Pakan is a small town in Pakan District, Sarikei Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The district population estimates (as of the 2017 census) was 17,600. Most of its inhabitants are ethnic Iban people (95%+) and a few minority Chinese usually concentrated in its town area. A small minority of Malay work in a government sector, such as teachers, nurses, district officers, and police.

Etymology

The name Pakan was derived from a local fruit resembling durian, named Buah Pakan. It has yellowish skin and flesh. The fruit has since become the symbol of the town with its replica built at the junction of Entabai road.

History

In 1911, a man from Guangdong named Wen Ru Zhu (翁如珠) was the first Chinese to arrive in Sarikei. Four years later in 1915, he together with one of his family member, brought some daily necessities, climbed through the mountains and arrive in Pakan to trade with the Iban people living there for agricultural products. Apart from Iban longhouses and rubber plantations, there were no Chinese houses there. The Iban people welcomed the arrival of Wen as he brought the much needed daily necessities to them. The journey to and from Pakan took about ten days. Wen would build a small hut in Pakan to stay there for some days before going back to Sarikei. Later, he married an Iban woman in Pakan and started a family. Later, more Chinese came here to build shophouses and to trade with Iban people. In 1937, Penghulu Asun staged a rebellion against the Brooke government in Pakan. In 1957, Min Jin primary school (民进小学) was built. In 1968, there was a flood in Pakan.

Government

Since creation of the Sarikei Division in 1973, the Pakan sub-district was put under the jurisdiction of Julau district. On 1 March 2002, the Pakan sub-district was upgraded into a district. The Pakan District covers a total area of 924.6 km2, administered by Pakan District Office located in the town of Pakan.

Geography

Pakan is located 45 km from the town of Sarikei.

Longhouses

Climate

Pakan has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-round.

Demographics

Ethnicity

In 2010, Pakan town had a total population of 14,570, where there were 14,023 Iban people, 402 Chinese, 80 Malays, and 65 from other ethnic groups.

Places of worship

Economy

In 2017, Pakan District had 2,000 hectares of pepper farms with 5,800 farmers working on them.

Transport

Local Bus

Alternate road

New road alternative connecting user from Sibu to go directly to Ulu Budu in Saratok district by passing through Pakan provides a shorter time compared to the existing one which passes through T-junction to Sarikei. What used to be about 3 hours journey from Sibu to Saratok will take only about 2 hours. So users on a long journey to Kuching benefit a lot from this road. Sibu -> Julau -> Bintangor -> Sarikei -> Pakan -> Wak -> Ulu Budu -> Saratok

Other utilities

Education

Culture and leisure

Cultural

Pesta Pakan (Pakan festival) is a yearly festival held in the town of Pakan since 1988 and usually held around August. It consisted of various activities such as sports, entertainment, culture, and arts and various stalls selling food such as Smoke house (Ruman Asap) and drinks.

Historical

Leisure and conservation areas