The Station Gardens by Mark Lay
Mark, of Kinta Heritage Group took these two photographs that I failed to get earlier in the week. He first posted them on Facebook, but I am sure he will not mind them being also published here. Remember these were taken this week. They need no explanation.
But the question Mark has for you is, “Does anyone know if the MBI has plans to makeover Station Square along similar lines to the pre-war original landscaping design? Has anyone seen the final design plans? Did the MBI invite public submissions as to the final design??”
Can any of our readers give him an answer?
OMG, where is the old Ipoh tree? Ipoh MBI projects were infamously slow, and a simple overhead pedestrians bridge connecting the central Market and McDonald Fastfood at Cockman St. ( I still can’t remember its present name) took a few years to complete! Even the clock tower at Dataran Ipoh took 10 years to complete if I am not mistaken.
Absolutely disgraceful!!
Alan, Top picture left hand in the distance. I think that is still the Ipoh Tree. Apart from that the only thing standing is the war memorial (cenotaph).
I fervently hope they will not put up some ridiculous structure in its place. The previous one would remain a public eyesore if not torn down. I cannot be accused of being apprehensive or negative. Just see what the end result of what was done to the Ipoh Padang? Please, no more fountains.
A signboard on the fencing says it is for tourist buses
Beautiful lush greens all gone.
Goodness me !
Wont be surprise if Food &
Souvenir Stalls start sprouting.
It’s regrettable that Ipoh and for that matter Perak, seems to be making all the wrong moves when it comes to tourist promotion activities. Apparently, the authorities that are responsible for launching these campaigns don’t appear to have their priorities in order. What a shame to see the potential to reap bountiful revenue form the tourist industry going down the drain. The state’s tourist attractions are either under developed or left in disarray while our hometown’s heritage buildings are destroyed or allowed to crumble in the tropical rain and shine. If the departments concern cannot come up with any creative game plan, the least they could do is to borrow a page from Penang and Melaka’s playbook. It is even more ludicrous that these are the very people who dare to mention that the tourist attractions in Ipoh and Perak are vying to be included as UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. Dream on folks and meanwhile, keep up with all those wrong moves.
totally agreed with Ken comments.
It really saddens me everytime I am back in Ipoh,sooner or later Ipoh town will be like a ghost town even though we still have the best food in the country.
words escape me….
The destruction the BN govt did here is call GREED! Power corrupts! This is what is happening not only in Ipoh but around the country. Where is the Historically Famous IPOH Tree??
Brewster 63, the Ipoh Tree is still there we are pleased to say as is the war memorial/cenotaph. Everything else has gone including the dreadfully ugly and not operational fountain.
Word on the street is that the MBI is planning to install a large musical fountain with lots of colourful flashing lights. Honestly, Im no joking! (although I wish I was)
Oh dear! What else can they do to wreck my beautiful hometown?
MBI seems to like replacing greenery with hardscape. Most probably, part of the space will be made into parking lots since there have numerous complaints on the lack of parking spaces.
If parking lots are to be built, MBI should consider using open paving blocks that allows grass to grow in between spaces. This will reduce heat reflection from parking pavement, allow more rainwater to seep into the ground and reduce surface water run-off into drains, which may cause flash floods if the drains overflow.
A colorful musical water fountain is nice but the railway station is the wrong place. The field in front of MBI would be better since traffic is less there. There is little space for people to stop, watch and enjoy the musical fountain. In any case, anything requiring maintenance will inevitably run down in a short time in Ipoh. So it is likely to be a waste of taxpayers’ money.
Here’s a photo of the station taken in January 2012: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/64462853. I proudly posted the photo on google earth to show the world how beautiful Ipoh was.
In March, the garden was gone. What a difference 2 months made. It seems like the trees were felled by bumpkins who had yet to get the idea of preserving old trees.