BENTONG MY BEAUTY PLACE

PROFILE OF BENTONG

Bentong is both a town and a district situated in the west side of Pahang Darul Makmur, Malaysia. In the beginning, Bentong subdistrict was under the administration of district of Raub. The administration was separated in 1919 due to the large size of the district of Raub. The district covers an area of 183,112.35 hectares. It is located northeast of Kuala Lumpur, just across the main mountain range, Titiwangsa Mountains. The original main street going into Bentong town has been modified to a dual carriageway. However, the part of the road which leads to Raub and Kuala Lipis had been upgraded.

As of 2002, Bentong has a population of 101,533 people. Bentong is one of the biggest towns in Pahang. It is similar in size to Raub. Bentong has many light and medium industries, including timber factories and food industries. It also has one multinational copper wire factory which is the biggest in the country.
Bentong is an important rest stop for truckers who ply the route between Kuala Lumpur and Kuantan, carrying timber and timber products. It is believed that the truckers prefer to use the old Bentong-Kuala Lumpur road (which has been superseded by the Karak Highway), as it is a quieter drive with fewer traffic, more shade from the heat due to many trees, proximity to a local hot spring, and has no toll charges.

BENTONG - My Hometown

HISTORY OF BENTONG

    According to an old story, Bentong was previously known as Kapong. It was changed from Kapong to Bentong before First World War. In earlier times, the center of Bentong was around the market area, at the meeting point of the rivers Repas and Perting. The most important transportation way at that time was the rivers by using ‘perahu’ (small boats). The jetty was situated in front of current rest house (near current Bentong Police Station. Bentong became a focal point when tin ore was discovered in the 2 main rivers, Repas and Perting. Tin developers constructed ‘ban’ to extract more ore, hence more profits.