IpohBornKid Remembers…..
We thank IpohBornKid for the above picture. In his email to us, he mentioned that this picture was from Brian Cole of Bath Spa (UK). The picture belonged to the Cole family patriarch who served as a British Army personnel (in Ipoh) in the early 1950s.
The movie being advertised (see the board outside the main entrance) is none other than the Tony Curtis movie ‘The Black Shield’. While a lot has been said about the Rex Cinema (and the other cinema halls in Ipoh), IpohBornKid drew our attention to the Omnibus Service within the city:
The Ipoh Red Omnibus displaying Menglembu-Pasir Puteh or Menglembu-Pasir Pinji route, took movie goers to the front door. The bus route travelled from Menglembu (via Lahat Road) to Kidd Bus Station passing Ipoh ACS. From that, it headed toward the old Ipoh fountain, cut across Belfield Street into Leech Street, right into Hugh Low Street, then right to Rex Theatre. It then wound its way through Majestic Theatre (Dai Wah), and finally turned right into Jalan Pasir Puteh to its final destination. Cost of travel from Menglembu to Rex is 15 cents.
Ipohbornkid, thank you for reviving my lost memory of the Ipoh Omnibus. The bus company served the people of Ipoh and its surrounding villages very efficiently for many years. I used the buses mostly from Buntong, where I lived, to school and to the town. It was 10 cents from my village to the bus station.
Readers please correct me if I am wrong, but I think the bus plying Ipoh (internally) was the white bus with a red band and is called “Ipoh Internal Bus Company” and the full red ones were those plying TR and Ipoh stopping in front of the famous Indian/Mamak restaurants on Jalan Yang Kalsom. Other bus companies included the Kinta Bus Company (Ipoh-Gopeng-Kampar Route), the Reliance Bus Company (Ipoh-Chemor-Kuala Kangsar Route) and one more for the Ipoh – Jelapang route (forgot its name).
Ipoh has expanded. In one of the Ipoh City Watch seminars on public transport in Ipoh I presented a master plan for future development of public transportation based on the electrified train service that transverses Ipoh from South to North and better use of electrified pedicabs. I do not foreseen anyone in City Council to push this idea but Ipoh is long overdue for a transportation revision!
Valiant,
The bus company operating the Ipoh-Jelapang route is “General”.
It is totally dark green with red words. The Kinta bus
is similar to the red bus in design except towards the tail end
of the bus. The Kinta bus is a yellow bus with a green band.
Another cinema designed by my father, B M Iversen!
Hi uv: The locals called the “Hung Chair” literally red vehicle for the cream/white bus with red strips which is an internal Ipoh Bus. The “Chang Chair” literally the green bus which runs into the mining towns south of Ipoh. I used to collect bus tickets and the outstanding tickets going north and south of Ipoh would be a real collector’s item (50c and up).
Imagine, in the early 60s and into the 70s, Ipoh still had a reliable bus service Today, what is provided do not meet the needs of the people of Ipoh. I notice a new bus company – Perak Rapid, (an imitation of KL Rapid?) Do you folks out there who used this service know how good it is? I do not wish to comment until I know more of it.
It is time the City Council seriously think about improving public transport in Ipoh if not our city will be in a traffic gridlock worst than in KL.
I did present a master plan during one of Ipoh City Watch Seminars on Public Transport in Ipoh but as usual, our City Council will not listen to anyone except to embark on unnecessary projects (latest being the huge stone blocks placed in the Ipoh Garden Roundabout (in front of Courts)!
This Master Plan for Public Transport for the City of Ipoh calls for the use of the double-tracks of KTM to act as the core of the commuter train service facilities from North to South Ipoh and vice versa. A circular track to service the West and Eastern parts of the city should be built.
It also calls for the introduction of electric pedicabs to ferry commuter train users from terminal stations to surrounding housing estates. Such pedicabs cannot operate out of their assigned stations and housing estates. For intra-city bus services, electrical buses should be used to create an unpolluted city.
Most of the schools in the centre of the city are traditionally important schools and thus should not be moved out but parents of children from outside the city Central Business District CANNOT transport their children to schools using their cars from the suburbs. This IS THE MAIN CAUSE of traffic jams into and out of the city! School children from suburban areas attending such schools in the city proper should use school buses.
Comments of readers are most welcome.