Balakong
Balakong (Jawi: بالقوڠ; Chinese: 無拉港) or Cheras South (Jawi: چراس سلتن; Chinese: 蕉賴南區) is a township in Selangor, Malaysia. The township consists mainly of residential condominiums, office complexes and factories. Landmark AEON Jusco Cheras Selatan Balakong and Sin Ann Meow Temple (星安庙).
History
Name
According to local Chinese residents, the name Balakong comes from the Chinese New Village which name is Balakong Chinese New Village. The village was drawn up and barred wired by the British government during the Communist Emergency Period.
There was a river running through the village, whose name was Sungai Balak. The immediate guess was the village was named after the river. The meaning of Kong has 2 origins.
One was "Kong" in Hakka, which means port or location. There was upper kong and lower kong within the village. the other meaning was said to be "ong", which means prosperity.
Before 1980s (1980–1990)
The village was surrounded by rubber plantation used Tin Mining Lakes. Most families in the village were rubber tappers. There was a primary school, a few Chinese temple, a wet market, a Lutheran church(on a hilltop), a cowboy town street, a people's town hall and a football field. The village was divided by Sungai Balak.
After 1990s(1990–2008)
During the development of Taming Jaya. the Locals said that the developer Taming Jaya had rebuild the balakong road, a two lane aside highway started from Mines wonderland to Cheras 11th mile.
Later, Taman Connaught from behind of the village had a road connect Cheras.
Taming Jaya had develop rubber plantation opposite the village into a small-industry area and housing estate.
Infrastructure
Today Balakong is accessible via 
Balakong SILK Highway which is connected with Kajang Silk highway which exist at the North–South Expressway Southern Route 
. The surrounding area of Balakong now is a busy town with small, light and middle industries.
The Batu 11 Cheras station (Working name: Balakong station) is a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station serving the suburb of Batu 11 Cheras, Balakong and Bandar Sungai Long in Selangor, Malaysia. It serves as one of the stations on Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (KVMRT) Sungai Buloh–Kajang Line. The station is located at Balakong interchange of the Cheras–Kajang Expressway.
Balakong consists of various shopping malls that are frequented by tourists and locals, such as AEON Cheras Selatan Balakong, Giant Balakong, Econsave Balakong. On the site of New village Balakong, there are Selangor Turf Club,
To anticipate an increase in public demand for better healthcare services and facilities within Balakong and Cheras area in the future, Columbia Asia Hospital, the international healthcare provider is built in 2010. It provides care with an emphasis on the most prevalent medical issues of a region, from births and children's health to waterborne illnesses, broken bones, diabetes and other health challenges.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Balakong. |
