The Pengerang battery

Today the 21st Century Pengerang area is a thriving mixed community.The jetty facilities have been expanded seeing many tourists from Singapore traveling by bumboat to its shores.

A new 10mil Ringit marina and airconditioned complex is also being built near the main jetty area.
Hopefully any other new developments like this now or in the future will leave the WW2 site well alone. But with modern development you just never know...

Since the war the WW2 battery itself hasn't been completely forgotten and it is evident that a survey team within recent years had surveyed the various WW2 structures at Tg Pengelih. Evidence of this survey can be seen by the various spray painted number designations on each structure.

Further investigation of newspaper reports from 1992 confirms that there were plans in the pipeline to turn the battery into a military themed tourist park attraction. However as the actual land on which the battery is located is gazetted military training land things were bound to get complicated. As things turned out the military eventually decided to use part of the same land for construction of a Naval training base, KD Pularek.
Because of this it is safe to assume that any plans for a tourist site at Tg Pengelih would have had to have been scrubbed.
This is unfortunate as tourist photos from the early 90's show the site had been spruced up, probably in anticipation of the site being turned into a tourist attraction. Vegetation had been cleared and the various WW2 structures given a new lick of white paint, the area looked very smart indeed.

Today the site is in a pretty sad state. It's now very overgrown and the structures are weighed down by graffiti left by visitors. Metal scavengers have even stolen iron support struts from inside the various structures. Some of the old structures are also allegedly used by drug addicts.

It's a shame that yet another historically significant site like this in Malaysia has been left in limbo. Hopefully one day what is left of the battery can be properly restored and maintained for prosperity like other WW2 batteries at Batu Maung in Penang or Fort Siloso in Singapore.

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	+ The planning stages + The war years + Occupation and post war years + Modern day Pengerang + Tunnel systems & underground places + ~~A veteran remembers~~		Today the 21st Century Pengerang area is a thriving mixed community.The jetty facilities have been expanded seeing many tourists from Singapore traveling by bumboat to its shores. A new 10mil Ringit marina and airconditioned complex is also being built near the main jetty area. Hopefully any other new developments like this now or in the future will leave the WW2 site well alone. But with modern development you just never know... Since the war the WW2 battery itself hasn't been completely forgotten and it is evident that a survey team within recent years had surveyed the various WW2 structures at Tg Pengelih. Evidence of this survey can be seen by the various spray painted number designations on each structure. Further investigation of newspaper reports from 1992 confirms that there were plans in the pipeline to turn the battery into a military themed tourist park attraction. However as the actual land on which the battery is located is gazetted military training land things were bound to get complicated. As things turned out the military eventually decided to use part of the same land for construction of a Naval training base, KD Pularek. Because of this it is safe to assume that any plans for a tourist site at Tg Pengelih would have had to have been scrubbed. This is unfortunate as tourist photos from the early 90's show the site had been spruced up, probably in anticipation of the site being turned into a tourist attraction. Vegetation had been cleared and the various WW2 structures given a new lick of white paint, the area looked very smart indeed. Today the site is in a pretty sad state. It's now very overgrown and the structures are weighed down by graffiti left by visitors. Metal scavengers have even stolen iron support struts from inside the various structures. Some of the old structures are also allegedly used by drug addicts. It's a shame that yet another historically significant site like this in Malaysia has been left in limbo. Hopefully one day what is left of the battery can be properly restored and maintained for prosperity like other WW2 batteries at Batu Maung in Penang or Fort Siloso in Singapore.