Sabak Bernam Background
From the collection of old folk stories in Sabak Bernam, the name was derived from the word “Sahabat Berenam” which means six friends:
It was known that six friends had rowed up the river and had found a fallen tree that was blocking their way. After cutting it up, they resumed their journey upstream. However, no evidence has suggested this. What remains as evidence are their graves that can still be found up until today which are situated in Landu in Cambodia, Lubuk Pusing in Sepang, Keranji and Teluk Rubiah.
According to another story, around the year of 1880, the name Sabak Bernam was believed to be based on six acquaintances consisting of a former Aceh ruler and Sumatera ruler. They had left their homeland to come to Tanah Melayu. Within the period of their stay in Tanah Melayu they had found the confluence of a river. The name of the river was at that time unknown. They then rowed upstream. During their journey, they had decided to camp overnight beside the river bank but had found it to be flooded. Thus, they found an area slightly higher than a hummock and that was where they built a hut. They used the earth to mould a stove and that was how the name came to be “Sabak”.
Because the stove that was made of earth was named Sabak and they were six of them, they named the river as Sungai Bernam (Bernam River) and the place they stayed at as Sabak Bernam. Those six friends were Tuan Syed Ahmad, Tuan Sharifah Intan / Mastura, Sharifah Robiah, Haji Salim, Datuk Dalang and Datuk Menteri.
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