Professor Mokhtar Saidin, who served at the Sungai Batu historic site in the area from 2007 to 2021, told CNA about his groundbreaking discovery: his staff discovered proof of a flourishing metal export industry dating as far back as 788 BC.  ,
Sungai Batu and the larger Bujang Valley complex are part of Southeast Asia’s oldest civilization because of its much older than the world-famous monuments of Borobudur (8th century ) in Indonesia and Angkor Wat ( 12th century ) in Cambodia.
Professor Mokhtar, who has since retired, likewise told CNA that he wanted the next generation to take on the task of exposing the region’s rich story.  ,
On Malaysia’s east coast, Bujang Valley is thought to possess occupied an area as large as 1, 000 sq km, stretching from north Penang to Kedah and perhaps eastward to as far as Thailand’s current border.
Experts who have studied the river have discovered evidence of Hindu-Buddh temples, metal smelting sites, and ancient relics for more than a century.
Readers were given a closer look at these artefacts, the remains of an iron smelting service, and other system that supported this once-thriving society, along with the article by CNA physical journalist Fadza Ishak’s photographs, which provided a closer look at these items.  ,