Muadzam Shah

To be honest, most UNITEN students don’t like this place. But the weird thing is, I just spent 5 years of my life there. Since secondary school, I always thought that when I m going to university, I finally can go out from the small town of Kangar and go to big cities like Penang or KL to get the feel of living in the city. The reason I ended up 5 years in Muadzam Shah is that the branch campus of UNITEN was set up there. The branch campus is basically the business school of UNITEN (The engineering and IT courses are in the Bangi main campus). Since I decided to further my studies in the accounting field and got a scholarship for studying in UNITEN after my SPM, I headed to Muadzam Shah without thinking much. I thought that since there is a university there, the place won’t be that ulu.

When I first reached Muadzam Shah for the UNITEN intake session, I am almost speechless. This place is nothing but a very small town with a university, it’s even smaller than Kangar. It’s so rural that it is surrounded by millions of acres forests and palm oil plantations. There is even a forest rangers’ office just opposite of the old UNITEN campus.There’s no turning back, I’ve paid my fees, signed the scholarship contract, and checked into my apartment.

To be exact, Muadzam Shah is a town under the district of Rompin, Southeast of Pahang. Muadzam Shah is 100km away from Kuantan and 80km away from Segamat. Muadzam Shah is so ulu that not many people know about this place. So every time people ask me about where I study during my university times, I have to explain where the place is.

Relative: “Ah Yang ar… u study in UNITEN right? Bangi good or not?”

Leong: “Actually I study in UNITEN Muadzam Shah, it’s a branch campus.”

Relative: “Huh? What Zam what Ah?”

Leong: “Muadzam Shah.”

Relative: “Muzam Ah? Got place like that meh?”

Leong: “It’s MUADZAM SHAH.”

Relative: “Huh? Come again?”

Leong: “Actually I study at Kuantan.”

Relative: “Ooo… Kuantan hor… I know that place.”

Leong: “… …”

I m sorry I lied, but that’s good for my brain you know. At least it won’t explode.

In Muadzam Shah, you can find everything that a simple town needs, Petrol stations, grocery shops, hawker centers, restaurants, cyber cafes, stationery shops, clinics, banks and erm… a big pond.

Slurpee is a hit in Muadzam Shah

It is so simple that when 7-11 opened an outlet in the town, the whole Muadzam Shah went crazy, everyone flooded the 7-11 just to drink the colorful Slurpee drinks. Something new in town always gets the attention from the locals and UNITEN students.

Driving at night around Muadzam Shah is very dangerous, because some part of the roads are surrounded by forest and are very dark. You have to look out for idiot motorists who rather to invest in sport rims than to replace spoilt tail lights. Besides, you also have to look out for wild boars crossing the road. I am not kidding here, some wild boars cross the road in order to get to the other part of jungle for food. I’ve been stopped in the middle of the road by wild boars 2 times in Muadzam Shah.

Whenever there are wild boars crossing roads, the last thing you want to do is to honk at them, because wild boars usually travel across forests in groups, together with some “cute” little wild boars. If you honk at the wild boars, they might get mad and run towards your car. A grown up wild boar is weight more than 100kgs, a group of wild boars equals to thousands of kgs. Thousands of kgs of brutal force on your car… think before you honk.

Bad things aside, there are some good things that I like Muadzam Shah. First of all, no traffic jams! The population of Muadzam Shah is so low that sometimes you can lie down on the road during “rush hour”. No need to plan your trip, no need to listen to traffic reports on radio, I love it.

The standard of living is also very low. Food is cheap in Muadzam Shah, here you can get 4 pieces of fully stuffed curry puff for RM1. Parking in town is free, you can park anywhere you want as the town council officers in Muadzam Shah are very kind hearted, no summons will be issued as long as you do not block the entire traffic.

Morning at Muadzam Shah

The level of pollution is very low in Muadzam Shah because it is surrounded by forest. The air is fresh and every cold morning there will be fog, just like Genting Highlands.

No matter what, Muadzam Shah is still the place where I spent 5 years of my life, it is the place where I study for my degree and learn new things in life. With UNITEN and other several education institutions like MRSM and Politeknik, Muadzam Shah is developing slowly. More and more shop lots are built around town, 7-11 is just a start, and maybe sooner or later there will be a shopping mall and a GSC.Erm... Sorry, I think the shopping mall and GSC is impossible for another 100 years.