Seremban

Seremban Soghomban, Sungei Ujong
State Capital
Other transcription(s)
• Jawi	سرمبن
• Chinese	芙蓉
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): Somban
Motto: 5S The Foundation of Work Excellence
Seremban Location of Seremban in the Malaysian peninsula
Coordinates: 2°43′N 101°57′E / 2.717°N 101.950°E / 2.717; 101.950Coordinates: 2°43′N 101°57′E / 2.717°N 101.950°E / 2.717; 101.950
Country	Malaysia
State	Negeri Sembilan
District	Seremban District
Establishment	1840
Granted municipal status	1979
Government
• Administered by	Majlis Perbandaran Seremban
• Yang DiPertua (President)	Dato' Haji Abd. Halim[1]
Area
• State Capital	959 km2 (370 sq mi)
• Metro	2,980 km2 (1,150 sq mi)
Elevation	79 m (259 ft)
Population (2010)[2]
• State Capital	555,935 (9th)
• Density	489.00/km2 (1,266.51/sq mi)
• Metro	806,920[3]
• Demonym	Serembanese
Time zone	MST (UTC+8)
• Summer (DST)	Not observed (UTC)
Postal code	70xxx, 71xxx
Mean solar time	UTC + 06:46:48
National calling code	06
License plate prefix	Nxx (for all vehicles include taxis)
ISO 3166-2	MY-14
Website	mpsns.gov.my

Seremban (Jawi: سرمبن; Chinese: 芙蓉; Jyutping: fu4 jung4; Minangkabau: Soghomban or Somban) is a town and the capital of Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, located within Seremban District. The town's administration is run by the Seremban Municipal Council. On 9 September 2009, Seremban was to be declared as a city; however it was later deferred due to technical reasons. However, the idea of granting city status has been brought up again and Seremban is expected to become a city in the near future.

Toponymy

Seremban was founded as Sungei Ujong (or Sungai Ujong), named after a nearby river of the same name. While the town was renamed Seremban thereafter, the Sungai Ujong name most prominently persists as a street name for a road adjoining the southern side of town (Sungai Ujong Road, or Jalan Sungai Ujong).

The town is also referred alternately as "Fu Rong" (Chinese: 芙蓉，literally "hibiscus") among the Chinese-speaking community.

History

Sungai Ujong came into existence with the discovery of tin ore in the 1870s like most major towns in Peninsular Malaysia. The discovery of tin in a nearby area called Rasah, saw an influx of Arab, Malay and Chinese immigrants to work on the mines and trade there. Most of the local Malays were farmers.

Renamed to Seremban, the town flourished not only as a mining area but also a business centre. The Linggi River served as the sole outlet to ferry tin and supplies in and out of the town. Revenue came not only from tin trade but also from the large amount of taxes collected, much to the displeasure of the traders and the British colonialists at the neighbouring port of Malacca.

The local chieftains, namely the Dato' Kelana and the Dato' Shahbandar of Sungai Ujong were at odds with each other on the rights to collect taxes and ownership and control of the mines. The rivalry to assert influence and authority opened the door for British intervention in Negeri Sembilan. The British sided with the Dato' Kelana upon invitation and defeated the forces of the Dato' Bandar who was later sent into exile to Singapore. In a show of gratitude to the British for helping him win the war, the Dato' Kelana had no choice but to accept a British Resident whose job was to advise him on matters other than religion and Malay customs.

Captain Murray was appointed the first resident and later set-up his residence at Channer Road, now renamed Jalan Dato' Siamang Gagap. Soon after, the people living around Rasah moved to Channer Road for the sake of security and its orderly administration.^[4]

City status

Seremban is one of four state capitals that has not achieved city status (Bandar raya); the other three being Kota Bharu (Kelantan), Kuantan (Pahang) and Kangar (Perlis). However, the Ministry of Housing and Local Government has approved Seremban to be declared a city by 9 September 2009. To achieve the city status, the state government has agreed that Majlis Perbandaran Nilai and Majlis Perbandaran Seremban will be merged.^[5]

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said during the Tuanku Muhriz birthday

“

The state government wants to ensure all the necessary infrastructure, public transport and amenities and services which include garbage collection and safer neighbourhoods, were in place before it did so.[6]

”

Geography

Seremban is situated about 60 kilometres south from Kuala Lumpur (the capital city) and about 30 kilometres inland from the coast. It is in the Linggi River valley, at the foothills of the Titiwangsa Range. The terrain is generally hilly, and the soil is mostly reddish laterite soil, suitable for the cultivation of rubber and palm oil, thus making Seremban the agricultural centre for the state. Since the establishment of Seremban, the Linggi River has played an important role in the development of the town. During the boom period of tin mining, the Linggi River was the major transportation route for tin traders. Today, it is one of the major sources of water for Seremban and Negeri Sembilan.

Weather

The climate of Seremban, like most parts of West Malaysia, is generally hot and humid (tropical) with a mean temperature of about 26–30 degrees Celsius. Most rainfall is experienced during the inter-monsoon periods of April and October. The weather remains generally dry for the rest of the year with occasional showers.

Transportation

Public transportation

The rail connection was first constructed in the late 1890s as a stop on the Kuala Lumpur–Singapore main line, and until today, the Seremban railway station (code:  KB13 ) still serves as one of the major stops along the line. The station also serves as the southern terminal of the Keretapi Tanah Melayu electrified commuter network, KTM Komuter, which links the town to Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley on Seremban Line.^[7] Since October 2015, the Komuter service has been extended to Gemas, though passengers are required to alight at Seremban and switch trains to the Gemas extension line (much akin to the Tanjung Malim–Rawang stretch).

Negeri Sembilan is one of the two states in Malaysia that are not accessible via air transportation (Perlis being the other state). However the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is less than a 30 minutes drive from Seremban, essentially making the airport closer to Seremban rather than Kuala Lumpur.

Car

Federal Route , the oldest major roadway that connects the major towns and cities of the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia runs through Seremban. It connects Seremban with neighbouring towns such as Rembau and Tampin to the south and Kajang, Selangor to the north. Seremban also provides access to the towns of Kuala Klawang (through highway ), Kuala Pilah to the east (through highway ) and the well-known coastal town of Port Dickson (through highway or SPDH ) to the west.

For a faster alternative, the North–South Expressway serves Seremban through exit 218. The Kajang–Seremban Highway links Kajang in Selangor to Paroi, on the eastern end of Seremban.

Culture

Historically, Negeri Sembilan is influenced by the Minangkabau's and thus, Seremban is the centre of the Minangkabau culture in Malaysia. Minangkabau, derived from the Malay word menang kerbau, which means "winning buffalo", are famous for their unique roof architecture which resembles buffalo horns. Many buildings in Seremban adapted this feature, such as the Seremban Municipal Council Hall, the Wisma Negeri and the State Museum.

People of Negeri Sembilan are also known for the practice of an ancient Malay tradition called Adat Perpatih, where women are given a higher social status than men.

Sports

Seremban currently serves as the home ground of Negeri Sembilan football team. The team is the state representative of Negeri Sembilan in the second tier Malaysia Premier League. They play their home games in the 30,000 capacity Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium which is located in Paroi on the outskirt of the city.

Cuisine

Seremban is famous for its special delicacies comprising Malay, Chinese, and Indian cuisine. Among the famous local cuisine is Seremban Siew Pau (Chinese: 芙蓉烧包) that is well known throughout the country. It is a flaky pastry bun filled with meat fillings which has been traditionally pork or the halal chicken filling.^[8]

Seremban is also well known for its Nasi Padang or Minangkabau dishes. It is basically a meal of rice eaten with dishes of recipe which originated from Padang, Sumatra. One of the famous dish is Gulai Masak Lemak Cili Api which is fish or meat cooked in coconut gravy mixed with turmeric and cili padi (bird's eye chili).

Seremban is famous for baked crabs with many establishments situated along Jalan Tuanku Munawir (Chinese: 芙蓉烧蟹)^[9] and beef noodles (Chinese: 牛腩粉),^[10] especially the beef noodles food stalls here which have survived for more than a generation. Nowadays, this famous beef noodles attracts a lot of tourists from outside the state to Seremban with its thick, slick gravy and peppery, sticky sauce sprinkled with peanuts, salted vegetables, spring onions and sesame seeds.

Local desserts include ABC or air batu campur meaning shaved ice with brown sugar syrup and rose flavouring, corn, beans, and cendol.

Tourism

Seremban Square

Fish pond, the name given to an area of open land in the Seremban town area which has long been the synonym and subject of complaints of the city community has recently been given a new look. No more is there a barren, neglected view which was claimed to be the breeding ground for mosquitoes in the heart of Seremban Town Centre.

Recently, the Seremban Square which decorates the main entrance to the Seremban town began to attract attention and has since turned into a popular tourist hot spot. The comfortable open ground, the calming water fountain, the beautiful decorative lights, makes it suitable as a transit to rest in between visiting Seremban. In the Seremban Square area there are also Malaysian flagpoles that reach up to a length of a 100 feet.

The Seremban Municipal Councils hoped that the Seremban Square, which began its operation in May 2008, would be appreciated and used properly by the public. It was hoped that it would continue to be used by all walks of life, not just for the present but would continue to be a valuable heritage for the future generation.

Ostrich Farm

Renowned as a family recreational centre, the Jelita Ostrich Show Farm in Jalan Jelebu not only focuses on breeding activities in particular, but also capitalises on all speciality of the bird species.

State Museum

The Negeri Sembilan Museum was established in 1953 when the 8th Yamtuan or Ruler of Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Abdul Rahman gave his consent for the relocation of the Ampang Tinggi Palace from Kuala Pilah to the Taman Bunga at Jalan Dato' Hamzah, Seremban and was turned into the State Museum.

Seremban Lake Garden

Seremban Lake Garden is the most popular recreational and leisure centre in Seremban which has attracted the attention of many visitors especially during public holidays and weekends. This Lake Garden is one of the oldest natural lake gardens in Malaysia.

Seremban 2 Recreational Park

Seremban residents and also town folks in search of a recreational destination with the family, come and visit the S2 City Park, during weekends or school holidays. Arriving at this six-acre area, visitors will be greeted with the breath-taking landscapes as well as a variety of colourful kite decorations flying freely in the sky.

Malaysia Park

Malaysia Park in line with the noble intention of the government in ensuring that each town is not only modernised but also parallel towards town greenery, the Seremban Municipal Council has identified Malaysia Park as one of the Public Parks which may be developed to accommodate the recreational and leisure as well as tourism needs for Seremban town.^[11]

Church of Visitation

It is the oldest parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur since 1848. The church is located in the centre of Seremban town with a sprawling 2 acre that includes the historical Parochial House and the Visitation Hall and Formation Centres and the Wisma Visitation. Its neo-Gothic architecture is truly a central landmark of the town and has been described as “one of the most beautiful in the mission.”

Centipede temple

Perched on top of a hill in Ulu Temiang, Seremban lies the Centipede Temple (or Then Sze Temple). Centipedes roamed freely in and out of the temple grounds and it is believed that if you spot a centipede you can expect some good fortune.

Town areas

Seremban core

The Seremban core areas come under jurisdiction of Seremban Municipal Council (MPS).

• Seremban
• Rasah
• Rasah Jaya
• Rahang
• Mambau
• Senawang
• Temiang
• Lobak
• Paroi
• Bukit Chedang
• Bukit Blossom
• Seremban 2
• Ampangan
• Oakland
• Bukit Kepayang
• Kemayan
• Sikamat
• Bandar Sri Sendayan
• Seremban 3
• Pulai Impian

Outer Seremban

The outer Seremban areas come under jurisdiction of Nilai Municipal Council (MPN).

• Nilai
• Bandar Baru Nilai
• Rantau
• Mantin
• Sungai Gadut
• Labu
• Lenggeng
• Taman Seremban Jaya
• Bandar Seremban Selatan
• Taman Tuanku Jaafar
• Rasah Kemayan
• Pantai
• Ulu Beranang
• Pajam

Seremban 2

Seremban 2 is a new satellite township about 4 kilometres south-east of the existing old Seremban town centre. Located on the western side of the North–South Expressway, Seremban 2 is a planned township built on former oil palm estate land with the aim of relocating the administrative and business district from the crowded old town centre to a more organised area.

Spanning over 2,000 acres (8 km²) of land, Seremban 2 will be the site of the new

• Seremban District administrative offices
• Seremban Court Complex.
• District Police headquarters
• State Fire Brigade headquarters

The RM2 billion township will also sustain a large portion of the population of Seremban through various housing estate projects in and around Seremban 2 such as

• Green Street Homes
• Sri Carcosa
• Central Park
• Emerald Park
• Garden Homes
• Garden Avenue
• Garden City Homes
• Vision Homes
• S2 Heights
• Park Avenue

The residents here enjoy many facilities with ÆON Seremban 2 Shopping Centre, City Park, Seremban 2's very own Lake Gardens and comparably less traffic than the town centre.^[12]

Economy

The state, which been home to a number of multinationals from Japan, South Korea, the United States and the European Union. The manufacturing sector today forms the backbone of the state economy, contributing almost half of the state's gross domestic product (GDP), followed by services and tourism (40.3%), agriculture (6%), construction (2.2%) and mining (0.3%).^[13]

Retail

Seremban is the business and commercial centre for most towns and villages in Negeri Sembilan. During the weekends, residents from outlying areas come to Seremban by commuter train or buses to shop in Seremban. Amway opened their first concept shop in Seremban in August 2008 as on-going expansion strategy to give its distributors and customers a new shopping experience.^[14]

Terminal One Shopping Centre ("T1", previously known as Terminal One Mall) is located at the heart of Seremban. It was built in 1996.Parking is located in the building with rate maximum RM5 per day. Lost ticket will be penalised RM50.^[15][16]

AEON Seremban 2, one of the premier shopping destinations in the town, was the only ÆON outlet operated in the state.

Besides T1 and AEON Seremban 2, many shopping outlets are concentrated in town centre; Wisma Punca Emas, KM Plaza, The Store, Palm Mall, Era Square and Parkson Seremban Prima which replaced Seremban Parade. As the population increased from time, it attracted fourtwo major hypermarket chains in Malaysia to set up store in Seremban, namely Giant Hypermarket, Tesco Extra, Econsave and on February 2010, ÆON launched their grand opening of ÆON Big at Seremban Forest Heights, replacing the old Carrefour.

Apart from shopping complexes, Seremban is surrounded by a number of neighbouring commercial districts including Taman AST, Era Square, Permai Avenue and Kemayan Square amongst other areas.

Seremban also has designated numerous zones in the city to market locally manufactured products such as antiques, textiles, fabrics and handicrafts. The local municipal council has gazetted Jalan Utam Singh as a morning flea market during the weekend.^[17] In 2009, Sungai Ujong Walk located in Jalan Dr. Murugesu was opened by the local council president. The walk follows the example of the well known Jonker Street in Malacca, providing 72 business sites with 30 lots selling foodstuffs and beverages. The rest of the space provides a stage for performances and cultural shows to be held. It is perceived as a future location that will revive the night atmosphere besides enlivening the area around.^[18]

Infrastructure

Health

Seremban has a number of hospitals and medical centres, which include a government hospital and private owned hospitals.

Tuanku Ja'afar Hospital, formerly known as Seremban General Hospital is the state and referral hospital for the state of Negeri Sembilan. Established in 1930 with total capacity 800 beds and 20 clinical specialities and various supportive services. Situated at Bukit Rasah, Seremban, the hospital occupying an area of 212 acres (0.86 km²) of land.

The other hospitals include Columbia Asia Medical Center, which opened in 1999 and now has 80 beds and offers outpatient and inpatient specialist services, a 24-hour clinic and emergency services.

In 2004 a new hospital was established, Seremban Specialist Hospital which has total capacity of 109 beds. The hospital located at the outskirt of Seremban which is just behind State Museum.

Negeri Sembilan Chinese Maternity Hospital is also a private hospital that has 75 beds. It located along Jalan Tun Ismail.

There is also a hospital in Senawang, the 101 beds Senawang Specialist Hospital (SSH) which opened in 2008.

Politics

Seremban is currently represented in the Dewan Rakyat of the Malaysian Parliament by Anthony Loke Siew Fook of the DAP.

On the state level, Seremban supplies 6 seats to the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly:

• Nilai;
• Lenggeng;
• Lobak;
• Temiang;
• Sikamat; and
• Ampangan.

Currently the DAP controls three out of these six seats: Nilai, Lobak and Temiang; PKR holds Sikamat; the remaining two seats, Ampangan and Lenggeng are held by UMNO/BN.^[19][20]

Certain wards of Seremban, though administered by the Seremban Municipal Council, are actually located in other parliamentary constituencies; for instance, Paroi is represented by Rembau constituency, while Mambau, Bukit Kepayang, Rahang and Senawang are located within the borders of Rasah parliamentary constituency.

Gallery

• 
  Street map of Seremban attractions
• 
  KTM Komuter station
• 
  Seremban Prima
• 
  Terminal One Mall
• 
  Era Square
• 
  Menara MAA

International relations

Sister cities

Seremban currently has one sister city:

Bukittinggi, Indonesia.[21]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Seremban.

• Seremban travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Majlis Perbandaran Seremban
• KTM Komuter Seremban Station
• Seremban Maya
• Virtual Drive Through Street of Seremban
• Seremban Live