Tampin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tampin is both a town and a district in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia and is located near the Malacca-Negeri Sembilan border. The district itself covers 129.49 square Kilometres.

Tampin gets its name from the container or pouch weaved from the pandanus fronds. The container was used to store condiments such as the kelamai or dodol" and the shrimp paste belacan.

The district, or more correctly the state of Negeri Sembilan state - called luak in Malay - was established in 1832 and its ruler is known as Tunku Besar Tampin. Tunku Besar Tampin is one of the few persons that have the power to elect Negeri Sembilan's nominal ruler, the Yang di-Pertuan Besar.

Tampin is well served by Malaysian transportation system. It is connected to both North-South Expressway and the West Malaysian railways system. In fact, Gemas which is part of Tampin district, is the meeting point of West Malaysia's eastern and western railway lines. Furthermore, since Malacca does not have a railway station, people living in Malacca will have to travel to Tampin in order to get on a train. There was a track from Tampin to Melaka before World War II but it was dismantled by the Japanese during the war for the construction of the infamous Burmese Death Railway.