Intriguing History of Batu Arang

The name of this old Selangor town kept popping up as I was searching for articles on fossil fuels. Batu Arang is of course synonymous with its former abundant natural resources: coal.

In 2010, Malaysiakini produced an excellent short video on the turbulent history of Batu Arang.

The early coal miners were much more informed than labour workers in other parts of the nation. The coal miners had formed unions and organised strikes (typical communist tactics) in demanding for better wages and working conditions. Such portrayal of the "spirit of defiance" may have seeded the notion of independence from the British colonial masters.

The most surprising part is that the strike committee declared and formed the first independent country, Malaya's first Soviet government on March 27, 1937. This was a declaration of independence even before the formation of the Federation of Malaya in 1957. The Soviet government's brief reign came to an end when it was crushed ruthlessly by the combined forces of the police and Malay troops.

A Soviet government in Malaya? Back in 1937? Surely this must be a dream come true for the Malayan Communist Party (MCP).

For those interested in the history of Communism in Malaya, here are couple of links:

1. Red Star over Malaya

2. History in the making (there were some comical moments during the historical signing of peace treaty between MCP and the Malaysian government)

3. Disputed legacy

Back to Batu Arang.

Coal mining was carried out in the open as opposed to underground mining. The story of existing sealed secret underground tunnels helps to propagate this misconception. Now, the huge cavity in the ground has been filled with water and forms a huge pond.


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There are still some coal deposits underground in Batu Arang. This unfortunate resident's house turned into a sauna room one day when the underground coal deposit caught fire (coal seam fire or mine fire). Now, this is eerily similar to the movie, Silent Hill. I could imagine the fiery duration would be as long as peat fires, depending on the area and amount of fuel deposits. And this is not the first time such incident occurred in Batu Arang. In 1990, a primary Chinese school had to be demolished.

An important note to potential house buyers in Batu Arang!

 More stories on Batu Arang:
1. Stepping back in time