Kuala Kuang, situated a kilometer before Chemor town in Perak, was one of many 'new villages' that emerged in the 1940s in Malaysia under colonial rule. The formation of the new villages was part of a huge campaign by the British to wipe out the communist influence among the Chinese masses who gave the communists critical support.

To isolate the rural Chinese from the communists, the British government evicted them from their homes and resettled them into housing areas that they kept under their control.

The status of the new villages changed somewhat after independence. The villages went from being communities living behind barbed wire to recognised townships with improved facilities, including schools, marketplaces, temples, and community halls. The government also granted the villagers land titles. Kuala Kuang became a beautiful place, with a huge plot of land surrounding the town planted with vegetables.