Ayer Tawar

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'Ayer Tawar' (Chinese: 爱大华; Pinyin: Àidàhuá) is a town of 30,000 in the district of Manjung, Perak in Malaysia. Less well known than its immediate bigger neighbour Sitiawan ( just 12 km away )it is also sometimes referred to as just Sitiawan to outsiders not familiar with the place. Like Sitiawan (particularly Kg Koh) Ayer Tawar is also well known for its Foochow (Kutien) community.

Some notable landmarks are its Chinese Methodist Church and the Kutien Association Building. Ayer Tawar is literally translated from the Malay language as "fresh water".

Ayer Tawar is the centre of an agricultural region, situated 60km from Ipoh, the state capital of Perak, and 22 km from Lumut, where the Royal Malaysian Navy is based. It is surrounded by oil palm plantations and estates.

During the period of the rubber boom in the 60s and 70s many of the Kutien settlers became wealthy landowners, with quite a few sending many of their children to schools in England and Ireland.

Ayer Tawar is also famous for an onion biscuit called Kong piang (Chinese: 光饼; Pinyin: Guāngbǐng).

Today most of the younger population have migrated to bigger towns to find a living.

[edit] Demographics

Ethnic Chinese, mostly of the Fuzhou dialect group, comprises the majority of Ayer Tawar's population. Most of them work in rubber estates and oil palm plantations or participate in the retail industry. Outlying villages are populated by Malay paddy and fruit farmers.

Since 2004, many Ayer Tawar citizens have become involved in Swiftlet breeding.

[edit] Links

	Perak Darul Ridzuan
Districts: Kinta \| Larut, Matang \| Hilir Perak \| Manjung \| Batang Padang \| Kerian \| Kuala Kangsar \| Hulu Perak \| Perak Tengah \| Selama
City: Ipoh
Towns: Ayer Tawar \| Bagan Datoh \| Bagan Sungai Burong \| Batak Rabit \| Batu Gajah \| Behrang \| Bercham \| Beruas \| Bidor \| Bikam \| Bota \| Bukit Merah \| Changkat Jering \| Chemor \| Damar Laut \| Gerik \| Gopeng \| Hutan Melintang \| Jelapang \| Jenderata \| Kamunting \| Kampar \| Keroh \| Kota Setia \| Kuala Kangsar \| Kuala Sepetang \| Lekir \| Lenggong \| Lumut \| Malim Nawar \| Mambang Di Awan \| Menglembu \| Pantai Remis \| Parit \| Parit Buntar \| Pasir Salak \| Pekan Gurney \| Pengkalan Hulu \| Proton City \| Sayong \| Selama \| Seri Iskandar \| Seri Manjung \| Simpang Pulai \| Simpang Tiga \| Sitiawan \| Slim \| Slim River \| Sungai Siput \| Taiping \| Tambun \| Tanjung Malim \| Tanjung Rambutan \| Tapah \| Tapah Road \| Teluk Batik \| Teluk Intan \| Teluk Rubiah \| Ternoh \| Terolak \| Terong \| Teronoh \| Tringkap
Islands: Pulau Pangkor