Bekok
Bekok is a town located at the eastern side of Segamat District, Johor, Malaysia. Bekok is well-known especially among nature lovers since Bekok is the western entrance to Endau Rompin National Park as well as having a refreshing waterfall known as Sungai Bantang Waterfall. Besides the waterfall and also the entrance to the largest state park in Johor, Bekok also houses several aborigine settlements (Perkampungan Orang Asli) like Kampung Kudong and further inside the forest Kampung Kemidak. Pekan Air Panas is another settlement near Labis.
During the pre-independence period this small town was a "Black Area" known for strong communist resistance against the British government.
Transportation
Bekok is easily accessible via road, specifically State Route J150 which junction is located about 4 km from Chaah via Federal Route 1. Bekok is located roughly about 10 km from the junction.
Bekok is also accessible via train at the Bekok railway station.
Etymology
The town's name probably originally arrived from the Hakka dialect word "Mukok", which means "the corner", where the town is in fact a remote town located roughly about 10 km from the junction of the Federal Route 1 and later accessible via railway.
History
The town's history started in the early 20th century when the MNC Societe Financiere des Caoutchoucs (SOCFIN) Plantations started its plantation business in Chaah and Labis, they engaged thousands of Chinese workers for the 12,000 hectares plantation which was one of the biggest in the world during those days. Some of the Hakka families migrated to Bekok and named the town, and later the Hokkian clan came in to start the Chinese school there named as 吗咯华小. This Chinese school has cultivated many students to become successful person such as PhDs, doctors, engineers, lawyers, journalists and other professionals and artists, not to mention many successful businessman, and many of them choose to stay in the big cities to have a better living, or even migrated to oversea like Singapore, Hong Kong, UK and US, but they always go back to Bekok during the Chinese New Year.This is the school anthem of the Chinese School 吗咯华小 : 巍峨我校，矗立高岗，景色怡人，精神爽；训诲谆谆、书声朗朗，难得求知温床。 忠孝仁爱、信义和平，校训毋相忘；春风桃李，化及四方，服务社会，为校争光。
The Malay Kampung
The earliest Malay settlement set by the Penghulu (Village Head) was located near the bridge of the Bekok River on the way to Sg. Bantang waterfall, at a junction to Sg. Bekok Estate. It's said the first Penghulu was Sulaiman Bin Ain. He was then succeeded by his son Alam Bin Sulaiman. The name Bekok was said to be taken from the local fauna found called "ms" when he first opened the area. There was once a Penghulu house near the junction of Sg. Bekok Estate with inscription on the concrete apron written "1926" at the entrance. Penghulu Alam died on 14 August 1969 at the age of 89 years. He was then succeeded by his son Ismail Bin Alam. After the demise of Penghulu Ismail on 18 September 2000, the tradition of Penghulu from the same family has been stopped. Now the Penghulu is a position open to all eligible candidate under the Local Johor Government.
See also
External links
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