Bandar Muadzam Shah is a township in Rompin District, Pahang, Malaysia. The town was established in 1979 by the South-East Pahang Development Authority (DARA) under the purview of the second Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, who also happened to be the native of nearby Royal Town of Pekan. Background Bandar Muadzam Shah, a rather quiet and tranquil but well-planned town situated inland in South-east Pahang, was a brainchild of Malaysia's second Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak. His vision, amongst others, was for the town to eventually become a fully established educational center with quality schools and higher academic institutions serving the surrounding rural regions, and having its own fully integrated public administration services. Lembaga Kemajuan Pahang Tenggara (DARA) (or South-East Pahang Development Authority) was formed to undertake and oversee the development and success of the region. DARA started the phased development of the town in 1979 and administered the town for 25 years until it was taken over by the Pekan and then by the Rompin District Office. Bandar Muadzam Shah is named after the fourth Sultan of modern Pahang, Sultan Abu Bakar Riayatuddin Al-Muadzam Shah, who reigned Pahang from 1932 to 1974. Phased development Although the ideal development as envisaged by the late Tun Razak has yet to be fully materialized, Bandar Muadzam Shah has since quietly grown into quite a well-developed town. It has very good infrastructure and spread of educational and government public services in place, that are not found in some other towns in the Rompin district. The town has a General Hospital that provides general and also specialist care services, besides having wards for general, women and maternity cases. Other than the District office and Land office, there area several important government administrative offices and services like the Road Transport Department, Islamic Department, the Police and Fire Departments, and the Courts of Justice. Already established are various primary and secondary schools, such as Sekolah Menengah Teknik, Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM), Sekolah Kebangsaan and Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Muadzam Jaya and SMK (A) Pahang. University Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), one of Malaysia's top universities with its main campus in Putrajaya, has a branch campus, the UNITEN Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Campus, at Bandar Muadzam Shah. A big polytechnic complex (Politeknik Muadzam Shah) was opened in 2003. Around the town centre we can see that there is a big mosque, and scattered rows of retail shops