Guar Chempedak is a small town in Kedah, Malaysia. Guar Chempedak is situated within the parliamentary constituency of Jerai. It is a rural community located midway between Alor Setar and Sungai Petani. Guar Chempedak comes from two words, in which Guar means 'hilly land' and Chempedak or cempedak is a name of a fruit that is believed to be widely available here in any season.
Geography Geographically, Guar Chempedak is blessed with a blend of higher ground in the east and south and fertile marshland in the west and north of the area. The town of Guar Chempedak marks the end of higher ground when you come from Sungai Petani from the south and the start of lower land towards the capital city of Alor Setar. The highest point is Gunung Jerai which is located about 6 km from the town. It is a popular recreational spot for locals due to its temperate climate at the peak and abundance of waterfalls at the foot of the mountain. There is one hill resort at the top of the mountain catering to tourists who would like to spend a night or two discovering rich diversity of flora and fauna on top of the hill such as pitcher plants and exotic orchids. Visitors would have the chance to savour the breathtaking view of Guar Chempedak and its coastline including small islands off the coast of Yan from atop of the mountain.
Socio-Economic Traditionally, socio-economic activities in Guar Chempedak concentrated in farming activities. This due to fertile higher grounds that are planted with fruit orchards and lower marshland which is grown with paddy for centuries long. The town of Guar Chempedak is the meeting point for trading between the farmers and the fruit planters hence generating income and meeting needs of local population. Lately, social-economic landscapes in Guar Chempedak is changing due to industrialization in Gurun Industrial Zone and urbanization as a result of it. Younger and more educated locals are more attracted to working in industrial factories or migrating to larger cities to pursue their ambition; that could not be fulfilled in their hometown. The next growth of this area is expected from the proposed petrochemical industrial zone in Sg Limau which is located at the coastline of Northern Straits of Malacca. Guar Chempedak will benefit from this mega project due to its strategic location and the role that it can play to support the growth of this new industrial zone due to its function as commercial hub and transportation hub that connects this area to federal route 1, north-south railway line at Gurun station and north-south highway via Gurun interchange.
Education In terms if educational institutions, Guar Chempedak is blessed with two national primary schools, Sekolah Kebangsaan Guar Chempedak located at town centre and Sekolah Kebangsaan Haji Hussain Dol located about one kilometre from the town centre along Jalan Jenun which inter-district route between district of Yan and district of Pendang. The only secondary school, Sekolah Menengah Guar Chempedak is located across the road from Sekolah Kebangsaan Haju Hussain Dol. Apart from national primary school, there is one Chinese national type primary school in Guar Chempedak attended mostly by Chinese ethnics that populate the town centre area. After finishing standard six, they also join Sekolah Menengah Guar Chempedak for secondary education together with other students from national primary schools. Besides national schools, there are other private schools such as Sekolah Integrasi Al-Faizin and Sekolah Menengah Langkasuka that caters for private students. Recently Kolej Komuniti Jerai opened for new intake which provides post-secondary education culinary and other skills.
Food Guar Chempedak is blessed with abundance of cheap food source from the orchards, paddy field villages and nearby Straits of Malacca. Crops from the land and catch from the sea are sold locally for daily consumption. One can visit daily afternoon market which opens at 2pm and close at dusk. Fresh catch of the day as well as freshly processed poultry and meat are sold here. In addition there are sellers of other items such as traditional kueh and other comfort food which is a lot tastier than in KL at a much cheaper price. The grand weekly market market is held every Wednesday morning and simply called as Pekan Rabu by the locals here. Meanwhile night market in Guar Chempedak is held every Saturday evening. It is a place where you could savour local Malay delicacies that taste very well such as bihun sup, laksa and cucur udang as well as fusion food such as yong tau foo and red bean pau.
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