Batu Uban

Batu Uban means grey hair rock in Malay. The area was said to have been named after a sea boulder, which was covered in dried grass, off the coast of what is now Batu Uban; this grassy rock resembled white hair from afar.^[1]

The establishment of Batu Uban is credited to two ethnic Minangkabaus from Sumatra – Haji Muhammad Salleh (also known as Nakhoda intan) and Jenaton Raha Labu. In 1734, Haji Muhammad Salleh and his followers landed at the area and built a mosque named Masjid Jamek; this also makes the mosque the oldest in Penang.^[1][2] The fishing village they founded was also centred around the mosque.

In 1749, Dato' Jenaton Raja Labu from Pagarruyung was granted a 100-acre (40 ha) site at Batu Uban by the Sultan of Kedah, as a reward for his assistance in thwarting a Siamese invasion of Kedah; Penang Island was part of Kedah at the time.^[1] Jenaton and about 90 followers then travelled to Batu Uban, and cultivated the land into coconut and sugar cane plantations. Jenaton was also said to have contributed to the propagation of Islam within this new settlement.^[2]

The founding of Batu Uban between 1734 and 1749 by the Minangkabaus makes it the oldest Malay settlement on Penang Island, predating Captain Francis Light's arrival on the island in 1786. However, it was only in the late 20th century when Batu Uban began to witness significant development. The completion of the Penang Bridge immediately north of Batu Uban in the 1980s and subsequently, the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway along the coast of Batu Uban, heralded the development of Batu Uban as an affluent residential neighbourhood.^[1][5]