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An 84-year-old man by the name of Ujang bin Dohat, or better known as Tok Ujang, who lives in
Jambu Lapan is perhaps the only living soul in Jempol who knows the history of Jalan Penarikan in
detail. His house is just a stone throw away from Jalan Penarikan. According to the tales which were
passed down from generations, Jalan Penarikan was discovered in the 14th century, way before the
glorious days of Malacca Empire. The Pasai in Indonesia were deeply influenced by the preaching of Islam by the Arab
merchants and subsequently embraced the religion. The Arab merchants were actively
trading as well as spreading Islam, traces of which could be found everywhere in the world. When Malacca was discovered, they came here
for trade and at the same time; the Pasai came to Malacca too to acquire their daily sundries. Coincidently, these are the same group of people whom they're spread the religion to. The Arabs complained to the Pasai
about the trials and tribulations of trading in Siam because of the
arduous journey through the Stratis of Malacca, then on the Straits of Terbrau before they
can continue the voyage through the South China Sea towards their
destination in Siam. This voyage which take weeks is extremely lengthy and difficult. After listening to the
grouses of the Arab Merchants, the Pasai revealed that there was a short cut where they could avoid the arduous voyage.
However, they have to pull their boats
off shore for a kilometer or so. Learning of this, the Arabs endeavoured
to try out this route. So one day, the Pasai show this route to the Arabs. First they sailed from Malacca along the Muar River to reach Jempol River, where they have to pull the boats
on shore for a short distance to get into the Serting
River. They then continue their journey along the Bera River
to arrive at Kuala Tahan from which they proceeded to the South China Sea and
finally to their destination
in Siam. The Arabs discovered that even though they have to go on land for
a part of the jouney and nevertheless, it was very much shorter. So from that day onwards, they decided to use this route and Jalan Penarikan became famous ever since.Jalan Penarikan played a vital role in the military operations between Siam and Malacca. Using this route; the Siamese have launched many attacks against Malacca. A troop was sent to make an ambush. Half of the troop stayed near Jalan Penarikan as backup and the other half attacked Malacca. However, the backup group has another mission, they have to dig a big canal measuring 30 feet by 20 feet in depth, so that they could connect the two rivers, Jempol and Serting River. This is to eliminate the back-breaking job of pulling their boats on shore. However, they lost the battle heavily and have to abandon the mission. Just when their food supply was exhausted they managed to capture a big white snake which they killed for food. Unfortunately all the soldiers including their leaders mysteriously died after
the meal. The leader was later buried near Jalan
Penarikan. The tombstone was believed to have been transported all the way from Siam. Before this, the tombstones of
Malays' graves were made of stones found in the river. After they saw the tombstones of the Siamese
leader they decided to follow suit. The Siamese leader's grave could still be found near Jalan
Penarikan. One interesting feature of the tombstone is that the year depicted was 1265. It is simply illogical, because Malacca was not even founded
then and Jempol did not exist until the 14th century. A reasonable explanation could be that the year
was based on the date set by the Siamese Empire. The leader by the name of Datok Sempedang who lead the group of nine families which migrated from Pasai Indonesia was believed to be a religious zealot. After he passed away, he was buried near Jalan Penarikan. The flood that engulfed Malaysia in 1971, mysteriously left his tomb intact despite the fact it was near the river. The ex-statesmen and teacher of Jempol Junior High School, Haji Ismail witnessed this unexplainable phenomenon. The other puzzling event was that a project of collecting sands from the river was facing difficulties even at the beginning stage. While entering the vicinity of the tomb, the engine of the bulldozer unexplainable shut down. Despite numerous attempts by the driver to start it again, but to no avail. The contractor was nonplused and had to make arrangements to have it tow away. Ironically, the tow truck suffered the same fate as the bulldozer. Everyone was baffled. After much effort, both the bulldozer and the tow were pulled out eventually. The contractor was obviously upset over the incident and abandoned the project regretfully.
Jalan Penarikan has also witnessed many significant events in history. The famous Malaccan warrior Hang Tuah while on the run with Tun Teja, used Jalan Penarikan to flee to Pahang. The last Sultan of Malacca, Sultan Mansor Shah, after the conquest of Malacca by the Portugese has also used Jalan Penarikan to escape to Pahang.