Jinjang

Jinjang (Chinese: 增江), also known as J-Town, is a township and Chinese new village in the Kepong constituency in north-western Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Kepong Metropolitan Park in the north of Jinjang

Jinjang comprises Jinjang Utara (North) and Jinjang Selatan (South). It used to be known for the prevalence of gangsterism from the 1960s but is now a largely residential area.

Etymology of the name

It has been believed that the name Jinjang was derived from the name of a pig brought to Malaya by a Chinese merchant in the 19th century. The pig was believed to be auspicious.[1][2]

The name Jinjang might also be derived from the mispronunciation of the Chinese word “Zeng Guang”.[3]

History

The town in its modern form was established as part of the British strategy called the Briggs Plan during the Malayan Emergency. The strategy aimed to forcibly relocate Malayan people, particularly ethnic Chinese, to isolate them from the Communists' influence. Jinjang was by far the largest of the relocation communities (called "New Villages") on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, at 445 hectares (4.45 km2), nearly twice the size of the other New Villages combined.[4]

During early post-independence years until the 1960s, the town gained a "fearsome" reputation due to the presence of bandit members; the notorious "Robin Hood" criminal Botak Chin was said to have been active in the area. Older residents surmised that the area's alleged seedy reputation likely stemmed from the fact that most early inhabitants were working-class and thus viewed with prejudice.[5]

Along with the township of Kepong, Jinjang has been particularly prone to outbreaks of dengue fever,[6] and the outbreak of the 1973 dengue epidemic which resulted in 969 reported cases and killed 54 people was traced to Jinjang.[7]

Transportation

A new metro station in the area - the Jinjang MRT station - on the MRT Putrajaya Line, will begin operations in November 2021.

See also

References
  1. "An Introduction to Jinjang". iProperty. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  2. "Jinjang, Kuala Lumpur". Toponymy Heritage Places of Malaysia. Retrieved 2017-05-18.
  3. http://www.utar.edu.my/dssc/file/NV%20report%20E%20Jinjang%20Kuala%20Lumpur.pdf
  4. King, Ross (2008). Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya: negotiating urban space in Malaysia. NUS Press. ISBN 978-9971-69-415-9.
  5. "Jinjang grows out of bad reputation". The Star (Malaysia). 12 May 2015.
  6. Asiaweek, Volume 15, Issues 1-26 (1989).
  7. BioSciences Information Service of Biological Abstracts (1980): Abstracts of entomology, Volume 11.


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