History-rich Sitiawan gaining economic wealth

A TOURIST destination, a naval base and home to the Foochow community – these are the usual perceptions when you mention Sitiawan to Perakians.

The town, unbeknown to most, has been growing by leaps and bounds from a backwater town to the forefront of development due to its swiftlet industry and ever-expanding oil palm plantations.

It is now slowly shifting away from an agriculture-based industry, with the diversity of industries starting up in the area.

The story of Sitiawan started with a pioneer group led by Christian missionaries as part of a large ‘population transplant’ to bring in rice farmers from Foochow, China, into then Malaya.

Local historian Reverend Liew Kek Ming said the early settlers, who had arrived in Sitiawan in 1903, however, did not succeed in planting padi and made a switch to planting rubber instead.

“The change was pivotal as world rubber prices was increasing at the time, and it generated a lot of wealth for the hardworking Foochow settlers,” he said, adding that development grew in tandem with the accumulated wealth. Consequently, main infrastructure such as a hospital and administrative offices were set up.

The pastor of the Pioneer Methodist Church, the first church set up in Sitiawan, said after the phenomenal growth of rubber, oil palm was introduced.

This further increased the economy and allowed for more wealth to be re-invested into acquiring land, he added.

“Apart from focusing on agriculture, other industries such as tourism, transportation and bird nest industry started to crop up with some help from the state government,” he said.

An example of how tourism has flourished in the district is the Marina Island Pangkor project.

It is a man-made island in Teluk Muruh, equipped with its own jetty to reach Pangkor island in just five minutes compared to the usual 40-minute ride via the Lumut jetty.

Already known for their hardwork and thrift, the Foochows also have an acute sense for making the right investments, which saw many of them accumulate land and properties whenever they could afford to do so.

“After putting in hard work, the Foochow community often saved and accumulated wealth before finding properties and land suitable for them to either expand their plantations or as investments,” Liew said.

The community, he said, was so adept in seeking out valuable investments that many a property was sold through word of mouth even before advertisements were published.

“The rapid investments also caused an increase in land prices.

“A 0.4ha piece of land along Jalan Lumut cost RM500,000 in the early 1990s, is now going for a whopping RM1.8mil,” he said.

With such clever money management, the community was more than able to weather through the two major financial crises that turned many businessmen a bankrupt.

Another important factor that changed Sitiawan was the setting up of the Lumut Naval Base.

The number of officers and their families arriving in nearby Lumut inflated the local population and further fuelled the rapid development there.

Lingbena Bhd director Ling Leong Choong said there had been an exponential increase in the district’s population with the naval base there.

“Businesses have grown because of the naval base, and better infrastructure such as healthcare and transportation was introduced,” said Ling, who was instrumental in the development of the first private hospital in Sitiawan – the Columbia Asia Hospital Sitiawan, which is due to open its doors late next year.

“The strong demand for private healthcare that is efficient and affordable is a mark of development for Sitiawan and Manjung residents,” he said.

Unfortunately, with progress come social challenges affecting the community.

Senior Citizen Club Sitiawan president Su Jee Hor said despite the growth experienced in the district, it had not been sufficient to retain the younger generation.

Many leave after completing their secondary education, for bigger cities like Penang and Kuala Lumpur and even overseas to pursue their tertiary education.

“We have many senior citizens who are lonely as their children are either studying or working far away from home and are unable to come back often to spend time with them.

“Our club then becomes their family, helping them to cope with the loneliness at home through friendship with their peers, keeping their body healthy through exercises, and even creating new experiences by travelling to various countries as a group,” he said.

Liew said the lack of job opportunities and high-paying jobs had led many to seek employment outside of the district.

“We only see them during festive seasons. There are only a handful of youth who stay behind to become teachers, doctors or engineers.

“With all this development around, something needs to be done to set up quality tertiary education, private or public, to retain these youths,” he said.