Batu Kawa

For the state constituency represented in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly, see Batu Kawah (state constituency).

Not to be confused with Batu Kawan.

Batu Kawah
Township
Batu Kawah Location in Borneo
Coordinates: 1°30′50.58″N110°18′52.74″E / 1.5140500°N 110.3146500°E / 1.5140500; 110.3146500
Country	Malaysia
State	Sarawak
Division	Kuching
District	Kuching
Population  (2025)
• Total	106,854
Time zone	UTC+08:00 (Malaysian Standard Time)
Postal code(s)	93250
Area codes	+6082 (Landline) +6016 (Mobile)
ISO 3166 code	Part of MY-13

Batu Kawah is a suburban area located right next to the 3rd Mile Roundabout in Kuching Division, State of Sarawak in Malaysia. The mukim is administratively under the Padawan Municipal Council. The Pan Borneo Highway passing through the area links Kuching City with Bau, Lundu and Sematan further west. This place is also known to have many hornet nests. ^[1]

Etymology

Batu Kawah can also be referred as Batu Kawa, a corrupted form of spelling. The name of Batu Kawah is derived from the Malay words which "Batu" means stone and "Kawah" means crater which refers to a type wok used to cook rice. Oftentimes, people misspell Batu Kawah as Batu Kawa. Kawa has no meaning in the Malay language and is a corrupted spelling. Sources say that Batu Kawah is named with reference to a bunch of wok shape stone beside Batu Kawah River. ^[2]

Economic activities

According to the survey by Padawan Municipal Council, Batu Kawah is mostly active in retail & wholesale business, financial & monetary, Sarawak digital economy sector, online business, education, healthcare, social and welfare activities, sports, leisure & event activities, architectural engineering, and also agrotechnology.

Governance

Batu Kawa forms one of the Sarawak state assembly district (Batu Kawah). During the Sarawak state election in 2011, DAP candidate; Christina Chiew Wang See won the seat against BN candidate Tan Joo Phoi. (50.9% vrs 47.2%) ^[3]

In 2021 Sarawak state election, GPS candidate Sim Kui Hian won the seat against DAP candidate Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen with total 7,827 votes (or 70.2%).

Demographics

Ethnic groups in Batu Kawah (2025)

Ethnics			Percent
Malays			18.7%
Chinese			36%
Iban			25.2%
Bidayuh			12.1%
Orang Ulu			3.9%
Melanau			2%
Indian			1.3%
Non-citizens			0.8%

Geography

Batu Kawah New Township

Batu Kawah New Township, affectionately called "MJC" by Kuchingites, is a permanent modern garden city township development in Batu Kawah which provides the comfort and convenience to work, live, shop and play.

Batu Kawah New Township is a 285-acre integrated self-contained township planned with a whole array of modern facilities and amenities for your comfort. This city township officially owned by Mudajaya Group Berhad (formerly known as Mudajaya Corporation Berhad). Existing public amenities such as RHB Bank, restaurants, pharmacies, bus and taxi stand, police station, post office, 24-hour security assistance center, MJC Community Park, MJC Town Square, MJC Bazaar Square (formerly known as The Piazza MJC), public toilet, and public phone booths that provide convenience, recreation and security assistance to all the residents within this township.

Apart from that, Batu Kawah New Township also include other facilities such as SJK Chung Hua Sungai Tapang Hilir (a new completed Chinese primary school), SkyVilla Residences (a new residential condominium), Papillon Street Mall (a new modern street mall building), and many more.

Pines Square City, Batu Kawah

Pines Square City, also known widely as "Pines Square" by many people in Kuching, is a latest modern city township in Batu Kawah and also claimed to be newest development metropolitan city project after Batu Kawah New Township (MJC Batu Kawah).

Pines Square City originally owned by Lee Onn Development Sdn. Bhd. (a subsidiary development company under Lee Onn Group) and Exal Malaysia Sdn Bhd, which is contains eight different newest development areas, namely as Pines Square Commercial Center, Pines Residence, SÓL Estate Kuching (new modern housing estate in Batu Kawah), Abbertton Avenue (new residential apartment complex), Sri Pertiwi Batu Kawah (residential apartment), KENSHO Townhouse (new residential housing estate), and a newest commercial city complex project Pines Square Parade, which is also includes a new mall building Goceli Mall Batu Kawah, a new restaurant building, modern residential apartments, a new community market, a new police station, and a new modern office complex building that currently in construction.

Transportation

Batu Kawah area can be reached by two main roads named Jalan Batu Kawah-Tondong (Section of Pan Borneo Highway) and also Jalan Batu Kawah- Matang. Portion of Jalan Batu Kawah-Tondong separated by Sarawak River is linked with Jambatan Datuk Chong Kiun Kong. (Datuk Chong Kiun Kong Bridge), it has been upgraded to dual carriage bridge under RM16 million budget to ease the traffic congestion along Jalan Batu Kawa-Tondong. ^[4]

Other utilities

Small residential area

There are 12 small residential areas inside Batu Kawah :
Pekan Batu Kawa (石角)、Stapok (尖山)、Sin San Tu (新山肚)、Moyan (味源港)、Kim Choo Sing (金珠盛)、Luo Zhi Gan (罗知港)、Xia Sha Long（下沙垄）、Sungai Tapang (甲港)、Rantau Panjang (上湾头)、Sejijak (西里益)、Sungai Tengah (葫芦顶), and Pangkalan Baru (新梯头).

Education

Because of population rapidly increase in Batu Kawah, there's a need to establishing schools for education, mostly primary and secondary schools. For example, SJK Chung Hua Sungai Tapang Hilir, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Jalan Arang, and Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Batu Kawah.

There is only around 10 primary Chinese schools have been established during earlier day and have remained to serve the peoples till present. Besides that, one of the prestigious boarding schools, Sekolah Menengah Sains Kuching is also located in Batu Kawah.

Cyberjaya College Kuching is a only college campus that available in Batu Kawah. And there is no universities in Batu Kawah area.

References

1. "Girl stung by hornets fighting for her life". The Star Online . 6 October 2009. Archived from the original on 8 October 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
2. "华校春秋第六十六期". 16 June 2008. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
3. "Laman Web Rasmi Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak". 7 October 2015. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
4. "RM16 juta naik taraf Jambatan Chong Kiun Kong, Batu Kawa". 1 August 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2015.

External links

• JPN Batu Kawah