Kluang

Kluang (Jawi: كلواڠ), formerly Keluang, is a town in Kluang District, Johor, Malaysia. Kluang was founded in 1915 as the administrative capital of central Johor by the British. It is located in the centre of the state and is within 90 minutes of all major urban areas of Johor. Kluang, combined with Batu Pahat, encompasses central Johor with a market catchment of over 700,000. Over the 20th century, Kluang's economy transitioned from rubber to palm oil and now has some of Malaysia's largest organic farms. The industrial sector has also grown significantly with multinational investment and a critical mass of tile manufacturers enabling the district to be called the 'tile capital of Malaysia'. The organic farming sector has also boosted Kluang as an ecotourism destination with key farms such as Zenxin, UK Agro and Kahang Organic Rice Farm. The name Kluang derives from the Malay word 'keluang' which means a type of flying fox or rather a type of fruit bat, which used to be plentiful in the district decades ago. They have almost completely disappeared due to the combination of hunting and destruction of their natural habitat (deforestation). Kluang was founded in 1915 as the administrative capital for central Johor by the British. The main railway line linking north to south Malaya was built passing through Kluang and this helped in its growth. Roads were built to link Kluang to Johor Bahru towards the south-east, to Batu Pahat towards the south-west and to Mersing towards the north-east. During World War II, the town of Kluang was occupied by Japanese forces on the 25th of January 1942 as they advance southwards as it was abandoned by Allied forces withdrawing towards Singapore. General Yamashita moved his headquarters forward from Kuala Lumpur to Kluang on 27 January 1942 as he advanced southwards. The Japanese later used the airfield in Kluang to launch air attacks on targets ranging from Singapore to Sumatra. In the mid-fifties the airfield was used for spotter planes and helicopters searching for communists who were encamped in the Bukit Lambak area and as an artillery base.