Teluk Kumbar is a suburb of George Town in the Malaysian state of

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

. It is located about south of the

city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

, at the southern coast of

Penang Island Penang Island is the main constituent island of the Malaysian state of Penang. It is located off the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Malacca Strait, with the Penang Strait separating the island from Seberang Perai on the mainla ...

between

Bayan Lepas Bayan Lepas is a suburb of George Town in the Malaysian state of Penang. Located near the southeastern tip of Penang Island, south of the city centre, it is home to the Penang International Airport, the third busiest airport in Malaysia, as we ...

to the east and

Gertak Sanggul Gertak Sanggul is a suburb of George Town in the Malaysian state of Penang. It is located at the southwestern coast of Penang Island, about southwest of the city centre. Gertak Sanggul is an agricultural village, with fisheries and pig farming a ...

to the west.

Etymology

Teluk Kumbar in Malay literally means 'kumbar bay', a reference to the salak trees (''Salacca zalacca''; Malay: ''kumbar'') that grew within the area.

History

According to historians in

Universiti Sains Malaysia Universiti Sains Malaysia ( 'University of Science Malaysia'; abbreviated as USM) is a public research university in Malaysia. Founded on 1 June 1969 as a statutory body with its own constitution, it is the oldest institute of higher learning ...

, Teluk Kumbar was founded by two Malay pioneers - Nakhoda Seedin from Deli and Panglima Long from

Setul Setul, officially the Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara (; Jawi: ; ; ) was a Malay kingdom founded in the northern coast of the Malay Peninsula. The state was established in 1808 in the wake of the partition between the rulers of the royal hou ...

- sometime in the late 18th century. The agricultural town was one of the handful of autonomous Malay settlements that were established at the south of

at the time. Until the late 20th century, the town's residents depended on rice farming and fishing as the main economic activities. In the 1990s, the development of Teluk Kumbar was spearheaded by the Penang Regional Development Authority (PERDA), an agency of the

Malaysian federal government The Government of Malaysia, officially the Federal Government of Malaysia (; Jawi: ), is based in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya, with the exception of the legislative branch, which is located in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is a federation comp ...

which was tasked with the development of rural areas within

Geography

Demographics

, Teluk Kumbar was home to a population of 21,481. Malays constituted nearly 68% of the suburb's population, while Chinese made up another two-fifths, followed by

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

at 5%.

Transportation

Jalan Teluk Kumbar is the main thoroughfare within the town. It forms part of the pan-island Federal Route 6, linking Teluk Kumbar with

to the east and

to the west. To alleviate worsening traffic congestion in the area, the

Malaysian Public Works Department The Malaysian Public Works Department (; Jawi: ) is the federal government department in Malaysia under Ministry of Works Malaysia (MOW) which is responsible for construction and maintenance of public infrastructure in West Malaysia and Labu ...

has widened a stretch of the road leading to the town in 2017.

Rapid Penang Rapid Penang (stylised as ''rapidPenang'') is a public bus brand operating within the George Town Conurbation in Malaysia. Established in 2007 as a subsidiary of Prasarana Malaysia, it serves as the main public transport system within the sta ...

bus routes 308, 401 and 401E include stops within Teluk Kumbar. These routes connect the town with various destinations, including the

, the

Penang International Airport Penang International Airport (PIA) is an international airport in George Town, Penang, George Town, the capital city of the States and federal territories of Malaysia, Malaysian state of Penang. The airport is located at the southeastern tip of ...

, Queensbay Mall, Sungai Nibong,

and

Balik Pulau Balik Pulau is a suburb of George Town within the Malaysian state of Penang. Located southwest of the city centre, it lies near the southwestern corner of Penang Island and is also the administrative seat of the island's Southwest district. ...

Education

Teluk Kumbar is served by two

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

s and two

high schools A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

. Primary schools * SK Bayan Lepas II * SK Sungai Batu High schools * SMK Bayan Lepas * SMK Sungai Batu

References

{{Penang Southwest Penang Island District Towns in Penang