"Baling ~ In the State of Kedah" Baling by chiabh

Baling is a small town in the south-eastern part of Kedah... It is a rather laid-back town and life is slow moving... People in Baling are very friendly which is characteristic of small town folks... I do not see any major industries in the town and presumbly its sustainability is thru agricultural smallholdings... Its only claim to fame or have its place in history is the historial meeting between Chin Peng and Tuanku Abdul Rahman which took place in a school on the outskirt of the town... The rather conspicuous Bukit Baling or Baling Hill forms a picturesque background to the town...

You can approach Baling from the north thru Kulim or the south thru Kuala Kangsar and Pengkalan Hulu (aka Kroh or Keroh) as well as from the east coast (from Kota Baru) thru the East-West Highway from Jeli to Gerik...

Travellers from Kulim also pass thru Baling to Pengkalan Hulu to get to the Thai border town of Betong...

view from the district officer's residence...

Baling is well segregated, the old town is tucked in a nice corner at the foot of the massive limestone hill known as Bukit Baling... The limestone hill can be seen from the trunk road from Pengkalan Hulu (some 15km away)... The town sat beneath this massive "boulder", almost by the side of its verticle slope... The hill can be seen from every point in Baling and is very imposing... It is this hill that makes the town unique and give it its character...

sekolah kebangsaan tunku putra...

Baling is the site where Chin Peng (the leader of the Malay Races Liberation Army ~ or the MRLA), Tuanku Abdul Rahman (the leader of the newly formed Malaysian Govenment and the British met in 1955 to end the Malaysian Emergency... The Malaysian Government wanted the MRLA to give up their arms peacefully with promises that no further action will be taken against them.. However, Chin Peng insisted that the Malaysian Government and the British recognise MRLA as a legal Communits Party so that it could take part in the forthcoming election... The request was denied and the MRLA went back into the jungle to continue its armed struggle...

The meeting was held in what is now the Sekolah Kebangsaan Tunku Putra... However, it is sad to note that the meeting room was not preserved for prosperity...

• Pros:a quiet country-side town...
• Cons:can't think of any...
• In a nutshell:Think Bukit Baling... It is a Beautiful Backdrop...