Some time ago, the Perak Heritage Society visited Teluk Intan (formerly known as Telok Anson). Among the highlights of the trip was visiting the famous ‘Leaning Tower’. Yes, Perak has her own ‘leaning tower’ – just like Pisa. We have here some pictures of the inside of the tower…(see below)
On the left is a picture taken from one of the levels, looking upwards. On the right is the view of the highest level of the tower.
The tower was built in 1885 by Leong Choon Chong (a contractor) and was originally used as a covered water tank – this was to store potable water to the (then) 800 residents in the town. There is also records which state that the water was used for firefighting purposes too. The tower leans towards to west by about 1.8 metres; this was due to the sinking of the foundation during the great floods in 1889 and 1895.
Made of bricks and wood, this ‘Pagoda-style’ tower stands at 25.5 metres tall. The tower has 3 storeys, and above the 3rd storey is the 16 feet deep water tank.
The photographsd were kindly donated to us by Charlie Choong.
