Mentakab
Mentakab (Chinese: 文德甲, Tamil: மெந்தகாப்) is a main town in Pahang, Malaysia, originally known as Pasir Rawa. It is close to Temerloh, Lanchang, Kampung Tualang, Kampung Gantok, Mengkarak and Kerdau. Mentakab was once considered by the State Government in the year 1901 to be the new centre of all administrative works in the state of Pahang. However, due to a problem of uneven land, Kuantan was to be the new capital of the state. Mentakab is located under the district of Temerloh. Temerloh is a large district and contains many towns. Mentakab, being a fairly large town, is often thought by people to be a district in itself, separate from Temerloh.
Location
Country: Malaysia
State: Pahang
Type: Town
Latitude: 3.48333
Longitude: 102.35000
Latitude: (DMS) 3d 29m 0s
Longitude: (DMS) 102d 21m 0s
Transport
Rail
Mentakab has a railway station which is on the line from the north-east coast to the south of Peninsular Malaysia owned by the Kereta api Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB). The railway from Gemas to Tumpat in Kelantan goes through the town of Mentakab.
Road
The original road from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan also goes through Mentakab which gives Mentakab an important role. Travelers used to recognize the famous round-about near Jalan Tun Razak-Jalan Temerloh intersection every time they reached the town. However, the iconic round-about has been replaced by a traffic light.
Trade and industry
Agriculture
Mentakab is currently popular for urban swiftlet farming, most shops or shophouses are modified on the top floor to provide space for swiftlet farming. Successful urban farming can be rewarding as each kilogram of swiflets' nest can be sold for as high as US$2000. However, few have succeeded and disadvantages towards urban residents can potentially outweigh economic gains such as widespread of diseases or bird flu and excessive bird droppings.
The Semantan River that goes through the town is the water source for the agricultural activities. Mentakab is seldom caught in serious floods but serious flooding did occur in the years 1970 and 2007.
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13 December 2007, Jalan Temerloh
Industries
Robin Resources (M) Sdn. Bhd. is the only company manufacturing medium-density fibreboard in Pahang since 1995. 100% of workers from Robin Resources (M) Sdn. Bhd. are employed locally and hence provides working opportunities to the local community. 80% of the manufactured medium-density fibreboard from Robin Resources are exported to the international market, including countries such as Saudi Arabia and China.The Malaysian Newsprint Industries (MNI) started up a greenfield paper mill in Mentakab in the year 1996. MNI is one of the biggest scale paper factories in Southeast Asia.
Mentakab Veneer & Plywood Sdn Bhd (MVP) was incorporated in 1986 as a joint venture company between Malaysian and Taiwanese shareholders. It main business is to engage in the manufacture and marketing of plywood.Mentakab Veneer & Plywood’ factory which is a located at the 5th Mile, Jalan Karak, P.O. Box 12, 28400 Mentakab, Pahang Darul Makmur (Mentakab is strategically located 123 km from Kuala Lumpur, 181 km from KLIA and 192 km from Port Klang (major port in Malaysia), commenced plywood production in 1986 and marketed it’s product for local consumption and a small volume for export.Today, MVP is an active member of The Malaysian Panel-Products Manufacturer’s Association (MPMA) and it manufactures Urea Formaldehyde, Phenol Formaldehyde and Melamine Urea Formaldehyde Plywood.
Night market
Mentakab has a daily night market (pasar malam) located along the Jalan Mok Hee Kiang stretch. At around 5pm, this road will be closed to motorists to make way for hawkers. Jalan Mok Hee Kiang is one of the street where most of the citizens often visit due to its wide variety of daily goods sold. Jalan Mok Hee Kiang is famous among Mentakab citizens.
Star Mall
Located in Taman Rimba, Star Mall is the largest shopping mall in this area which constructed by a private developer from Kuantan namely Sistem Duta Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary body of Kinsteel Bhd, owned by Tan Sri Dato' Pheng Yin Huah, a steel industry tycoon in Malaysia. Mentakab Star Mall consists of a three storey with two lower ground basement shopping complex and 168 units of two storey shop, linked by sky bridge to the shopping complex itself.
Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) finalised their decision to penetrate the Pahang central market via this project which means it will subsequently boost the local lifestyle and provides even more job opportunities.
Pacific Hypermarket is set to be Star Mall's anchor tenant[1]
Hypermarket
Mentakab has one of the largest hypermarkets in the district of Temerloh, namely TF Value Mart and 'The Store'. These department stores are located in the busiest area of Mentakab where the night market is just a stone's throw away. Traffic congestions are common in this area. The traffic congestion becomes worse during peak hours.
Cuisine
Fast food
There are several fast food outlets available in Mentakab. For instances, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Mcdonald's. Mcdonald's Mentakab and Pizza Hut Mentakab are the first outlets operating in central Pahang and second in Pahang overall (after Kuantan, with the exception of Genting Highlands).
Local delicacies
Tom yum restaurant at Kampung Suria (formerly Kampung Baru Mentakab). The proprietor and his wife (who is a Thai) travels to Thailand frequently to stock up on ingredients.
Hainanese chicken rice is also another type of popular food among Mentakab residents and local tourists alike. Restoran Sin Sek Kee, located near the junction between Jalan Mok Hee Kiang and Jalan Zabidin, is popular for their chicken rice and attracts a lot of customers during lunch and also dinner. This restaurant used to serve Water Convolvulus & Squid in sauce (鱿鱼蕹菜). Water Convolvulus & Squid in sauce was the restaurant's signature dish before venturing into Hainanese chicken rice.
Cendol is also another type of popular dessert in Mentakab. Restoran Talib Cendol,74, Jalan Temerloh, Mentakab. The restaurant has been operating on the main road of Mentakab. If you ever visit Mentakab, you must go this restaurant and try the delicious Cendol and still strongly supported by regular customers. This Cendol eatery started as a small stall 35 years ago, and since expanded to a restaurant. There are more than 10 kinds of iced dessert, such as Cendol, Cendol Pulut, Cendol ice-cream,ABC, ABC Pulut, ABC ice-cream, and others. This restaurant offer you the option to add a scoop of ice-cream to your choice of dessert to enhance the flavourand to relieve the heat during hot sunny days. These high quality ice-cream are firm yet smooth, and the ingredient used are of high quality.
Infrastructure
Hotels
- Bukit Bendera Resort (This hotel became famous after Jackie Chan stayed here during the filming of Who Am I?)
- Newton Villa Hotel (No. 24-27, Jalan Gopeng 1, 28400 Mentakab, Pahang)
- Sherwinton Hotel (No. 71, Jalan Bunga Tanjung, Pahang)
- Supreme Hotel (No. 11, Jalan Yap Lee, Pahang)
- Classic Cosy Inn (10A, Jalan Ponniah, Pahang)
- Hotel Kheng Hai (No. 14, 1st Floor, Jalan Zabidin, 28400 Mentakab, Pahang)
Banks
- AmFinance Bhd
- CIMB Bhd
- Public Bank Bhd
- Agro Bank Malaysia
- Bank Simpanan Nasional
- HSBC Bank
- Maybank
- RHB Bank
- Hong Leong Bank
- Bank Muamalat Malaysia
Public healthcare
- Klinik Kesihatan Mentakab
- Klinik 1 Malaysia
Telecommunications
- Maxis (M) Bhd
- Celcom (M) Bhd
- DiGi (M) Bhd
- Telekom Malaysia
Housing estates
- Taman Bukit Bendera
- Taman Mahkota
- Taman Saga
- Taman Sri Layang
- Taman Tualang indah
- Taman Saga Indah
- Taman Tunas
- Taman Rimba
- Taman Bukit Cermin
- Ladang Mentakab
- Batu Kapur
- Taman KSM
- Taman Mentakab
- Taman Lee Chan
- Taman Tan Chew Tong
- Kampung Suria
- Taman Bukit Mentakab
- Taman Suppiah
- Taman desa saujana
- ladang edensor
- taman indah
- kampung netas
- Tanjong Kerayong
Education
Primary
There are nine primary schools in Mentakab: SJK(C) Mentakab 1, SJK(C) Mentakab 2, SK Abu Bakar, SJK(T) Bandar Mentakab, SJK(T) Ladang Mentakab, SK Bandar Mentakab, SK Batu Kapur, SK Chatin, SJK(C) Yeow Cheng Luan and SJK(T) Yeow Cheng Luan. Both SJK(C) Mentakab 1 and SJK(C) Mentakab 2 are locally referred to as Chung Hwa 1 and Chung Hwa 2, respectively.
Secondary
The three secondary schools in this town are SMK Hwa Lian, SMK Mentakab and SMK Seri Semantan. In recent years, SMK Hwa Lian have been performing well in both academic and co-curricular activities in the district of Temerloh. SMK Mentakab (popularly known as SeMeKeMe) was one of the best schools in Pahang in terms of academic and also sports, however, currently SMK Mentakab have failed to live up to its past glory. It is to be noted that SMK Mentakab is the only secondary school in Mentakab which provides Form 6 education (equivalent to 'A' levels) after years of application to the Ministry of Education. Previously, Mentakab students wishing to study Form 6 would have to travel to Temerloh.
University
One of the country's fastest growing private universities, the Open University Malaysia's (OUM) Local Learning Center for the west Pahang region is also located in Mentakab. OUM caters to the open and distance learning method of obtaining tertiary degrees. Courses offered include degrees in Business and Management, IT and Engineering. Students consist of working adults from all sorts of age groups, economic and social backgrounds. The learning method for OUM includes self-study, online interaction and bi-weekly face-to-face tutorials, normally during weekends.
Colleges
Kolej Komuniti Mentakab (Mentakab Community College)
Notable people
Some famous people who have their histories linked to this town include: Datuk Bahaman, Pak Sako, and Sudirman. The first two individuals mentioned are remembered for their fight against British colonisation.
Inter-racial unity
Mentakab is also very famous for inter-racial unity because this township consists of all kinds of religions equally. Religious houses such as mosques, churches, Hindu temples, Chinese temples, Sikh gurdwara, Buddhist monastery are abundant here.
Distance From Mentakab to Main Malaysian Cities(km)
Mentakab - Kuala Lumpur..........120 km Mentakab - Klang.................112 km Mentakab - Johor Bahru...........273 km Mentakab - Ipoh..................186 km Mentakab - Kuching...............913 km Mentakab - Petaling Jaya.........90 km Mentakab - Shah Alam.............101 km Mentakab - Kota Kinabalu.........1546 km Mentakab - Sandakan..............1767 km Mentakab - Seremban..............97 km Mentakab - Kuantan...............115 km Mentakab - Tawau.................1728 km Mentakab - Kuala Terengganu......223 km Mentakab - Kota Bharu............295 km Mentakab - Sungai Petani.........316 km Mentakab - Miri..................1295 km Mentakab - Taiping...............235 km Mentakab - Perlis................405 km Mentakab - Alor Setar............366 km Mentakab - Bukit Mertajam........296 km Mentakab - Sibu..................1060 km Mentakab - Fort Brooke...........1060 km Mentakab - Melaka................144 km
References
External links
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Coordinates: 3°29′N 102°21′E / 3.483°N 102.350°E