Bahau

Bahau (Chinese: 馬口) is the principal town of Jempol District, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The town's name is believed to have been derived from a Chinese phrase. Bahau is literally translated as "Horse's Mouth" while the nearby town, Mahsan means "Horse's Body" in Cantonese.

The earliest recorded role of the area around Bahau is as a town along the "Denai Penarikan", a water-land route through the interior of Peninsular Malaysia, linking Muar in the West Coast, to Pekan, Pahang in the East Coast. The "Denai Penarikan" or the "Pulling Route" is a land route where merchants would pull their boats across land from Sungai Muar which flows westwards to Sungai Serting which flows eastwards.

The town did not flourish until the arrival of Chinese settlers moving inland in search of tin ore. The Chinese settlers established the town of Bahau and nearby Mahsan, and the town grew as the rubber, palm oil and timber trade (fading industry) began to dominate the town's economy.

During the Second World War, preparations were made to evacuate people from Singapore to Johor and Negeri Sembilan. Singapore was then overcrowded and the food situation critical. Eurasian emigrants were brought to Bahau after the success in bringing the Chinese to Endau. However malaria proved to a constant scourge, and the emigrants discovered that the area had not been adequately prepared for their arrival. The Syonan-to government could not extend to Bahau the same assistance given to Endau because the former became the responsibility of the Negeri Sembilan authorities. The residents here also enjoyed less freedom than their counterparts in Endau.

Three hundred Eurasian families and 400 Chinese catholic families left Syonan for Bahau. Many could not adjust to the hard life as pioneers in an agricultural colony. Catholic nuns together with the orphans in their care were reduced to eating a stew made from snail and grass. A high death rate claimed many, including the leader of the project, Bishop Devals.

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