What is the origin of the name of Batu Ferringhi in Penang

How Malaysian are you #3?

When I first visited Penang, I stayed at one of the hotels on Batu Ferringhi and was quite curious as to how the place got the name.

Apparently, Ferringhi was originally a Malay term for the Portuguese people but was later used to refer to all Westerners. Batu refers to rock and according to what I read, it was probably the place where Westerners first landed and settled on Penang Island.

However, I have to mention that this is just one hypothesis and not confirmed.

What is the origin of the name 'Bukit Nanas'?

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Most commentators on my FB page guessed correctly, Bukit Nanas is so named because it once had a lot of pineapples covering it.

It was once named as Bukit Gombak and historians think that it is one of the oldest settlements in Kuala Lumpur. There was once a fort on top of the hill and pineapples were planted to serve as natural defenses and the place came to be known as Bukit Nanas.

In 1872, during the Klang War or Selangor Civil War, the fort at Bukit Nanas was held by Tengku Kudin's forces including 500 soldiers, various mercenaries including Europeans and Chinese including the famous Kapitan Cina Yap Ah Loy. The pineapples did not help and after a seige by Raja Mahadi and his Mandailing forces, the Bukit was captured. Yap Ah Loy managed to escape to Klang.
This war was quite significant in Malaysian history because, it lead to direct British involvement in the affairs of the Malay states.

Convent Bukit Nanas established in 1899 and it's brother institution,St John's Institution, established in 1904, are among the oldest schools in Malaysia.

The Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve was gazetted in 1906, but its size has shrunk from 17.5ha to 9.3ha.