Teluk Kumbar

Teluk Kumbar 公巴
Town
Teluk Kumbar Location in Peninsular Malaysia
Coordinates: 5°17′0″N 100°14′0″E / 5.28333°N 100.23333°E / 5.28333; 100.23333
Country	Malaysia
State	Penang
District	Southwest Penang Island
Government
• Local Government	Penang Island City Council
• Mayor of Penang Island	Maimunah Mohd Sharif
• Balik Pulau Member of Parliament	Hilmi bin Yahya (UMNO)
• Bayan Lepas State Assemblyman	Nordin bin Ahmad (UMNO)
Time zone	MST (UTC+8)
• Summer (DST)	Not observed (UTC)
Postal code	11920
International dialling code prefix	+604 (landline only)
Website	http://www.mbpp.gov.my

Teluk Kumbar (In Chinese: "公巴", "Kong-Pa" in Penang Hokkien) is one of the district in Penang Island, located just between Bayan Lepas and Balik Pulau in Penang, Malaysia. The name Teluk comes from it location at a bay by the sea and Kumbar comes from a thorny palm type vegetation that grows wildly mostly on the inner hilly area. It was orally told by olds that during it was opened by some Achenese, the land is covered by kumbar clump and the name came from it. The palm, with it sour fruits, now is found rarely on the hilly area and it mostly cleared and replaced by durian orchards.

Geography

Teluk Kumbar covers an area of about 10 square kilometers, an area which had a population of nearly 6000. It was divided to three main villages, Sungai Batu, Teluk Kumbar and Gertak Sanggul. Teluk Kumbar, a historically Malay fishing village, Teluk Kumbar was established in the 1880s, consisting of the main area as Kampung Masjid, Kampung Matahari Naik, Kampung Matahari Jatuh (Jalan Sepakat), Kampung Paya, Kampung Suluk, Kampung Pasir Belanda, Kampung Nelayan and Pekan. New small township named as Bandar Baru Teluk Kumbar is developed by PERDA (Penang Regional Development Authority) on a piece of land of paddy field and rumbia. 'Batu Pek Lag', is an old name, only known by Teluk Kumbar Atas people, is a bungalow built by a rich Chinese, situated at the last corner before the climbing road starting to Balik Pulau.

History

Teluk Kumbar is a Malay kampung with their main econony activities ia a fishing and farming. Most Chinese that migrated and settle here are mainly shopkeepers, or run a family-business seafood restaurants. (e.g. Hao You Teluk Kumbar Seafood (公巴好友海鲜) ^[1])

This district shows its important role during British era as it produces rice, rubber, coconut and other raw and native products for a supply to locals and for export. During World War II and before Japanese occupation, British had built a number of concrete fortresses to defend this area from Japanese attack. The fortress can be seen at Kampung Nelayan near the mouth of the Teluk Kumbar river, and another one is located at the opposite of the main road in the front of Sekolah Kebangsaan Teluk Kumbar just beside the hardware store. Remains of Japanese warships also can be seen on the beach at Tanjung Ramai, Gertak Sanggul, showing that this area had witnessed a fiery sea battle between both powers, Japanese and Allied.

Administration

Teluk Kumbar leads by Penghulu which had been appointed by local authorities for every five years.

Race and religion

70% of its people are Malays, 25% are Chinese and 5% are Indian and others. A newly built mosque is under construction in Kampung Masjid, which will become a new landmark for Teluk Kumbar. The mosque, namely Masjid Maqbul Teluk Kumbar, can cater about 2000 prayers in a time. The process to build the new mosque was delayed for about 10 years because of a land title and state approval. The construction began in November 2012 and had yet to be completed a year later. The deputy prime minister, Datuk Seri Muhiyuddin Yassin, had made a launching for a groundbreaking ceremony on 9 March 2013 which officially marked the start of construction of the long-awaited mosque.

The main Buddhist temple can be found in Kampung Nelayan. It was a community centre commonly used by local people to meet, pray and annually presents a traditional show.

Hindu temple located on the foot of the hill to the north of Teluk Kumbar. In the past, it was situated at a hairpin corner on the trunk road to Balik Pulau. Today, the road has been replaced by a newly completed bridge across a ravine, and the temple became hidden and only can be reached by a junction after the bridge.

Education

A Malay school was erected in 1882, now known as Sekolah Kebangsaan Teluk Kumbar, was the only school exist until the 1990s when another primary school, SK Seri Bayu and secondary school, SMK Teluk Kumbar and SMK Teluk Kumbar 2 had been built. All the school is are national school although there are also a number of private school for primary, Sekolah Al Islah and secondary level, Sekolah AlItqan. For a preschool level, KEMAS operated one and another 4 kindergartens are operated privately. It was also a Chinese primary school located at Pekan Teluk Kumbar, SJKC Yang Cheng, pinched between development around it.

Development

As Penang island development growing soo fast nowadays, Teluk Kumbar cannot escape from it. Newly built housing estates, which cost a high price was erected in many places. A brand new high rise 5/6 stars hotel in a heart of Pekan had become a new landmark for Teluk Kumbar. Much more development is coming and it will yield a big impact to the traditional face of the place.

Social

Many of the Malay landowners had pawned their land to 'chettiar' a long time ago or sell their lands, pieces by pieces, and nowadays, most of the landowners are Chinese. Malays kampung became crowded when the children of the landowners just built an extension by the main house of their parent. Many of the Malays had migrated to mainland either stay in Seberang Perai, Kulim, Sungai Petani of further more.

Transportation

For public transport, RAPID Penang network serves 3 buses, 401, 401E and 308 .Service available on every 30 minutes start from early morning till midnight 7 days a week. With RM3.40, one can take the bus from Ferry Terminal in Weld Quay, Georgetown and reach Teluk Kumbar within 45 minutes depend to the road and traffic condition. With a distance just about 4 kilometres, one can reach Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas in a short time.

Places of interest

Teluk Kumbar is well known for its abundance of seafood establishments dotted along the beaches. It is used to be a small fishing village, but due to proximity to Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas as well as Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone, the area now is composed of newly built housing estates to accommodate population influx. With the rapid urbanization of Penang Island, and with the possibility of a second link bridge being built at nearby Batu Maung, Teluk Kumbar has seen some recent property development. Among these are the housing estates in Sungai Batu on the way to Teluk Kumbar.

The main economic activities are fishing and farming. There were about a hundred of sampans, and fishing trawlers can be seen along the shore during dusk. The main catch is big white prawns that are used for delicious local prawn noodles, a spicy noodle dish cooked with big-sized prawns sold mostly at the Malay stalls, which becomes a main attraction. Food can be found in stalls operated by Malays along the roadside starting from police station. It was a popular fare from Teluk Kumbar and available during lunch time.

Teluk Kumbar also contribute a part production of seasonal fruits as durian, mangosteen, rambutan, langsat and others types of fruit that share a same delicious taste as popular Balik Pulau fruits. The main ingredients that makes the taste of this fruits different from the other states as Perak and Kedah is the salty sea breeze blowing from the nearest Indian Ocean. That makes the taste of durian here a little fatty and salty. The orchards mainly offer a variety of durian, mostly comes on their best variant of names. For those who like to eat durian kampung, many type of popular name of it can be found during it season.

Teluk Kumbar also offers a good place for the anglers to try their luck along the beach line. For about 10 kilometers, from Sungai Batu to Gertak Sanggul, anglers can find many fishing spots to attend their hobby. The main catch is sea-pearch, grouper and catfish. Some part of the beach also rich with sea shell and can be collected during low tide.

For those who love tracking or hill climbing, they can serve their hobby by the hill in the background of Teluk Kumbar. They can find a cement track which stretches a few kilometers which was built by durian farmers. From the peak of the hill, a beautiful panoramic view is the reward for their hard works.

A newly built hotel Lexis Suites Penang is a five-star resort with 222 luxury suites located in the idyllic seaside of Teluk Kumbar at the Pearl of the Orient. Each unit of Lexis Suites will have its own in-room swimming pool complete with steam room for a convenient yet luxurious stay. Lexis Suites Penang with its in-room pool have been a new hot attraction since its opening in 2016.

Teluk Kumbar has a popular beach known as Tanjung Assam. It has a nice beach with white sand and clear water almost the time of high tide. A few temporary stalls serve laksa, drinks and various type of fast food can be found nearby the beach. Beach goers also can rent watersport goods from the stall operator at the seaside. Authorities also had built a panoramic view spot at the hill back of the beach and the best view there is during the sunset, when the golden sun slowly hides himself behind the horizon, leaving it golden curtain as a blanket for the coming darkness. For those who like to get sweaty, a desolate road mostly on Saturday and Sunday, from Kampung Sulup to Gertak Sanggul is a good place for joggers and cyclists to go down it for about 4 km.

Culinary

Seafood is the main attraction here for those who visit Penang Island but do not wish to dine at urban areas like the Northern Beaches of Penang. Amongst the popular dining spots are Ayu Mee Udang in Telok Kumbar, Hai Boey Seafood (海尾海鮮)^[2] and Khunthai Authentic Thai Restaurant (坤泰正宗泰国餐厅),^[3][4] both located at Pasir Belanda.

References