The Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah, today declared Tanjong Malim as a new administrative district, making it the 11th in the state, and will be known as Muallim District.

Prior to this, Tanjong Malim is in the Batang Padang district.

In his speech, Sultan Nazrin said knowledge and religion should be made the guidance in the planning and drafting of development in the district to avoid contradictions between its name and contents.

The reason, he said, was because ‘Muallim’ originated from an Arabic word on knowledge and religious knowledge.

“Elements on knowledge and religion should be made the district’s identity, which is apt with its name if the Muallim district is developed as a region of knowledge,” he added.

The Muallim district, covering 93,434 hectares with a population of 69,639 people, is in the Tanjong Malim parliamentary constituency. It comprises three mukim (subdivision in a district), namely Slim, Hulu Bernam Timur and Hulu Bernam Barat.

Sultan Nazrin said residents in the Muallim district were from various religious, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic background.

As such, he said, development carried out in the district should meet the needs of the local residents, especially in terms of basic facilities, like education, health, communication and housing.

“It is hoped leaders, administrators, as well as residents in the Muallim district together, understand, appreciate and help to develop Perak as a state with high per capita income and socio-economic standard,” he added.

- Bernama