Kuala Pilah District

Townscape

The eponymous town is an old valley town with many of the pre-war Chinese shop houses still fronting the main streets surrounded by traditional style Malay village houses built on stilts nestled among extensive rice fields. It has a sizable Chinese community that has existed since the mining days during the early British rule. This community today engages in trading and providing essential services such as workshops, hairdressing and coffee shops.

The town is especially busy on weekends due to the flood of folks returning from Kuala Lumpur, usually to visit their parents or to tend to their family plots, where around the area is mostly Malays that migrated to Kuala Lumpur in search of better prospects and 'the bright lights'. The town is quite empty at night as most of the shops close as early as 7.00 pm daily. But early mornings are busy as there were workers and residents staying nearby going to work at government offices such as hospitals, district offices and schools.

There are not many food stalls around, most are limited to the junction between Kuala Pilah and Bahau. The town used to have a movie theatre, but it was closed due to the introduction of video and internet cafes that sprouted during the 1990s. Those cafes are still going strong today.

The town is where one can also find the old Kuala Pilah Rest House, which was built by the government during the British occupation. In the early years, rest houses were the only available hotels and where everyone from businessmen to travellers stayed. It still serves this purpose today, albeit in a diminished capacity due to the availability of alternative accommodations.

Demographics

Malays make up the majority of the population at 65%, followed by the Chinese at 26% and Indian at 9%.

Administrative divisions

Kuala Pilah District is divided into 11 mukims, which are:

Royal town

The constituency in which it belongs to is also home to Sri Menanti, the official residence of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan.

Politics

Currently Kuala Pilah is represented in the Dewan Rakyat of the Malaysian Parliament by Dato' Seri Hasan Malek of UMNO, part of the federal ruling coalition Barisan Nasional. Hasan Malek was previously the Minister of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism.

In turn, Kuala Pilah provides 5 seats to the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly, namely:

All five state seats are also currently held by UMNO.

Education

There are two campuses belonging to the Negri Sembilan branch of Universiti Teknologi MARA available in this district; one in Melang located in the outskirts of the town, and one in Beting which is further away and more rural in location.

Public hospitals

Ulu Bendul Recreation

Situated 16 km from Seremban on the way to Kuala Pilah / Sri Menanti, this recreation garden is surrounded by mountains an ideal spot to relax away from the bustling town. Lying near the foot of the 2500 ft Mount Angsi, fresh water from the streams flows into the man made lake. This recreational park was built in 1972 and is located at compartments 45 and 52 of the Angsi Forest Reserve (Hutan Simpan Angsi) in Negeri Sembilan. Located 200 m above sea level, the forest is categorised as the main attraction here with the summit reaching to 825 m above sea level. There are long-cabin for mountain climbers, tracks for hikers and jungle paths for the adventures.

The Martin Lister memorial

On the main road is a Chinese-styled arch dedicated to Martin Lister, who was the first British Resident of Negeri Sembilan, commemorating his effort in ending the intermittent violent conflict between Chinese secret societies then rampant among the migrant Chinese populace. Lister was killed by his enemies in the nearby hills at Ulu Bendul.

Transportation

The town itself is a main stopover for transport routes.

Car

Kuala Pilah is perhaps being famous for being an important rest town for travellers using highway , which runs through downtown Kuala Pilah. This highway, beginning in Tampin near the Negeri Sembilan-Malacca border and ending in Karak in western Pahang, is the main route for motorists from Malacca and Negeri Sembilan heading to the east coast states of Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan while bypassing Kuala Lumpur/the Klang Valley.

Meanwhile, Kuala Pilah is connected to the state capital, Seremban by highway .

Bus

There is a new Bus Station and Taxi Stand located in the middle of Kuala Pilah Town and services to Seremban, Kuala Lumpur, Tampin, Bahau and Gemas are available—also to the East Coast towns of Kuantan and Kuala Terengganu. People from Segamat and parts of Pahang use this route through Kuala Pilah to go to Kuala Lumpur via Seremban.

Train

There used to be a branch line connecting Kuala Pilah to  KB19  Gemas; the branch line was dismantled during the Japanese occupation for construction of the Death Railway in Burma.

Currently state railway operator KTMB does not serve Kuala Pilah. The closest stations are  KB13  Seremban, Bahau and Senawang.