Pekan, located on the banks of the Pahang River 50 km south of Kuantan, and 280 km from Kuala Lumpur, is the Royal Town of the Malaysian state of Pahang Darul Makmur. Its official status was declared when the royal family decided long ago to choose the town as their place of residence.
Pekan’s name comes from a flower, the Bunga Pekan. Pekan is also the name of the district the town is situated in, and a parliamentary constituency in its own right. It is the home of the state’s royal family headed by Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Abu Bakar Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mu’adzamo Shah. It is also the hometown of the second Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein.
Pekan is quiet for much of the year, but bursts into pomp and pageantry in October each year in celebration of the birthday of HRH the Sultan of Pahang.