Sitiawan
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Sitiawan سيتياوان 实兆远 சிதியாவான் |
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|---|---|
| District of Malaysia | |
| Country |
 Malaysia
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| State |
 Perak Darul Ridzuan
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Sitiawan (alternate spelling: Setiawan; origin: from Malay, a portmanteau of , meaning "Loyal Friend") is a region in Manjung District, Perak, Malaysia.
The region covers an area of 331.5 square kilometers (128.0 sq mi) and as of year 2000, its population was 95,920. Sitiawan town, the principal town of Sitiawan sub-district (mukim), is located at 4°13′N 100°42′E / 4.217°N 100.700°E.
Folklore mentions Sitiawan as Kampung Sungai Gajah Mati. It became a thriving settlement for industrious migrants from Foochow (Chinese: Fuzhou). They were mostly from the district of Kutien in Fuzhou, China.
According to legend, Kampung Sungai Gajah Mati (literally: "Dead Elephant River Village") was the place where two large elephants drowned after one of them, overladen with tin ore, got stuck in the mud of the Dinding River at low tide. Efforts to save the elephant were in vain and eventually, everyone gave up and left. However, the second elephant refused to budge and hung on to its friend, resulting in them drowning together in the rising tide. Thus the setia kawan (loyal friend) name was derived.
In the late 19th century, tin, together with rubber sheets, formed the main commodities of commerce. They were often carried by elephants and loaded onto waiting steamships destined for Penang. In the 1870s, when an outbreak of smallpox struck the settlement, and in line with the Chinese belief of naming a place to enhance its feng-shui, the locals chose to name the locality Setia Kawan—the "loyal friend" -- to harmonise with nature and appease the dead elephants. The name eventually became shortened to Sitiawan.
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