Intro4u2u

Malaysia Islands > Redang Island >Teluk Kalong

Introduction : The Pulau Redang Marine Park consists of 9 islands and is located 12 nautical miles North East of Peninsular Malaysia. This group of island is recognized as having one of the best coral reefs and marine ecosystems in Peninsular Malaysia and is the preferred destination for Malaysian divers. Pulau

Redang is rewarded with nutrient rich waters from the South China Sea and is home to many variety of marine life and reef building corals. The island is an ideal place to combine diving activities, snorkelling or just a relaxing beach vacation.

Redang Kalong Resort is located on Pantai Teluk Kalong, Redang Island, Redang Kalong Resort is the only resort on this location with the privacy of your own beach.

Malaysia Islands > Redang Island > Pulau Bidong

Introduction : Newar Redang there is some of the neighboring islands like Pulau Bidong and Pulau Lang Tengah, which are close enough for a day trip.

From the late 70′s till 1991, Bidong was a camp for Vietnamese refugees (boat people) fleeing from Communist persecution and hardship, and was declared a restricted zone, off-limits to visitors. At its peak, there were as many as 40,000 Vietnamese ‘boat people’ living here. Today, all the refugees have been resettled in other parts of the world or have repatriated, and after the last Rela Home Guard members left in 1999, restrictions on visiting the island was lifted.

Malaysia Islands > Redang Island >Pulau Yu Besar

Introduction : Pulau Yu Besar (Big Shark Island) A very exposed islet east of main Bidong, it got its name from the fishermen of long ago when sharks were abundant. The northeastern point is rugged and plunges underwater to a beautiful coral garden. Excellent site for both coral and fish life. Seen often are barracuda, trevally, rainbow runner, bat fish and dozens of giant humphead parrotfish. Depths 30 to 80 feet (10 to 24 meters)

Malaysia Islands > Redang Island

Introduction : There are certainly a lot of plans lined up for Pulau Karah. From a posh, island resort to a museum to house the history of the island. Fortunately, development has not commenced at Karah as of now but intentions are to develop the island. In the near future, when the economy revs up again…plans would be put into action and with that, much of the essence would be lost.

Let us hope that whichever proposal goes through, all parties would take into consideration, the sensitivities of Karah’s historical significance and the environmental impact. Sometimes, developers become too overzealous with their development, they forget about designing dwellings that are in harmony with the environment.

Malaysia Islands>Redang Island>Pulau Karah

Introduction : The other notable site is Batu Tengkorak with a shallow depth of around 14 metres, providing opportunities to encounter schooling trevallies and barracuda, and a wide variety of other reef life amidst dense and scattered coral formations. For snorkeling, head for Pulau Gelok with its gently sloping coral reef off the beach, providing chance encounters with black tipped reef sharks. Welcome to REDANG!!

White sandy beaches, crystal clear blue sea, brilliant underwater world Redang Island is located at 45 km offshore of Terengganu. Redang archipelago comprises 9 islands, the Lima Island, Paku Besar Island, Paku Kecil Island, Kerengga Besar Island, Kerengga Kecil Island, Ekor Tebu Island, Ling Island, Pinang Island and Redang Island. This archipelago is abounds with marvelous marine fishes, turtles and coral reefs, ensuring a great snorkelling and scuba-diving experience. Redang Island which is approximately 7km in length 6km in width, is the largest of all other islands in the Marine Park.

The Redang archipelago has been designated as Pulau Redang Marine Parks Malaysia as to conserve the islands’ unique ecosystem. There are 500 species of live corals, more than a thousand species of invertebrates and almost 3000 species of fishes which includes manta rays, stingrays, sharks and whale sharks, all living in harmony in the reefs fringing the islands. It is a real heaven for divers.

Diving enthusiasts and underwater photographers will definitely be entranced by the sights of the islands, which are ranked among the best coral reef in the world. Among the attractions at the twenty over different diving spots, there are shipwrecks near Pinang Island, black coral garden as well as the mysterious submerged chamber, both located in the vicinity of Lima Island. And not Forgetting is the Mini Mount situated between Kerenggan Besar Island and Kerenggan Kecil Island. Redang waters also contains two historic shipwrecks. The H.M.S Prince of Wales and H.M.S. Repulse were sunk here during the WWII, setting the stage for the Japanese occupation of Malaya.

History of the people
The early settlers of Redang Island were believed to have descended from the Bugis of Celebes, Indonesia.  It was said that there were seven Bugis siblings traveled from Celebes to look for new settlement. One of the members, Batin Talib has finally decided to make Redang Island his new home. He established the first village faced towards the lagoon at Telok Kalong Besar on the east of the island. To shelter from the strong monsoon wind, he moved to a smaller island on the south which he named Pinang Island due to the betel nut palms (pinang) here. Another member, Batin Mina was said to have settled down in Perhentian Island and his sister Batin Cik Siti headed to Hulu Terengganu. The whereabouts of the rest Batins was however unknown.

Population of Redang Island
Today, Redang Island is a home for a community of nearly 250 fisherman families who are believed to be the descendents of the Bugis. They build their homeland in a new village at the left bank of Sungai Redang estuary, approximately 3 kilometers inland from the previous one. It has been characterized by rapid economic growth and improvement in most social indicators in recent years, mainly contributed by tourism and fishing industry.

Legendary Redang
It is always says that, the multi races Malaysian society has created an ideal environment to the country to nurture a rich cultural background with lot of legends. This is especially obvious in name of places.

Due to its strategic location, Redang Archipelago was once a traders’ passage-by between Siam (Thailand today) and the Malaya Archipelago. It was a temporary anchorage for them in their miles long trading journey.

Among these passers-by, there was a trader from Terengganu, Awang Sulong Muda whose wife was Cik Hitam Pasir Panjang Muda Elok Terenganu. The Awang couples together with their lady-in-waiting, Dayang Sri Jawa and Hulubalang, Awang Selamat were used to stop and had their break in Redang Island in their trading route. They tided the fowls which they brought along at southeastern of the island which is called Pasir Macam Ayam (chicken-alike sand) today. The rock that this family tided their fowls is still standing there in the island until today, but one might wonder the size of the fowls when looking at the huge size of this rock.

Other than this fowls tided rock, there are two other rocks both embedded with each other standing on a hill in Teluk Kalong. These embedded rocks look very much like the rears of an elephant and therefore are called Batu Gajah (elephant rocks) by the local. Batu Gajah is believed to be the marine elephants or Gajah Laut which were turned into stones due to some unknown reasons.

The cultural rich condition in Malaysia has further enriched by mythos found in folk’s believes. The existence of Orang Bunian (the fairies) in legendary stories is no longer an unfamiliar topic.

In Redang Island, Orang Bunian were said to have resided at the five cluster stones, Batu Surat or Batu Bedung (letter stones) near Pasir Changar Hutang. It was very usual in those days that the villagers will come to these Orang Bunian to inform them of any  kenduri (banguet) to be held. They will also inform the fairies of the number of guests expected. Then, on the day of the kenduri, a full set of crockery will appear from nowhere for the kenduri purposes.

Not far from here is another group of rocks, the Batu Tok Kong which, is a worshiping place for some devotees due to the belief that there are Orang Bunian reside here.

To the southeastern of the island is another worship rock, Tanjung Telaga Batu. The worshipping practices started due to a saying that there stayed a man called Syeikh Samarani who would grant requests. No one can tell how true is the saying but up to late 1970’s, there were still people placing their offering and requesting for favours.

The legendary of Redang Archipelago will never be completed if without the turtle like stone laying on top of a rock at Tajung Batu Pepanji, somewhere between Teluk Dalam and Pasir Changar Hutang. This turtle stone is said to be the guardian of all the turtles in Redang Waters.

Whether the fragrant reported by the villagers came from Puteri Mayang Mas who is reputed to reside at Pasir Mak Kepit or there are magic which made the water puddle in Pasir Gontang supplies inexhaustible water, it is all suggesting a room for the readers to imagine and buy-in. However this will never influence the mysterious of Redang Archipelago, instead has become part of its heritage which added to the fascination of these islands.

Introduction

Located 25 nautical miles from Kuala Terengganu the Pulau Redang archipelago consist of nine islands – Pulau Lima, Pulau Paku Besar, Pulau Paku Kecil, Pulau Kerengga Besar, Pulau Kerengga Kecil, Pulau Ekor Tebu, Pulau Ling, Pulau Pinang and Pulau Redang. In these group of islands only Pulau Redang and Pulau Pinang are populated. Local islanders settled on Pulau Redang, while Pulau Pinang is now the center for the marine park authority.
History of Pulau Redang

The people that lives on Pulau Redang are decendents of Bugis settlers who came from Celebes, Indonesia long time ago. It is said that seven of the Bugis siblings batins (Batin means holy men) from Celebes travelled here to look for new places to settle down.One of them called Batin Talib decided to make Pulau Redang his new home. Till today, only two of Batin Talib’s colleagues can be traced. Batin Mina is said to settled down in Pulau Perhentian, in the north. Batin Mina’s sister, Batin Cik Siti settled up river on the mainland (Ulu Terengganu).Where the other four Batins went were not known.

Batin Talib and the first settlers established their first village at Telok Kalong, an area facing a lagoon on the east side of the island. He and his villagers then moved to a smaller island down south where they found better shelter from the prevailing wind. This small island is covered with betel nut palms (pinang). They named this island Pulau Pinang.

In the seventies there are approximately 100 families living on Pulau Pinang. As the population grow, the villagers decided to move to the river mouth at Kuala Sungai Redang. Till today there are only two inhabited islands in the Redang Archipelago. Pulau Pinang which houses the marine park centre and Pulau Redang which is the homeland to approximately 250 families. The local people on this island primarily earned their living by traditional fishing. Now most of these fishermens are entering the tourism industry which is growing rapidly on the island. This year all settlers are moved to a new village approximately 2 kilometers inland.

I enjoyed waking up in the early mornings to go for a walk on the beach, especially after having had a good night’s sleep. I’m not one to laze in bed, and especially not on my last morning in Redang. No, siree, I was rested and ready to go. Once I awoke, I slipped quietly out of my room, put on on my flip flops, grabbed my camera and stepped out of my beachfront chalet to check out the new day. I stood for a few minutes, quietly, breathing in the fresh, crisp morning air and looked around. The resort on that Sunday morning was quiet. There were very few guests out and about, and those that were out were just like me, happy to be left alone, lost in thought.

Mornings are my favourite time of the day. The crispness and newness of the morning appeals to me – it is like a present, waiting to be unwrapped, waiting to unfold, discovered, waiting to be filled with events and happenings.

To fly directly to Pulau Redang from Singapore, you’ll need to take Berjaya Air via Singapore Seletar Airport [XSP] (not to be confused with Singapore Changi Airport) in the northern part of the country. This airport started its life as a British military airport and even today, has retained some of the architecture from that era. There is only 1 public bus service (Bus 103) that services the airport. It starts from Serangoon Central Bus Interchange and will make a loop inside the airport before returning to the bus interchange once again. The easiest way to get here (from the city) would be to take a taxi. It should not cost you more than S$14 one way. The airport is pretty compact with only 1 commercial client (Berjaya Air for flights to Pulau Redang & Pulau Tioman). There are no cafes or eateries here, just vending machines. There is one waiting lounge before immigration. The coolest part would be the waiting area at the departure gate, housed in a pre-WW2 bunker. There are 2 large TVs here to entertain passengers. All areas are air-conditioned, except for the connecting walkpaths. Passengers walk right up to the plane for boarding. Pulau Redang Airport [RDN] resembles a fanciful air-strip. The entire airport is open-air in concept. There are separate arrival and departure gates, all housed in a simple white building with 2 small souvenir shops and washrooms in the middle. Baggages are trolleyed from the plane to the baggage claim area where passengers must step forward to collect before clearing customs. Resort coaches will be waiting at the arrival gate to fetch guests. Like Seletar, passengers walk right up to the plane for boarding. The nearest resort is Berjaya Beach Resort which is just 12-15 minutes away.

Redang Holiday Beach Villa is located cozily at the edge of a lagoon, the resort was built overlooking the bay with crystal clear blue seawater, being built on the boulders against the backdrop of the hillside and fronting the beach at Redang Island. The resort was the creation of Mr.Tan (The Executive Director of Redang Island Marine Adventure Sdn. Bhd.) since the year of 1998, then the resort operating with 16 units of wooden standard room, a cozy dining hall fronting the sea-view.

Year 2000,a dive base was completely built to cater for the diving activities and diving courses with international standard. Upon the request of the filming company from Hong Kong , 2 units of semi-D villa was made to accommodate Mr. Richie Yen and Ms. Sammi Cheng for the filming of “Summer Mo Mo Cha”.The whole resort was accommodated by the crews of the filming company from Hong Kong and Taiwan for three weeks.
Year 2001, a great expansion plan was made, and the project was completed in 2002 with the extension of 24 units of semi-D villa and 2 units bungalow, follow with the expansion of the terrace to enhance the resort to provide a more comfortable dinning area. With the completion of this project, a little heaven was existed on earth, to make this wonderful and adorable island a paradise.
This aesthetic wooden resort is designed and built blending into the natural landscape of the island. As such the natural environment is preserved with nature plants and trees. Guest who is nature enthusiastic may look forward to frequent visit of squirrels, and birds.

Malaysian tour operators and the states’ tourism boards participating in the World Travel Market (WTM) exposition in Dockland, near here, are satisfied with the feedback received from visitors.

The queries have generally been on the products on offer including new and existing holiday and travel packages for the Visit Malaysia Year 2007 campaign.

These include leisure holidays on resort islands, shopping opportunities as well as packages based on agriculture and nature, education, honeymoon, spa, golf, diving, fishing, marine excursion and the Malaysia My Second Home programme.

Ninety-six delegates from 60 government bodies and the private sector led by Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, are taking part in the WTM held from Nov 6 to 9.

They are among 45,000 professionals representing 200 countries who converge at the four-day exposition to forge networking, negotiate business arrangements and gather the latest information on the world’s tourism industry.

The event is part of Tengku Adnan’s itinerary to promote Malaysia in Dublin, London, Glasgow and Amsterdam until Nov 12.

On the first two days of the WTM, Tengku Adnan was busy meeting the press including the BBC and the Condle Nast Traveller magazine to talk about Visit Malaysia Year 2007. He also met tour agents and operators and airline representatives.

Langkawi Development Authority (Lada) general manager Kamarulzaman Abdul Ghani said the WTM enabled Lada to promote Langkawi through the rebranding of the resort destination as a geological park (geopark).

The park covers new and existing tourist spots including the 99 islands of Langkawi.

“Lada has submitted an application to Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) to recognise Langkawi as among the world’s geoparks. We are waiting for Unesco to make their assessment between December and January next year,” he said when met at the Malaysia Pavilion at the WTM.

“If Unesco confers its recognition, Langkawi will be the first geopark in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. Surely, this will give many advantages to Langkawi,” he said, adding that the cable car in Gunung Mat Cincang was among the attractions.

Presently, there are 30 geoparks in Europe, 18 in China and one each in Brazil and Iran.

Terengganu Industrial Development and Tourism Committee chairman Datuk Mohamad Awang Tera said the WTM was a platform to woo tourists to the state during Visit Terengganu Year 2008.

He said various programmes had been planned with a RM10 million fund to realise the campaign including building a new runway and terminal for the state’s airport.

“Terengganu is emphasising 12 wonders including Tasik Kenyir – the largest man-made lake in Southeast Asia, Chemerong waterfall – the highest waterfall in Malaysia, Pasir Raja forest reserve which has the biggest and oldest chengal tree in Malaysia, Kuang Ajil Park which has the world’s biggest community of pheasants, and the longest stretch of beach in Malaysia from Besut to Kemaman,” he said.

Besides, he added, the state was also promoting events including the Monsoon Cup, 6.5km Swimathon from Pulau Kapas to the mainland, cuttlefish catching in Pulau Redang and the Pulau Perhentian Challenge.

Felda Plantation Resorts Sdn Bhd chief executive Andrew F. Savarinathan said his company would promote resort areas within Felda settlements.

As a start, the Felda subsidiary would focus on Tekom Plantation Resort, near Jerantut, and the Sungai Klah hotspring recreational park in Sungkai, Perak, he said.