in the state of Perak

Perak

Perak , one of the 13 states of Malaysia, is the second largest state in the Peninsular Malaysia bordering Kedah and Yala Province of Thailand to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, Selangor the Strait of Malacca to the south and west.Perak means silver in Malay...

, Malaysia, situated about 84 km from Ipoh

Ipoh

Ipoh is the capital city of Perak state, Malaysia. It is approximately 200 km north of Kuala Lumpur on the North-South Expressway....

, 12 km from the town of Sitiawan

Sitiawan

Sitiawan, Malaysia is a region in the Manjung district of Perak, Malaysia....

 and it is the gateway to Pangkor Island. It is a quaint little town famous for its beautiful seashell

Seashell

A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer created by an animal that lives in the sea. The shell is part of the body of the animal. Empty seashells are often found washed up on beaches by beachcombers...

 and coral

Coral (precious)

Precious coral or red coral is the common name given to Corallium rubrum and several related species of marine coral. The distinguishing characteristic of precious corals is their durable and intensely colored red or pink skeleton, which is used for making jewelry.-Habitat:Red corals grow on rocky...

 handicrafts. This once little-known fishing town has since become the Lumut home base of the Royal Malaysian Navy

Royal Malaysian Navy

The Royal Malaysian Navy is the naval arm of Malaysian Armed Forces. All commissioned ships of the RMN have the prefix KD , which means Royal Ship.-Straits Settlement Naval Volunteer Reserve:...

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Lumut in Malay

Malay language

Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...

 means moss

Moss

Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...

, lichen

Lichen

Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...

, or seaweed

Seaweed

Seaweed is a loose, colloquial term encompassing macroscopic, multicellular, benthic marine algae. The term includes some members of the red, brown and green algae...

. In its early days, the beach is said to be rich in moss, so the local people called it Lumut. Lumut jetty now is the staging-off point to various beautiful offshore islands, including Pangkor Island

Pangkor Island

Pulau Pangkor is an island off the coast of Perak in north-west peninsular Malaysia, reached by ferry from Lumut . It has a land area of only 8 square kilometers, and a population of approximately 25,000 islanders...

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History

In the early days, Lumut was a sheltered natural jetty. A large Hock Chew community eventually docked there and made its way to Sitiawan. The estuary at that time was characterised by damp mossy soils on reddish earth. Tin and lumber from as far as Kinta were transported here by elephants and sampans.

Dockyard

On 9 June 1993, the New Straits Times reported that the Malaysian Government had plans to upgrade the capability of the Naval Dockyard Sdn Bhd to enable it to build medium sized patrol vessels. As of that date, six U.S. Navy warships had been repaired by the dockyard at a cost of RM 1.6 million. The warships were the USS Sioux

USS Sioux

USS Sioux may refer to: which was an iron-hulled tug built as P. H. Wise at Philadelphia in 1892., a cargo ship built in 1916 by the American Shipbuilding Co., Cleveland, Ohio. was laid down on 14 February 1942 by United Engineering Co. of San Francisco, California. a Powhatan-class fleet ocean tug...

, USS Tuscaloosa

USS Tuscaloosa (LST-1187)

USS Tuscaloosa , the ninth of the s, and the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama....

, USS Fort McHenry, USS Schenectady

USS Schenectady (LST-1185)

The USS Schenectady was the fifth Newport class tank landing ship built. She was delivered to the Navy on 1 May 1970 and commissioned on 13 June....

, USS Rushmore

USS Rushmore

Two ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Rushmore, in honor of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota....

, and USS Reid

USS Reid

Four ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Reid, after Sailing Master Samuel Chester Reid.* The first was a destroyer in service from 1909 to 1919.* The second was a destroyer in service from 1919 to 1930....

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External links

• Perak Government Portal