Tangkak is a town and the capital of Tangkak District in Johor, Malaysia. The town is nicknamed "Fabric Town" or "Syurga Kain" in honour of its many textile shops. It is also well known as being a major entry point to Mount Ledang, the highest mountain in Johor.
Toponymy According to hearsay, the name Tangkak came from the Malay verb merangkak, meaning "to crawl". It was believed that Long Mahmud had led seven brothers from Riau (in present day Indonesia) to start the first settlement that is today Tangkak. They had sailed from Riau and sailing along the Kesang River before finally arriving at Tangkak River. They saw the flat terrain and decided to stay put at the place. Unfortunately, they faced difficulties in getting up the river bank as their legs got caked in the slippery river mud. They had to use the roots of trees to help them to get themselves out. When other settlers asked them the name of the place, they will answer "tang merangkak tu". Over a period of time, it was shortened to Tangkak.
History
Tangkak was founded in the year 1901 at the foot of Mount Ledang, and was previously under the direct control of Muar District. In 1946, the local council was established and was governed by the Assistant District Officer who in turn reported to the Muar District Office in those days.
Prior to 2008, the larger Muar District encompasses the sub-districts of Tangkak and Muar; referred as Muar Utara ("North Muar") and Muar Selatan ("South Muar"), respectively. The Tangkak district was the northern part of Muar District, which was separated from the southern half by the Muar River. In 2006, both were administratively divided and Tangkak was upgraded to a full-fledged district, and it was initially named as the Ledang district after the Mount Ledang nearby. By the end of 2015, the district was renamed as Tangkak by the decree of the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, to preserve the historical value of traditional name of places in the state.
The Tangkak District covers Tangkak town, Tanjung Agas, Kesang, Sungai Mati, Serom, Sagil and Bukit Gambir.
Government and politics Tangkak (N10) has its own constituency in the Johor State Legislative Assembly. The seat is currently held by Ee Chin Li of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) from Pakatan Harapan (PH) ruling coalition.
At the national level, Tangkak under the parliamentary constituency of Ledang, currently held by Syed Ibrahim Syed Nor of People's Justice Party (PKR) from PH too, the federal ruling coalition.
Tangkak District Council () is the local government of Tangkak District including Tangkak town itself. It was formed on 1 August 1976 as the Muar North District Council () through the merger of the nine local councils () of Tangkak, Kebun Bahru, Sagil, Bukit Kangkar, Sungai Mati, Serom, Bukit Gambir, Grisek dan Kundang Ulu and got its present name on 1 April 2001. On 1 January 2009, the Kesang Mukim was ceded from Muar District and became part of the Tangkak District Council and also Tangkak District administration area.
Departments
Management Services (Khidmat Pengurusan) Finance (Kewangan) Valuation & Property Management (Penilaian Dan Pengurusan Harta) Engineering (Kejuruteraan) Urbanisation & Public Health (Perbandaran Dan Kesihatan Awam) Urban Planning & Landscape (Perancangan Bandar Dan Landskap) Community Development (Pembangunan Masyarakat) Licensing & Enforcement (Pelesenan Dan Penguatkuasaan)
Units
Internal Audit (Audit Dalam) Law (Undang-undang) Corporate and Public Relations (Korporat dan Perhubungan Awam) One Stop Centre (Pusat Sehenti)
Administration areas (zones)
As of 2025, Tangkak is divided into 24 zones represented by 24 councillors to act as mediators between residents and the district council. The councillors for the 1 April 2024 to 31 December 2025 session are as below: ZoneCouncillorPolitical affiliation Bandar Tangkak Timur Ong Chee Siang MCA Bandar Tangkak Barat Mohamad Miskal UMNO Bandar Tangkak Utara Yong Chew Seaw MCA Bandar Tangkak Selatan Ravinthiran S Sinnasmooto MIC Bandar Tangkak Panersilvam Muniady MIC Tangkak Jaya Kamarul Ariffin Mohamed UMNO Bandar Baru Tangkak Arufudin Wagiman UMNO Pengkalan Besar Helmi Afendy Sahat@Ismail UMNO Bukit Kangkar Mohd Fadli Saat UMNO Sungai Mati Juariah Sareh UMNO Rawang Nadhirah Afiqah Abdul Rahim UMNO Kesang Abdul Ghafar Md Shah UMNO Tanjung Agas Utara Abdul Rahim Taib UMNO Tanjung Agas Selatan Norizan Mahat UMNO Serom A1 Kow Kok Yang MCA Serom A2 Lee Chai Ling MCA Bukit Gambir Barat Mohd Salman Selamat UMNO Bukit Gambir Timur Cha Jia Sheng MCA Bukit Gambir Utara Zainal Kahar UMNO Bandar Sagil Ong Wen Chieng MCA Grisek A1 Mohd Fauzi Abdullah UMNO Grisek A2 Rahmat Ahmad UMNO Kundang Ulu Low Ping Jie MCA Kebun Bahru Lim See Eng MCA
Transportation
Car Tangkak has an extensive network of roads including proximity to the North–South Expressway. Federal Route 23 links Tangkak to Muar in the south and Segamat in the north.
Education Johor Matriculation College (KMJ) Ledang Vocational College SMK Sagil Tangkak SMK Ledang SMK Sri Tangkak SMK Tun Mamat SJK (C) Chi Ming 1 SJK (C) Chi Ming 2
References
External links
Towns and Cities in Malaysia Muar to say goodbye to Tangkak , The Star, November 20, 2006 More information in Chinese, please refer to http://www.ledang.org.my/default.aspx