"My Home Town....." Baling by lukluk_wal_marjan

Baling Travel Guide: 26 reviews and 95 photos

the river that pass tru my 'kampung' - Baling

Baling, Kedah

Baling is one of the district in Kedah which is located North-East on Penisular Malaysia map.

It was where my father was born, where he first met my mom - got married and have their 1st son, where he drove all of us back during all the major festive holidays, where I learn to swim in the river,where we finally move and settle down after his retirement, where all the happy and sad memories created....and all sorts of other uncountable moments!!!!.

Its also a place that I called "MY HOME TOWN" ever since we move there in Nov 1990. Urggghhh...am I that old???? LOL

Ever since then, it has gone under tremendous changes in terms of development.

In the 80s we still under curfew out of fear from the communist activities in the neighbouring forest. On the Malaysia history map, Baling is where Tuanku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj had the Peace Meeting in 1955 with Chin Peng, the Communist Party Leader.

Above all, most Malaysians should be able to relate to Baling existence & histories but most are also yet to travel this far.....

How the name come about...

the mountain, pic taken from my hse verandah

Directly translated, in English Baling means throw but based on story related by my late father and also my late grandma; the word Baling originates from Thai words. It was initially called as Ban Ling i.e 'Ban' which means mountain and 'Ling' which means monkeys.

After such time, due to pronouciation, the alphabet 'N' is no longer heard. Even now, if you want to test the originality, you can say the word Ban Ling over & over again and you will definitely and finally end up with saying Baling.

When I was young, I have seen a lot of monkeys at the root of the mountain. They some times invaded the hospital compound. The hospital has since been relocated to a new area. I have rarely seen the monkeys nowadays.... and I guess that is the price you pay for the sake of development.....

How the name come about... (2nd version)

Another version of how the name came about is related to the story about Raja Bersiung (The Fanged King).

It was told that he thrown his fang from Baling. His acts when he fled from his palace gave names to a lot of places such as Siong (Fang)- the place where the fang was believed to have landed.

Weng was given after the sound of the fang when its 'travelled' through the air after being thrown from 'Baling' before its landed in 'Siong'.

Coincidently, these places are in sequence up to the north from where the palace once was.

You can read further about them by clicking here

Pros and Cons

Pros:quiet life
Cons:too remote
In a nutshell:Full with known histories and unexplored attractions

Last visit to Baling: Jan 2006
Intro Updated Oct 18, 2007
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Reviews (5)

Stay by the river... Hotels (2)

I happened to stay at this hotel when I was waiting for my house renovation to complete prior to my wedding... more travel advice

Its time to go back when it is too hot to handle! - Baling

Hot dip @ hot spring Things to Do (2)

About 19 km from Baling town, located an improved recreational area i.e. Ulu Legong Hot Spring. On the way to this... more travel advice

Enjoy the cooling waterfall Things to Do (2)

About 20 km from the Baling town is a picnic spot which is famous among the locals. I was back to my mom's during the... more travel advice

Saturday Nite Live Nightlife (1)

Baling comes livelier every Saturday nite when the people went out searching for local food or bargaining for new... more travel advice

Comments (5)

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aussirose Dec 25, 2007 at 6:34 PM

Heya Zue. Was thinking of you so decided to drop by some of your pages. How nice.....happy memories of your home town :o) .....and the river looks like a lovely place to learn to swim :o) Hugs to you and hubby xx
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Ijjaz Nov 9, 2007 at 5:11 PM

Salam Zue. I too lived by the river in Baling. Used to take my bath in the river before going to school. Very cold water in the morning. Went to Sek Keb Tunku Putra. Left Baling in 1970 Have been living and working in Toronto Canada past 25yrs.
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ukirsari Jul 12, 2006 at 11:47 PM

hi zue .. hari ini saya akan bertolak dari kl pulang ke jakarta! wahhhh, saya main rafting di kiulu, kinabalu :)
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l_joo Jun 7, 2006 at 10:09 PM

Hi Zue, thanks a lot for your Ban Ling info, definitely better than my Baling (throwing) hahaha. A very good page from a hometown girl, happy VT and happy travels.
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robertgaz Feb 8, 2006 at 12:12 AM

Thanks for sharing a bit about your home town Zue.