Baling

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Also see bale.

Baling is a major town in the northern state of Kedah in Malaysia. It is also the name of a district in which Baling town is situated. It is an hour's drive away from Betong, the southernmost town in Thailand.

Baling is well known for its beautiful waterfalls including Lata Bayu, Lata Celak and Bukit Hijau. It is also known for its local fruits, especially the durian, dokong and langsat.

[edit] Origin of Name

The name Baling was believed to be obtained as a result of the events happened in Hikayat Raja Bersiong (The Fanged King), a popular legend of Kedah. When the fanged king fled his palace at the Old Kedah capital in Lembah Bujang, he fled to a place named Merbau and began removing his fangs by twisting them by hand. As a result of the twisting act, Merbau was renamed as Merbau Pulas where pulas in Malay means twisting (by force).

After the king had successfully removed both his fangs, he threw his fangs away to a faraway place, and the place believed as the site where the fanged king threw away his fangs was named as Baling, which means throw away in Malay.

[edit] History

Baling was also the site where the leaders of the Malay Races Liberation Army, the newly formed Malayan Government, and the British met to try to end the Malayan Emergency. Tunku Abdul Rahman, a leader of the Malayan government, implored the Communists to give up their arms peacefully with promise that no action would be taken against them. However, the MRLA leader Chin Peng insisted that the government and the British endorse the MRLA as a legal Communist Party so that it could run in the forthcoming elections. This was denied, however, and thus no agreement was reached.

The local villages around Baling are Kampung Pisang and so on. In Kampung Pisang, there is a religoius Islamic school, Sekolah Menengah Agama Yayasan Khairiah. Some of the stories about Baling is retrieved from a local villager of Kampung Pisang named Amir.

[edit] References

• Adam, Ramlah binti, Samuri, Abdul Hakim bin & Fadzil, Muslimin bin (2004). Sejarah Tingkatan 3. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. ISBN 983-62-8285-8.

	Kedah Darul Aman
Districts: Baling | Bandar Baharu | Kota Setar | Kuala Muda | Kubang Pasu | Kulim | Langkawi | Padang Terap | Pendang | Sik | Yan
City: Alor Star
Towns: Anak Bukit | Baling | Bandar Baharu | Bedong | Bukit Kayu Hitam | Changlun | Guar Chempedak | Gurun | Jeniang | Jitra | Kodiang | Kota Sarang Semut | Kuah | Kuala Kedah | Kuala Nerang | Kulim | Langgar | Lunas | Merbok | Padang Matsirat | Pendang | Pokok Sena | Sik | Sintok | Sungai Petani | Tokai | Yan
Islands: Pulau Langkawi | Pulau Payar