Gurun is a small town and a major industrial park situated within the parliamentary district of Jerai in Kedah, Malaysia. "Gurun" in English means desert however the town does not represent the slightest meaning of its English translation. Gurun earned its name from the word "gerun", means terrify or "kurun", means elephant in Siamese dialect. These words are associated with an incident where the ruler of Muslim Siam Empire, Sultan Jaafar Muadzam Syah, was killed in 1876 by the invading Thai's armies by means of crushing the body using an elephant. This incident took place behind the current Gurun Police Station.[1]
Administratively, Gurun is under the district of Kuala Muda and fall within the local government administration of Sungai Petani Municipal Council. Gurun is designate as N22 for the Kedah State Legislative Council Zone and represented by Dr Leong Yong Kong (BN) who defeated B. Kalaivanan (PKR) with majority of 1,554 votes in 2088 General Election. Its Member of Parliament (P12 - Jerai) is Mohd. Firdaus Ja'afar (Pas) who defeated Datuk Paduka Badruddin Amiruldin (BN) by majority of 2,299 votes.[2]
Gurun is located between Guar Chempedak to the north and Bedong to the south and can be reached via the federal highway, the North-South Expressway and it even has its own train station. The main junction in the town center connects the western part of Kedah to the town of Jeniang and the district of Sik. The construction of Gurun Railway Station is a part of the Bukit Mertajam - Alor Setar railway extension project started in late 1912 and completed in 1914. The project was carried out under the Federated Malay States Railway Administration and officially open for public in 1915.[3]
Gurun is well known for its corn stalls. Rows of these stalls stand along the federal trunk road from Gurun town to Guar Chempedak town. Gurun also known for the starting point of Wan Mat Saman Canal, the longest canal in Malaysia with approximately 36 km that stretch out until Alor Setar town, where it connects Gurun River to Kedah River. The construction of the canal started on 13 August 1885 and was completed on 12 July 1896 and the soil that was dig out to create the canal formed "batas ban", which formed the foundation for the current federal trunk road to Alor Setar.[4]
During the invasion period of Thai armies in 1876-1881 and continued until the early 1900s, Gurun plays an important staging town for local heroes such as Panglima Nayan, who operated form his hometown of Jeniang, about 10 miles to the east of Gurun to disturb the invading Thai's administration and the British colonial in Kedah. Jeniang, which located at the bank of Muda River, the main route for transportation was then provides limited alternative for these anti colonial warriors the escape routes. The strategic location of Gurun that provide the alternative land routes to every town in Kedah enable these warriors to plan and executed their activities more freely without to worry much the limited ability of the authority to apprehend them.
In 1911, the Kedah State Government opened a Malay School in this town and the school survives through the time and now it is known as Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Gurun Pusat. The school provides the modern education for the rural folks in Central Kedah while the Islamic schools, the pondok are mostly concentrated in Guar Chempedak and Yan area.
During the World War II, Gurun is the the last line of defense for the 11th Indian Division in the Battle of Jitra in early December, 1941. However, the British strategy was poorly executed and they were easily overrun by the Japanese army. During the Malayan Emergency period, Gurun is among the first area declared as "White Area". Was then, Gurun served as the forward staging base for the Commonwealth forces to launch their operation against the communist insurgents. Horbart Camp, located on 8th miles of Gurun-Jeniang road is the base for these activities and also as the training camp for the forces while waiting to be send into the jungle for the operation. The function of Horbart Camp as the training camp remains until today.
Gurun is home to a few major factories, such as Naza,[5] Modenas,[6] Perwaja Steel,[7] & Petronas Fertilizer Kedah.
East of Gurun, at , there is the HVDC static inverter plant of HVDC Thailand-Malaysia. The most remarkable feature of this facility is, that the static inverter hall of this facility looks like a Chines building [1].
Schools in Gurun or nearby include:
1.SMK Gurun, Gurun
2.SJKC Choong Hwa, Gurun (峨崙中华华小)
3.SJKC Mah Wah, Padang Lembu (马华华小)
4.SK Gurun Pusat, Gurun
5.SK Sri Jerai, Gurun
6.SK Batu Empat, Jalan Jeniang
7.SMK Batu Lima, Jalan Jeniang
8.SJKT Kalaivaani, Padang Lembu
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![[1]](http://srv.fotopages.com/2/7837164/gambaq-txformer-kat-gurun-HVDC.jpg){kind=link}