SUNGAI PETANI

 

Overview

Sungai Petani is a town in the Kuala Muda district of the state of Kedah.  It is the second largest town in Kedah after Alor Setar, in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. It is about 310 km from Kuala Lumpur.  To the locals, it is better known with its nickname SP.  It is one of the fastest growing city with many malls and shopping centres like Amanjaya Mall,Tesco SP, Tesco SP Selatan, Giant, Central Square, Petani Parade, Centrepoint, Econsave, SP Plaza and Village Mall.

The most prominent landmark in Sungai Petani is its clock tower situated right in the middle of Jalan Ibrahim and standing tall at 12.1 meters in height with a gold colour dome-shaped top. It was presented to Sungei Patani by the late Penang millionaire, Mr. Lim Lean Teng to commemorate the reign of His Majesty King George V (1910-1936).

In 1953, the Municipal Board Sungai Petani (Sungai Petani Town Board) for the administration of the town area was established. In time, in year 1975, the Kuala Muda Local Government District Council (Majlis Daerah Kerajaan Tempatan Kuala Muda, MDKT.KM) was established to cover the Sungai Lalang, Jeniang, Merbok, Bukit Selambau, Bedong and Gurun. On February 1, 1978, the Kuala Muda District Council (Majlis Daerah Kuala Muda, MDKM) was created to replace MDKT.KM, the force of Law 124 of the Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act which was gazetted in accordance with Section 3 of the Local Government Act 1976 (Act 171).  It is responsible for administering the whole area of Kuala Muda district in the planning, building control, health, development and licensing projects.

Agriculture and cottage industries are the main sources of income for the locals. For example, among the cottage industries includes the making of Malay delicacies such as kuih bahulu, a fluffy sponge cake, and satay, grilled skewered meat served in sweet and spicy peanut sauce.  Locals in that area used to get their income from growing rubber, paddy, coconut and oil palm.  However, overtime, the main plantation that can be found now is oil palm estate. The vegetable crops such as onions, cauliflower, maize, etc. was introduced to the community.

One of the other initiatives is by promoting home-stays in this area.  There is indeed much to see and do in the villages. One can walk through a canopy of rubber trees, try a hand at rubber tapping and observe how latex is processed into rubber sheets. Visitors can also visit the oil palm estates and stroll amidst its neat rows of palm fronds and huge bunches of flaming orange-red oil palm fruits. Visitor should also look out for the awesome mengkuang plants from which the village got its name. It is really interesting to see how these long sharp, serrated swords like leaves are harvested, and then slowly processed into fine colourful strips ready for weaving. At the cottage industry centre nearby, one can learn the art of kuih bahulu making.

On top of that, many locals now working in the big towns nearby such as Bukit Mertajam, Butterworth, Georgetown and industrial parks such as Kulim Hi-Tech Park, Prai Industrial Estate and Bayan Baru Technology Park.

Majority of the locals are practicing the traditional Malay culture with mixture from minority of Chinese and Indians.