Batam

Batam is an island in the Riau Islands province of Indonesia, 415 km², with about 600,000 inhabitants, of whom about 85% are of Malay-Indonesian origin and 14% are Chinese. The island is located about 20 kilometres south of Singapore, a 1 hour ferry ride away.

Once a wild island covered with jungle and inhabited by a few Orang Laut tribes, Batam changed in the 1960s when the Indonesian government made it a special development zone, later part of the Sijori Growth Triangle, enjoying free trade zone status.

In the last 40 years, jungle disappeared and Batam turned into a strong industrial centre, with population increasing from a few thousands in the early 1960s to 800,000 today. Among the local Chinese populace, Teochew and Mandarin are the primary lingua francas.

Such economic development attracted hundreds of thousands of Indonesian migrants from other islands causing ethnic tensions in a region that once was the heart of Malay culture.

Batam is also famous in the tourist industry mostly as a destination for Singaporeans. It has a few resorts and leisure facilities.

Some Singaporean companies have factories in Batam.