neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural are ...

Malaysian state The states and federal territories of Malaysia are the principal administrative divisions of Malaysia. Malaysia is a federation of 13 states (''Negeri'') and 3 federal territories (''Wilayah Persekutuan''). States and federal territories Ele ...

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

Southwest Penang Island District The Southwest Penang Island District ( ms, Daerah Barat Daya Pulau Pinang) is a district within the Malaysian state of Penang. The district covers the southwestern half of Penang Island and borders the Northeast Penang Island District to the eas ...

Penang Island Penang Island ( ms, Pulau Pinang; zh, 檳榔嶼; ta, பினாங்கு தீவு) is part of the state of Penang, on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It was named Prince of Wales Island when it was occupied by the British Ea ...

Bayan Lepas Bayan Lepas is a town in the Malaysian state of Penang. It is located within the Southwest Penang Island District, near the southeastern tip of Penang Island. Founded in the 19th century, Bayan Lepas has various industries. History Bayan Lep ...

Penang International Airport Penang International Airport is an airport in northern Malaysia. The airport is located near Bayan Lepas at the southeastern tip of Penang Island, south of the city centre.Second Penang Bridge and the southern end of the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway. It is also surrounded by fishing villages such as Permatang Damar Laut and

Teluk Tempoyak Teluk Tempoyak is a coastal village within Southwest Penang Island District in the Malaysian state of Penang. It is located within the Southwest Penang Island District, near the southeastern tip of Penang Island. The village lies just south of Ba ...

. Formerly an agricultural village, the development of Batu Maung into a residential neighbourhood began in the late 20th century. Part of the

Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone Bayan Lepas is a town in the Malaysian state of Penang. It is located within the Southwest Penang Island District, near the southeastern tip of Penang Island. Founded in the 19th century, Bayan Lepas has various industries. History Bayan Lep ...

actually lies within the township, which also houses the headquarters of

WorldFish Center WorldFish is an international nonprofit research institution that creates and translates scientific research on aquatic food systems. WorldFish is a member of CGIAR, which unites international organizations engaged in research about food secur ...

and a deepwater fishing port.

Transportation

Batu Maung is linked to

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

's capital city, George Town, to the north via the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway, which has its southern end within Batu Maung itself. In addition, the Second Penang Bridge connects the neighbourhood with

Seberang Perai Seberang Perai is a city in the Malaysian state of Penang. It is situated on the Malay Peninsula opposite Penang Island, bordering Kedah to the north and east and Perak to the south. Its city centre is located in Butterworth, while its local ...

, the mainland half of the State of Penang. Opened in 2014, the long bridge is currently the longest in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. The major roads within Batu Maung are

Jalan Batu Maung Jalan Batu Maung also known as Jalan Permatang Damar Laut (Penang state road P10) is a major road in Penang, Malaysia. It connects Bayan Lepas to Batu Maung Batu Maung is a residential neighbourhood in the Malaysian state of Penang. It is loc ...

and Jalan Permatang Damar Laut. Due to the worsening traffic congestion, road-widening projects have commenced along stretches of these roads.

Rapid Penang Rapid Penang (styled as ''rapidPenang'') is a public bus brand in the State of Penang, Malaysia. Formed as a subsidiary of Prasarana Malaysia in 2007, to date it is the main public transport operator within Penang; its bus network serves commut ...

bus routes 302, 305 and 307 include stops within Batu Maung, linking the neighbourhood with

Bayan Baru Bayan Baru is a town in the Malaysian state of Penang. It is located within the Southwest Penang Island District, adjacent to the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone. The township was created in the 1970s following the establishment of the zone. Si ...

, SPICE Arena, Sungai Nibong and George Town.

Education

Batu Maung is served by two

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s and a

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. Primary school * SRK Batu Maung * SRJK (C) Wen Khai High school *

SMK Batu Maung SMK Batu Maung is a secondary school located in Southwest Region (Zone M3) or Batu Maung, Penang, Malaysia. It was founded in 2001, and has the normal school day in the Southwest District of Penang. History

SMK Batu Maung was established in 2 ...

Infrastructure

Batu Maung is home to an active fisheries industry and a deepwater fishing port. As a hub for the fisheries industry, Batu Maung contains the headquarters of

WorldFish Center WorldFish is an international nonprofit research institution that creates and translates scientific research on aquatic food systems. WorldFish is a member of CGIAR, which unites international organizations engaged in research about food secur ...

, an international, non-profit fisheries research organisation, as well as the Fisheries Research Institute of

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

's Fisheries Development Authority. Plans have been mooted by the Malaysian federal government to develop Batu Maung into an international

tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...

fishing port. However, the construction of the tuna port eventually stalled in 2011 and has never been completed to this day. Following the completion of the Second Penang Bridge in 2014, land prices at Batu Maung have increased tremendously, luring property developers to launch more residential projects within the neighbourhood.

Tourist attractions

Located at Batu Maung, the Penang War Museum was originally a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

fort built in the 1930s. However, when the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

invaded

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

in December 1941, the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

forces, led by Lieutenant-General

Arthur Percival Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival, (26 December 1887 – 31 January 1966) was a senior British Army officer. He saw service in the First World War and built a successful military career during the interwar period but is most noted for ...

, evacuated

Penang Island Penang Island ( ms, Pulau Pinang; zh, 檳榔嶼; ta, பினாங்கு தீவு) is part of the state of Penang, on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It was named Prince of Wales Island when it was occupied by the British Ea ...

without a shot being fired. The abandoned fort was subsequently captured and put to use by the Japanese during the war. Following the war's end, the fort was left forgotten until its eventual conversion into a war museum in 2002. The Penang War Museum still retains the original military structures and equipment left behind by the British forces, such as bunkers, tunnels and machine-gun emplacements. The museum also serves as a venue for

paintball Paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called paintballs that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using low-energy ai ...

activities.

References

{{Penang Southwest Penang Island District Neighbourhoods in George Town, Penang Fishing communities in Malaysia

Transportation

Education

Infrastructure

Tourist attractions

See also

References