Back to School!
We thank Prof Dr Lee Kok Onn for sharing this with us. Anyone remember this textbook?
We thank Prof Dr Lee Kok Onn for sharing this with us. Anyone remember this textbook?
The St Michael’s Institution military band, somewhere in the late 1960s…
I wanted to be a drummer boy, but they gave my a euphonium, so I played that instead.
We thank Andrew YC Loh for the above picture and caption.
We thank Mun Chor Seng for this photo. Here we have Ipoh’s black-and-white Amahs walking in a Wesak Day Parade. This is of course Brewster Road…and one of the shop houses in the background is none other than Lean Kap Seng’s photographic studio (which many of you may know as Scoop photo studio).
This photo was not taken in Ipoh, but it is rather interesting. I’d like to draw your attention to the sign, which simply reads as: “You are now entering Malacca Settlement White Area”.
Did we have “white areas” in Ipoh too at some point?
We thank Chee Ong Ngai for sharing this photo with us.
The activity appears to be centred around the England Dobi Shop where the procession may well have stopped to give a demonstration, and there are large numbers of spectators in attendance. Numerous vehicles in the street are probably being delayed by the festivities and have formed a traffic jam.
I wonder which part of town this was….
Yes, this is a sample of a 1 cent note. Some of you might remember this.
(Sorry, no prizes for guessing WHOSE face is printed on the note 🙂 )
Here’s a relatively easy one. I’m sure you can guess where this is 🙂
We thank Chee Ong Ngai for this photo.
Here’s another scene from an ACS play. This one is from Carousel, back in 1977. The pretty girl striking a ballerina pose is none other than Michelle Yeoh!
We thank Ong Su-Ming for sharing this photo with us.
Some of you may have already guessed this play, merely by the “balcony scene”. 🙂
This play was organised by none other than the ACS Music and Drama Society, back in 1976. Just to refresh your memories (if you’ve watched it), the leading roles were played by Tan Seow Heng (Juliet) and Emmet O’Sullivan (Romeo).
We thank Ong Su-Ming for sharing this photograph with us.
Believe it or not, these children are having a blast by the Kinta River! Yes, there was a time you could swim at this river….
This picture was taken from the ACS centenary magazine, probably before the start of the school play. We thank our donor Ong Su-Ming.
Remember these tickets? Yes? No? Perhaps you might remember the bus (see below)
If I’m not mistaken, the number plate reads as AB 270….
We thank our donor Ong Su-Ming for this picture, which was taken from the 100th Voyage 1895-1995 (an ACS, Ipoh magazine).
Do you remember this play, back in 1952? Or, perhaps you caught the later adaptation in 1962?
When was the last time you saw such an advertisement? I for one have never come across such creativity!
We thank Chee Ong Ngai for this picture.
Some of you may already recognise this at the Rex Cinema, in Kampar. We thank Chee Ong Ngai for sharing this picture with us.
Here’s another gem from our donor Harvant Lisa Harper. Do you recognise the buildings in the background?
No, that’s not me. Rather another lad, who was obviously proud of his family car (I would presume).
Nothing like a good ‘ol Lion Dance Troupe to welcome Chinese New Year. Speaking of which, has anyone here been part of a troupe at some point in your youth? (maybe you were ‘part’ of the ‘lion’ too?)
This guy certainly wanted to join in the fun! Read more here.
picture source: NST online
This is how one would use a medium pole weighing scale. We thank Chee Ong Ngai for this picture.
We thank Chee Ong Ngai for sharing this with us. Looks like it was part of a magazine or booklet. Do you recognise it?
Back in 1954, there was a charity show at the Anglo-Chinese Girls’ School. It was for a good cause – to aid the educational work among the Dayaks in Borneo.
Did you catch the recital and one-act play?
No, this isn’t part of a circus troupe. Neither is this a Chinese New Year celebration (yes, I know some of you spotted the ‘lion’ in the background).
This is actually part of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival parade. We thank our donor – Ann Kesselring Hamon – for sharing this with us.
Here’s another picture from that parade.
Other than the slight change in the logo, what else do you notice?
Is it a bird…is it a plane…..? No, they are most likely staring at the Birch Clock Tower.
The gentleman (holding some papers) is none other than Rev J Appaduray. The boys in the background are students from St Michael’s Insitution.
Here’s another picture of the group:
(read the full story here)
We thank Gary Au Yong for this picture. Seems like the pilot is making a final inspection before the plane leaves the airport. Yes, in case you didn’t recognise the building in the background…this is, of course, the Ipoh Airport.
(picture courtesy of Hovid)
This photograph shows Fujiwara Iwaichi with Captain M. Akram, adjutant to General Mohan Singh, at Fujiwara Kikan headquarters at the Anderson School, Ipoh, on 5th January 1942.
The military headquarters was established by Fujiwara Kikan, the military intelligence agency, on New Year’s Day 1942. The building also served as the headquarters of Indian Independence League (IIL), the Indian National Army (INA), the Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM), and the Sumatran Youth Association.
Looks like a beautiful painting, doesn’t it? This postcard shows the hot springs at Tambun, Ipoh. It was posted to France on 28 August 1913. It shows three men in front of the geyser; behind the geyser are the famed Limestone cliffs of the Kinta Valley. This, of course, is a Kaulfuss postcard 🙂
The month of August is usually known as “bulan Merdeka” (Merdeka/Independence Month). But did you also know that the earliest cinematograph first came to Ipoh in August 1906?
Initially the cinematograph market was monopolized by one company, the Matsuo Japanese Cinematograph Company, who used to hold nightly shows in a tent for 7-weeks running, moving from city to city. The following year however, he had competition in the form of 3 other cinematograph companies, each employing different novelties to attract crowds. (read more here)
Here’s a comparison of F&N bottles over the years. If I’m not mistaken, the first bottle is from the 1940s. The one in the centre may have come out a few years later. The last one of course is today’s modern creation.
This was what the Japanese Garden (sponsored by the Perak Turf Club) once looked like. Of course, this picture was taken back in the 1980s. Sadly, this lovely tourist spot fell under poor maintenance and neglect over the years. It even fell prey to vandals 🙁
I don’t know what has become of this place today.
However, there was another Japanese Garden built at D R Seenivasagam Park (formerly known as Coronation Park). This garden seems to have survived over the years, and has also been given a ‘facelift’ of sorts. (read more about it here)
The people of Ipoh had an opportunity to witness an aeroplane for the first time on July 1 1911! G P Kuller – one of the earliest aviators – staged a 4-day flight exhibition in Ipoh.
Thousands congregated at the race course, with 150 Europeans occupying the 1st and 2nd class seats. The 3rd and 4th class ticket-holders were largely Asian, while an even larger crowd assembled outside on Tambun Road. (read more here)
Do you recall the first time you boarded a plane?
We thank Ipoh Remembered for this advertisement, which of course is from Cold Storage Ltd.
Here’s an idea for the weekend – indulge in your preferred flavour of ice cream (with your favourite toppings too!)
We thank Conrad Pregrave-Payne for the above picture. We believe that the gentleman in the dark suit is Sir R. G. Watson (Resident of Perak). The venue of course is the Kinta Club, which catered to both horse racing and golf.
With Raya round the corner, many will be travelling back to their hometowns this year. Of course, such kampong houses (like the ones above) may no longer be around…but they were once a common sight.
The above badge has the words “Christian Brothers’ Schools” and “Signum Fidei” clearly printed on it, one at the bottom of the badge and the other at the top. In between there is an image of Peninsula Malaysia as well as a figure of a Catholic Brother. At the top end of the image of Peninsula Malaysia the numbers “1852” can be seen while at the lower end the numbers “1952” are printed.
This is an advertisement from a 1967 newspaper (The Straits Times). Any fans of F&N here? Which was your favourite flavour?
We have here a tin of Ovaltine teething rusks. According to our donor (Mr Chan Hoe Cheng), this tin is about 55 years old!
We received this lovely photo from Eric Low. He’s hoping for any information regarding the young people in the above photo.
In his own words:
Once upon a time there was this band in Ipoh who called themselves “The Rain People” (**) … The 1968 or 1969 picture below was taken in one of the Catholic Churches in Ipoh when and where we performed at the birthday party of Rev Bro Ultan Paul of SMI ….Enlisting your assistance to see if any of you recognise some of the faces, for me to reconnect with a couple of them …Left to right (standing): We were all ex-MichaeliansMichael Wong (with the drumsticks, whom I know is still in the UK; lost contact).Next to him – David Hew (whose family owned the Orchid Farm off Tambun Road, which he took over in running; still in Ipoh I am guessing; lost contact).Miss Wong Mei Ching (of Housing Trust, she was a 6th Former at SMI then).Yours truly. to Mei Ching’s left ….Guy in the glasses was my best friend, Richard Chan, who sadly passed away many yeas ago; I managed to get him Aussie citizenship in the 1970s.And in centre frame (always wanting to be different), sitting down, is Zainal from Kampung Manjoi (someone whom I am desperately trying to reconnect with …)I am praying that some of these innocent faces of a yesteryear ring a bell with someone out there …
…Ipoh was declared a city! Here’s one memorable newspaper cutting of the celebrations. (more samples can be found here)
A red envelope or a red packet (in Mandarin it’s known as hongbao) is a monetary gift which is given during holidays or special occasions such as weddings, graduation or the birth of a baby.
That being said, I’m sure some of the young ones out there will be looking forward to receiving this ‘good fortune’ come Chinese New Year 😉
Here’s a sample of ‘hongbao’ from back then…
In keeping up with the Halloween theme, here’s a familiar landmark that may have had its fair share of spooky tales…
Somewhat triangular in shape the Odeon is adjacent to St Michael’s Catholic graveyard and like the post-war Rex Theatre, rumours that it is haunted abound. One popular rumour is that if you ever take off your shoes inside, you will never find them when the light comes on — even if nobody has sat in front, behind or next to you. Although the theatre was air conditioned, management would occasionally conserve energy by opening the doors on the side facing the graveyard creating a rather spooky feeling. The Theatre seated 850 on its main floor and in the balcony.
This is an example of what one can do with a used Milo tin – turning it into an oil lamp 🙂
Which brings us to this interesting article in today’s Star newspaper.
Any ‘collectors’ reading this? We’d love to hear your thoughts…
I’m sure you’ve heard of the Malaysian Red Cross Society, which later became the Malaysian Red Crescent Society. No, we’re not recruiting members….just wondered if anyone of you remember the badges from back then. Perhaps you were members of such clubs back in school? [As Ipoh Remembered has pointed out, the actual Red Cross badges have a red coloured cross, not white as in the above images]
On that note, here’s a little history from Wikipedia:
The Malaysian Red Crescent has its beginnings in 1948 as branches of the British Red Cross Society in the former British North Borneo (now the Malaysian state of Sabah) and Sarawak. In 1950, the British Red Cross Society established the first branch in Penang in the Federation of Malaya from which it rapidly expanded its presence in the other states.
Upon the independence of the Federation of Malaya on 31 August 1957, the branches in Malaya were reorganised as the Federation of Malaya Red Cross Society and the society was officially incorporated by statute with the passing of the Federation of Malaya Red Cross Society (Incorporation) Act 1962 by Parliament. On 4 July 1963, the Federation of Malaya Red Cross Society received official recognition as an independent national society by the International Committee of the Red Cross and subsequently admitted as a member of the League of Red Cross Societies on 24 August 1963.
With the formation of the larger federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963, the Malaysian Red Cross Society (Incorporation) Act 1965 to incorporate the Federation of Malaya Red Cross Society and the branches of the Red Cross Society in Sabah and Sarawak under the name of the Malaysian Red Cross Society was passed by Parliament and gazetted on 1 July 1965. On 5 September 1975, the Malaysian Red Cross Society was renamed the Malaysian Red Crescent Society by the passing of the Malaysian Red Cross Society (Change of Name) Act 1975 by Parliament.
Back in 1952, Countess Mountbatten visited St Michael’s Institution. As President of the St John Ambulance Association in London she toured Malaya, visiting centres where St John Ambulance activities were organised. In this photograph, she’s addressing an assembly at the school hall – where she declared a half-holiday (much to the students delight!).
This photograph was taken during the official opening of the new ACS Library and wing, on 11 June 1955. The gentleman unveiling the tablet is said to be the Perak Deputy Menteri Besar. Does anyone know who he was?
Also in the photograph are: Methodist Bishop Raymond Archer (left) and school Principal Ralph Kesselring (right).
Special thanks to our donor – Ann Kesselring Hamon.
Taken in Papan in the grounds of the Raja Bilah complex outside the Rumah Besar (also known as a Rumah Godang), this photograph shows Raja Yaacob in ceremonial Malay dress with several other Malay men seated or standing around a table. There is a label on the table in Jawi that we believe translates into Hari Raya 1333, which would date the photograph as either 1912 or 1913 in the Gregorian calendar.
Those of you who’ve guessed it already know this to be part of the Elim Gospel Church. But what was this building used for?
We thank Ann Kesselring Hamon for sharing this photo with us. We were told that this was taken in 1957, at ACS Ipoh.
We thank Sai Chew Yin for sharing this with us. In his words “Lee Heng is synonymous with the Yin family living in Ipoh for three generations, had many fond and happy memories growing up in our home/shop“.
With reference to our previous blog, Sai added “The receipt was made out by one of our staff members, Mr Kwan Kam Tong“.
We thank Barat Kumar for sending us this picture. In his own words, Barat explains:
“As we bear witness to the passing of a great man I would like to share this picture of Our beloved Mr Selvamany. Picture was taken on 14 July 1972 at a farewell assembly. This was when he went on transfer. From left Thian Hock (?) and Chong Kee Seng.Accompanying Mr Selvamany is Principal”
Some time ago, we featured a wooden ice shaver. Well, here’s a picture of how one would shave ice – the traditional way 🙂
There is also a bit more about the men behind the Milo Tricycle, on this Ipoh Echo link.
The picture shows the Perak XI Football Team (back 1957), in Ipoh. Do you remember them?
Anyone here a fan of spelunking? Hmm…maybe I’ve lost you guys for a minute 😉
Spelunking is the exploration of caves, especially as a hobby. So, back to the question in hand; anyone here been spelunking before? If so, have you come across this cave (picture below)? This place is somewhere in Ipoh, by the way…
Remember the time (back in school) when you received an award for excellent exam results? I remember getting an award for good PMR results (though I can’t recall what the prize was).
Well, back in 1947 Dawn Kathigasu received an award for bravery! The gentleman beside her is Mr A. Aston (British Resident Commissioner for Perak).
On this date, in 1948, the movie “The Boy with Green Hair” played at Ruby in Ipoh. Anyone watched this movie? Did Peter’s hair turn back to its original colour?
When The Falcons had to end due to their manager quitting, the band members, Joe Chin, Michael Ho, Christopher Choong and Thomas Ham decided to concentrate on their education, leaving the stuffed Falcon (the band’s mascot) with Christopher. But not long after that, Joe and Michael found two other guys, (Kenny Ham, Thomas’ brother and Vincent Joseph, his cousin), who shared their interest and together they formed ‘The Teenage Fentons‘….
Just wondering…any of the members of the Teenage Fentons still around? We’d love to hear from you 🙂
This play opened in 1938. Some of you may be too young to recall this…or were not even born yet. Then, there was a 1952 film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille. A similar production came out in 2017 (titled “The Greatest Showman”), which also revolved around the famed duo Barnum & Bailey.
For the movie-buffs out there, can you identify the poster shown above? Was it for the 1938 play…or the 1952 movie?
In the 1960s, a magician by the name of John Calvert drove from the Ipoh Airport to Lido Cinema…blindfolded! No, I’m not kidding; the above picture was taken at Cockman Street showing Calvert in an Austin Gypsy..with his eyes covered.
We’re not encouraging you to try this stunt…but we’re wondering if anyone out there remembers John Calvert and his magic show 🙂
Special thanks to SK and Ooi Kean Chye for these photos. On the left is NTPS Pasir Puteh back in 1962, on the right is the same school today (2019).
SK also shared with us: “In the 1962 picture, in between the buildings in the middle was where we took our pictures. On the left of the picture was the School Lavatory, then School Tuck Shop. We used to hang around the Tuck Shop….The school field on the further left had gone & replaced by double storey classes. The Headmaster residents, the Day Teacher’s Centre, The Dental Clinic on the left all gone“.
Students from NTPS Jalan Pasir Puteh are probably grinning at the screen now. As for the former students…has the school changed much over the years? Maybe some of you have old photos of the building back then…do share them with us.
On that note, how many of you remember YOUR first day at school? Was it exciting? Scary? Did it end in tears? Did you make friends with everyone? Or…maybe you preferred to sit in the corner of the classroom with your head down? Do share some of your “First Day at School” stories with us 🙂
If they ever came to life (like in those Disney cartoons), perhaps these vehicles would have been good friends 😉
Here we have a bicycle, a car and a van; all three of them ‘worked’ for Ho Yan Hor.
We’d like to hear from the car-lovers out there – can you identify the type of car shown in this picture?
Familiar area? Yes? No? Well, I don’t blame you if you can’t recognise this place. It is SO VERY DIFFERENT now. For those of you who know the answer, feel free to drop us a comment (or two). By the way, this place is in Ipoh…
Let’s hear from the Boy Scouts. What were your favourite memories back then?
(Or, maybe you have an interesting campfire-tale or two to share?)
Thanks to our donor, we have an interesting photograph here. These boys (and their Teacher perhaps?) are in the middle of a cross-country run. Any guesses as to what building that is in the background? 🙂
No, we’re not being ‘bitter’ about it…but did anyone realise that this beautiful floral clock is no more? For those who’ve never had the chance to see it, here are two pictures for you; both are from Ann Kesselring Hamon. The lady in white (left image) is Ann’s mother Florence Kesselring. As for the right image, it was taken from a 35mm Kodachrome slide.
For those (like me) who have never seen this lovely clock, it was once part of the Japanese Garden along Tambun Road.
Yes, the building in the background is none other than the Veterinary Research Institute at Tiger Lane. Our donor estimates that this photo was taken around 1955. Have you been to this place? If so, do share your thoughts with us 🙂
No, this was said to be the temporary building for the Anglo Chinese Girls’ School, back in the 1950s. For those of you who don’t know, Anglo Chinese Girls’ School (or ACGS Ipoh) later became Methodist Girls’ School (MGS). Of course, the MGS building now looks nothing like this one pictured above.
MGS Alumni, we’d love to hear from you! 🙂
We received this via email from SK (who sent it to us on behalf of the donor). According to SK, Gurpal is looking for his former classmates.
Anyone out there from Lower Six Science 2? Gurpal is looking for you. Incidentally, SK told us that this picture was taken in April 1967 – Gurpal’s last day at Anderson School; apparently one of his classmates lent him a coat to wear – yes, the young man in the dark coat is none other than Gurpal.
We thank Lennie Brooks for these pictures. Her father once served in the 15/19 Hussars as their Company Sergeant Major Instructor. Back in 1955, they lived at No. 20, Chung Thye Phin Road – yes, at Chung Thye Phin’s mansion nonetheless. These pictures show a mosaic of Chung Thye Phin and also an interesting marble statue, which were once part of the mansion’s deco.
But I must say, between the precious stones and a beautiful car….I would choose a car (but that’s just me!)
Could this have been a branch of Cold Storage? Or, perhaps Cold Storage’s competitor? We don’t know, so we’re hoping someone out there could help us out. Our anonymous donor didn’t say much about this photograph (and unfortunately, we are no longer in contact with this person). I’m sure someone out there visited 47 Cockman Street at some point in their life…
Yes, you read it right – Anglo-Chinese Girls’ School. Maybe you’re more familiar with its current name – Methodist Girls’ School (MGS).
Anyway, here is a nostalgic photograph taken during the sports day. The guest of honour is none other than Mrs Florence Kesselring.
I'll admit I had paper dolls once. Spent hours designing, colouring and cutting out clothes for them ;)
Today’s blog picture is from Sybil de Roquigny (via email). She tells us that this is the embankment (with a flight of steps) in front of her grandmother’s house; if you stand at the top, you get a good view of the Kinta River. Sybil’s grandmother – Chow Yoon Soo – was the second wife of Leong Eng Khean, and she lived at No. 8 Clayton Road. The house of course is no longer there. It was demolished and now standing in its place is Cititel Express. This picture was taken in 1950.
I only recognise Bro Pius Kelly, standing in the back (between the ‘gentleman’ with the top hat and the ‘maiden’).
Yes, one look at this machine and all that comes to my mind is: a bowl of shaved ice, drenched in brown sugar syrup and topped with jelly (of various shapes, sizes and colours), kidney beans, sweet corn and peanuts. Oh, and not forgetting a dash of santan too!
Ah, bet some of you are already salivating 😉
What better way to cool down on a hot day, eh?
As the story goes…… “in 1889 two brothers, Édouard Michelin and André Michelin, ran a rubber factory in Clermont-Ferrand, France. One day, a cyclist whose pneumatic tire needed repair turned up at the factory. The tire was glued to the rim, and it took over three hours to remove and repair the tire, which then needed to be left overnight to dry. The next day, Édouard Michelin took the repaired bicycle into the factory yard to test. After only a few hundred metres, the tire failed. Despite the setback, Édouard was enthusiastic about the pneumatic tire, and he and his brother worked on creating their own version, one that did not need to be glued to the rim. Michelin was incorporated on 28 May 1889. In 1891 Michelin took out its first patent for a removable pneumatic tire which was used by Charles Terront to win the world’s first long distance cycle race, the 1891 Paris–Brest–Paris” (read more here)
Thanks to persistence and hardwork (and creativity too), we now have a famous name in the world of tyres. As for the mascot shown…yes, his name is Bibendum…but we usually call him the Michelin Man 🙂
How many of you remember The Drifters?
How many of you saw them perform at the Rex Cinema?
How many of you remember the dragons on the walls, which ‘watched over’ the cinema goers?
Does anyone remember these lovely ladies and their hula hoops? Well, I’m sure some of you do.
These ladies performed at the Lido Theatre; at one time, it was common to see such performances at cinemas.
I wonder how many of you remember this advertisement. We got this off the back back of an old exercise book.
What other products were advertised on the back of exercise books during your school days?
During my school days, the backs of our exercise books had no adverts – just the Rukunegara and probably the school song 🙂
How many of you have heard of Cow & Gate? Apparently it was started by two brothers from Surrey, UK.
I’m sure everyone recognises the gentleman seated in the middle. 🙂
Yes, he’s none other than Rev Bro Vincent Corkery – of St Michael’s Institution. The photograph was part of a tribute to Bro Vincent, congratulating him on his award (he was conferred the title ‘Dato’ back in 2014). In this same tribute were some of the names of the students:
Sivagami; Askari Badsha; Winnie Te; Khoo Kay Hock; Beatrice; Mary Ann; Lim Jo Hock; John Wai; Raja; and Telk Raj Sharma
SMI Alumni, are you in the photograph? Or, perhaps you know someone in the photograph?
(Note: This photograph was scanned off an article, hence the poor quality)
Looking at this picture (from Lay Jin Chew), I couldn’t help but wonder how much Ipoh’s landscape has changed over the years. Could that bridge (far left) be part of the Hugh Low Bridge, or part of the Birch Bridge? I would also like to draw your attention to the area on the left of the shop houses (other side of the bridge). Any idea what that building is?
The photo doesn’t really show this once famous bakery, but you can see the sign on the wall (extreme right). I vaguely remember this bakery, which was a family-run business. One of the daughters (or maybe the grand daughter) was my classmate in primary school. Sadly, we lost touch in later years. I never got a chance to ask her about the history of this bakery. Does anyone know the story behind this famous shop? We thank Lay Jin Chew for this photograph.
We also received this photograph from Ruth Iversen Rollitt – showing the Paris Bakery Factory.
We took this off the 1977 edition of the AMCIAN – the Ave Maria Convent school magazine. This is an aerial view of the school building and the surroundings.
We’ve had a lot of feedback from SMI, ACS, NTPS, and even HIJ Convent Alumni over the years…but not much from the Ave Maria Convent girls. So, here’s a shout-out to you young ladies out there!
This sundry shop was once at 40 Jalan Lee Kwee Foh, in Canning Garden. But that was back in the 1960s – 1970s. This shop was later taken over by a book store.
Does anyone remember the sundry shop…or even the owner?
Imagine this: you’re travelling along a random road in Ipoh, and you encounter a car, a bullock-cart and bicycle moving one behind the other in the opposite lane! It might have been a familiar sight back in the 1960s, but not today. We thank Alan for the above photograph.
Have you used these to write? Perhaps not…maybe your parents or grandparents did? Anyhow, these were what I would call the ‘early pencils’. And of course, you used them on slate boards (not paper, as they were rather costly back then). Incidentally, I looked up ‘slate pencils’ on YouTube…and to my surprise, there were many videos of people EATING slate pencils!
…well, not really 😉
But do YOU remember what your examination paper looked like when you were in school? Here’s one from 1928, the English Grammar paper from Cambridge for the Junior Local Exam.
What kind of student were you back then:
a) the ever-ready student, eager to perform well?
b) the one who constantly burnt the midnight oil, and crammed as much as possible before the test?
c) the ‘gifted’ one who never really studied, but got top marks all the same?
d) the one who panicked and broke into a cold sweat before the exam, fearing the worst?
e) the one who was as cool as a cucumber?
Here’s a nice one of happy faces, taken at the Main Convent (HIJ Convent) back in the late 1940s. We thank Marea Smith for sharing this lovely photograph with us. Incidentally, Marea is the girl standing in the back row, third from the right.
I was staying in Greentown then and used to go to a classmate house in Fair Park where we all learn to dance the A Go-Go , The Shake and Off Beat Cha Cha!
Convent Girls, do you recall what your classroom looked like? Well, this was a typical classroom at the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (or Main Convent) back in the late 1940s / early 1950s. We thank Marea Smith for sharing this nostalgic photograph with us. Looking forward to hearing from any CHIJ Alumni 🙂
Ovaltine was developed in Berne, Switzerland, where it is known by its original name, Ovomaltine (from ovum, Latin for “egg,” and malt, which were originally its main ingredients). Soon after its invention, the factory moved out to the village of Neuenegg, a few kilometres west of Berne, where it is still produced.
Ovomaltine was exported to Britain in 1909; a misspelling of the name on the trademark registration application led to the name being shortened to Ovaltine in English-speaking markets. A factory was built in Kings Langley, which exported it to the United States as well. By 1915, Ovaltine was being manufactured in Villa Park, Illinois, for the US market. Ovaltine was later manufactured in Peterborough, Ontario for distribution in Canada.
Originally advertised as consisting solely of “malt, milk, eggs, flavoured with cocoa,” the formulation has changed over the decades, and today several formulations are sold in different parts of the world. [click here for more!]
From past blog posts, we’ve had Readers sharing their memories about some of the many smaller departmental stores in Ipoh. With the coming of hypermarkets and malls, these small businesses eventually folded. On that note, does anyone remember Angel Departmental Store? Do you remember where it was located?
HIJ Convent girls, this one’s for YOU! Do you remember this badge? Did you have trouble remembering the lyrics of the school song? Do you recall the motto? Come on, girls…we want to hear from you 🙂
Sometimes, families make day trips / weekend trips during school holidays and such. I wonder if this how these children found themselves posing next to the canon (picture below).
Do you recognise the building in the background? I’m making a wild guess and saying it’s probably part of a museum. But I could be wrong though.
We thank Rosemary Palmer for the above photograph 🙂
Since it’s Teacher’s Day today, we decided to feature a very prominent figure in our education’s history – Aminuddin Baki. Born in Chemor, he began his early schooling at Chemor Malay School and later at Anderson School. During his school days, he participated in student organisations championing the lot of Malay students, as he felt the indifference shown by colonial authorities towards Malay education had brought about the backwardness and provincialism of the Malay community. He believed that education was the means to inculcate national aspirations and improve the economic prospects of the Malays…(read more here).
While we’re still on the topic of education and teachers, do you remember someone from your childhood who was a positive influence in your life? Do share your memories with us.
picture courtesy of Gary Lai (via SK)
We received this photo and description from SK:
This picture was send to me by Gary Lai from Anderson School, Ipoh. I have his consent to use the picture & story. He joined the Police Volunteer Reserve back in 1970s when he left Ipoh, in KL. Gary is pictured on the left & he lost touch of his friend in 1975. Hope Ipohworld can publish this & also at the same time to look out for Gary’s friend. Gary told me he joined the PVR as a duty to the nation. Both of them patrolled the street with a regular policeman and enjoyed their task. They were also paid by their employers while performing their duties or when they took 2 weeks off for training.
They had also opportunity to practice shooting with wesson smith pistols in 6 bullets chamber & Mark 5 bolt action rifle (10 or 12 bullets ) in sniping, squatting & sitting positions but missed the M16 practice as it was then newly issued. Gary recalled it was fun time walking the streets twice or thrice a week 6 pm to 11 pm at 40 sen an hour. It was not about money as they spent more than the stipend paid but the experience & the duty to the country. Well, Ipohworld, hope you will publish this for awareness in the Police Voluntary Reserve Unit. We have also other voluntary units like Civil Defence & Rela. The other unit is Polis Bantuan.
In a subsequent email, SK told us that Gary’s friend went by the name of Chuah (Gary doesn’t know the full name). If Chuah, or any of his family / friends, are reading this, we’d love to hear from you!
I remember the first time I tried Cadbury’s chocolate. At that time, it seemed like the most delicious snack for a 5 year old. I also remember eating more than half the bar, and then being really ill 😛 It didn’t put me off chocolates though…I just learnt (the hard way) to eat in moderation 🙂
We’d like to hear from the chocolate lovers out there…where ever you may be!
Dear Ipoh-ites…..was there a hill named after Sir Hugh Low somewhere in Perak? We were wondering based on the picture below.
picture from: Charlie ChoongOn that note, do you recognise the young men in picture? Are YOU one of them? If you are, we’d like to hear more from you 🙂
We were told that this was the Form 3 Class of 1967 at Methodist English School (later known as Methodist High School or MHS). Our source also mentioned the teacher’s name – Mr Thanarajan. Do you recognise any of the faces in the picture below?
picture courtesy of Gogan Singh, click to enlarge
“Remember the ’50s when you can get a bun with scraped coconut in brown sugar as fillings costing only 5 cents to 10 cents? For those interested in buns with scraped coconut fillings, there is a shop in Pasir Pinji, Ipoh selling them for 80 sen each. Besides those with coconut fillings, they also sell buns without fillings and also those with kaya (egg jam). They also have the regular size loaf. If you think 80 sen is expensive, try going to the cake shops in the shopping complex. Anyway, this shop is only open from Mon to Fr at 6.00 pm and on Sunday at 2.00 pm. It is closed on Sat. I went once at 2.30 pm on Sun. and found that the buns with coconut filling was sold out. The shop is Ban Guan Foong Bakery. The signboard in inside the shop and you will not be able to locate it until you are in the shop. The address is 50, Jalan Sultan, Pasir Pinji, Ipoh (near the market). The difference between the buns sold and those sold in the local bakeries and cake shop is that you buy it fresh from the oven and they are still hot and smells good. The oven is at the back of the shop and it does not look like it is run by electricity. The queue is long and you find people buying as many as 25-50 buns though you may buy one. From the signboard and the premises (single storey semi concrete and wooden walls and zinc roof) it looks as if this bakery (family run) has been around for over 50 Years.”
source: Janet Ferguson & Nellie Cumming
This was probably taken at a school sports day – most likely the ACGS (Anglo Chinese Girls School) Sports Day! I do wonder is the girl in the picture broke the record for the high jump event……
I vaguely remember the annual sports day at my school. But I’ll never forget the good ‘ol Milo van with the free Milo in paper cups (yummy!). What were YOUR school sports memories like?
This is what our donor – KT Pillai – had to say about this photograph:
In the photo are Marea Smith (our donor) and C.A. Thurling. This was taken at the Ipoh Airport back in 1953.
We’d like to draw your attention to the wooden bracket around the racket in Marea’s hand. If I’m not mistaken, the racket was placed between the wooden brackets and the four screws at the corners were tightened to hold the racket in place. One of my uncles used to store his badminton rackets this way – before specialised sports bags were made.
Do any of you remember this old fashioned way of storing rackets? 🙂
Bottle-caps or Ceper (as some call it) was quite a popular children’s game back then. I don’t know the actual rules of this game. But from what I do know, two or more players were judged by their skills at manouvering the bottle caps across a table. At the same time, they had to make sure that the caps don’t fall off.
Xiangqi is played on a board nine lines wide and ten lines long. As in the game ‘Go’, the pieces are placed on the intersections, which are known as points. The vertical lines are known as files, and the horizontal lines are known as ranks.
Centered at the first to third and eighth to tenth ranks of the board are two zones, each three points by three points, demarcated by two diagonal lines connecting opposite corners and intersecting at the center point. Each of these areas is known as gōng – a “palace” or “fortress”.
Dividing the two opposing sides, between the fifth and sixth ranks, is the “river”. The river is often marked with the phrases chǔ hé, meaning “Chu River”, and hàn jiè, meaning “Han border”, a reference to the Chu-Han War. Although the river provides a visual division between the two sides, only two pieces are affected by its presence: soldier pieces have an enhanced move after crossing the river, and elephant pieces cannot cross it. The starting points of the soldiers and cannons are usually, but not always, marked with small crosses. – extract from Wikipedia.
Here we have a picture showing a game of Xianqi or Chinese Chess in progress. Note the placement of the tokens.
For those of you who want to see a real Xianqi board, visit our exhibition at Han Chin Villa!Our donor Richard Saxey tells us that this was taken around 1959-1960. He also mentions his teacher Mrs Kumar. So today we’d like to ask the ‘members of the Malim Nawar family’ – do you remember the Methodist School in Malim Nawar?
ps: In a recent email, Richard talked about his childhood friend Cynthia Hunter. Cynthia’s father William Hunter worked for Anglo-Oriental (Malaya) Ltd. If anyone out there remembers them, do leave a comment or two on this post 🙂
Picture from Ruth Iversen Rollitt
“Rental was $60 a month, a bargain in the immediate post-war years with the shortage of housing. Each house had 3 bedrooms upstairs; and downstairs. a living room, dining room, a modern flush toilet (very rare for Ipoh at that time), a small kitchen and backyard. There was a built-in wood fired stove….A concrete stairway near the front door took you up to the first floor bedrooms and bathroom. There was an under-stairs storage area and next to it the toilet. All the windows were of the steel casement type…..The houses were built in 1937 by Loke Wan Yatt….The architect was the well known Berthol M. Iversen.”
The extract above is taken from the book “Ipoh – My Home Town”. Remember these houses (picture above)? It’s a pity they’re gone now – demolition began in 2009, around the same time the Fair Park shop houses (across the road) were knocked down.
Here’s another blast from the past from Richard Saxey. He tells us that this is “the picture of the badminton team, showing my elder brother Mr. E.H.White (know as Mick), I cannot remember if the team was a Malim Nawar team or a Perak River Hydro team (Malim Nawar)”.
Can’t wait to hear more from the you folks – who were once part of the Perak Hydro / Malim Nawar gang!
We thank Charlie Choong for this photograph. As written on the photo itself, the year is 1970. What we’d like to know is where this photo was taken. If anyone could help us translate the Mandarin, we’d be grateful. Perhaps, some of you out there may even recognise the people in the photo?
picture from Mr & Mrs Rasiah Anakili – click to enlarge
We recognise Bro Pius Kelly, who was the 9th Brother Director of St Michael’s Institution, seated in the centre. Do you know who are the teachers on his left and right? Were you in Standard 2B, class of 1956? If so, where are YOU in the photograph?
picture from: Leong Kai Loong, Ipoh
Did you own a Mobo horse when you were young? My cousins and I used to play on a Triang car – which was passed down to us from our uncles.
We had great fun with that car, pretending we were adults driving through town (but in fact, we only circled the garden!).
What were YOUR favourite toys growing up?
picture from: Ho Hoo Wan, Ipoh
These lovely ladies are part of the Form V batch of 1958 – from Sultan Yussuf School, Batu Gajah.
They were some of the many youngsters who attended the Farewell Dinner.
We have the names of these beauties….
Standing from left to right they are: Thong Mee Len, Poh Ching, Nelly Maniksha, Leelavathy, Tessie Perira, Anna Yoong.
Sitting from left to right: Lim Yoke Siew, Ho Kuan Thye, Cheah Soo Har, Chan Yoke Heng, Choong Chin Choo, Wong Choong Yoon and Loh.
If you are one of the above ladies in the picture, do share your memories with us!
Farewell Party for Fr Ciatti, April 1970 (click to enlarge)
Christmas Party, Nazareth Kindergarten. Catholic Centre, Ipoh. 10th November 1970 (click to enlarge)
These photographs were taken from Michael Ho’s collection. It wasn’t that long ago, so I’m sure some of you might remember this kindergarten.
Today, this building is still standing….but it’s no longer the Catholic Centre; it’s now a thrift store, where most items are sold for RM 2.
Are you a fan of comics? Perhaps even an avid collector – especially of vintage editions? Do you remember Beano (picture above)?
I don’t recall Beano, but I do remember those Donald Duck comics (sponsored by Maggi, if I’m not mistaken). I also enjoy reading Marvel comics, but I’m not a collector. Nowadays, many famous comics have been turned into movies. The one above – Dennis the Menace – was also turned into a movie! I wonder when this trend (turning comics into live action movies) began….
Have you played ‘Happy Families’? Well, this game used to be known as ‘Jovial Families’ a long time ago. Here’s a picture to refresh your memory.
From what we were told, this set was manufactured by A. Collier (which was established back in 1863, in London). I’m guessing the ‘Happy Families’ cards are now printed locally….but I could be mistaken.
Mano sent us this a while ago. He also included the following words: “…a photo of the school prefects of NTPS Pasir Puteh in 1967. Standing behind the headmaster, Mr. Bhagwan Singh, is none other then DCP Perak, Datuk Paramasivam!”
So NTPS Pasir Puteh Alumni….what do YOU remember about this group photograph? Are you in there somewhere?
We all know Elvis Presley had his share of impersonators; some were almost as good as the ‘King’ himself – with the deep voice AND the gyrating hips!
Frank Sinatra (or Ol’ Blue Eyes, as some know him) had his share of impersonators too. Speaking of which, does anyone remember the Frank Sinatra singing contest back in 1959? It was held at the Lido Theatre…perhaps this picture might refresh your memory!
If you’re one of those in the photograph, do share with us your memories!
Just in case you didn’t know, today is Boxing Day – nothing to do with the actual sport, but rather it’s the day where gifts are exchanged and opened. In some countries, today is an official holiday too! The picture above, from Ruth Iversen Rollitt, was not taken on 26th December…but I think fits well with the idea of giving and receiving presents. Ruth tells us:
These pictures are from Christmas 1963 when Father Christmas visited the children at St Andrew’s Presbyterian church in Ipoh. Vivi Iversen (Per’s wife) and son are getting a gift from Santa….I am standing with little Donald in the middle, my mother is on the extreme left.
Don’t know where to go during this long break? How about Kellie’s Castle?
No, we’re not advertising for this place. Rather just showing you what this iconic landmark looked like – way back in 1957!
This is a photograph of Ho Hoo Wan with his siblings and friends, posing just outside the famed Batu Gajah castle. How many of you have visited this place? Has the place changed much since it was first opened to the public?
On that note, is this place really haunted…or is it just one of those myths? 😉
It is said that the story of Horlicks began with James & William Horlick from Glouscestershire, who came up with the idea of a malt milk drink (as an artificial infant food).
History aside, what was YOUR Horlicks memory like? I remember drinking this during my pre-school years. Later, this malt drink (and the famous Milo) kept me company during my university days – especially when studying late into the night (coffee never seemed to work!). Was Horlicks part of your life too? Is it still part of your life? 😉
advertisement taken from Times of Malaya, 6 August 1959
From what I found out, the Zam Buk company came into existence in the early 1900s – in Yorkshire. This balm became “an essential item for the home” before modern medicine took over. (more can be read here)
I don’t know when Zam Buk became popular in Malaya, but I know that some of my relatives swear by it – we still use it now and then! Just wondering, was this balm as famous as ‘Tiger Balm’?
Back then, some folks in Ipoh counted the cinema halls and the famous Ipoh Race Course as part of their usual hang-outs (of course this was before Parkson and Aeon/Jusco came about!). What I found interesting about the above photo – of the race course nonetheless – is the outside of the Grand Stand. Note the potted plants along the steps. I wonder if the Grand Stand looks the same now. Anyone been to the race course lately?
I believe the little girl in the photo is none other than our donor Ruth Iversen Rollitt. 🙂
With technology advancing everyday, I wonder how many of us can actually claim to have used a good old fashioned typewriter! This advertisement (sent to us by Nicholas Jennings) is for Royal Typewriters. Was this a very popular brand back then? Did any of you own one (or any other typewriter brand)? On that note, how much did a typewriter cost in those days?
We received this from Daniel Doutriaux (part of a series of photographs from an album). These are the girls from Batu Gajah Convent – excited as they explore the new science lab. The year was 1956….do you recognise any of them in the photo? (Or, maybe YOU are in there?) We’d love to hear from the Convent Alumni 😉
advertisement courtesy of: Nicholas Jennings
Philco Radios were around as early as 1928. However, the company almost went bust and was later bought over by Ford Motor Company (in the 1960s). These radios must have had a special place in their owners hearts – Ron Ramirez even has a book dedicated to this radio! (more about Philco Radios)
Does anyone remember this radio brand? They also had an agent at No.41 Station Road, Ipoh. To those who STILL have them in your homes, do they still work?
Nicholas Jennings (our donor) tells us that: the boy standing on the running board is his uncle Nigel (the third son of J A S Jennings). At the wheel is Eric Jennings (the eldest son), and seated beside the driver is Rose Winnifred (Freda) Jennings. In the background is the family home (No. 50 Gopeng Road) – which Jennings called “Midhurst”. Can our car enthusiasts identify the model of the car?
We received the following email from Kong Khen:
“Recently, I found a class photograph of my dad taken in 1940. I’ve identified it as the remedial class of English lesson, from what was mentioned by my dad.
Could IPOHWORLD help to confirm if the teachers were from ACS school.
Dad mentioned that he attended English lesson on the top floor of Foong Seong Building- new town. However the location where the photo was taken seemed to be in a compound.
The photograph is in my blog.”
Can anyone help Kong Khen please? I’m sure there are some ACS Alumni out there who are in this photograph.
Over many weeks Larry has sent us a host of photographs. So many that they will be a great addition to our database recording his childhood life and times with Perak Hydro in Batu Gajah. You have probably seen memories from him and his young friends on our blog where young friends from 50+years ago met again on ipohWorld’s World.
The above photo caught my eye and I wondered this was due to Communist activity (they often blew up trains) or whether it was a simple accident.
The other thing of interest is the excavator shovelling coal. Yes at one time we had coal fired power stations. Are there any left, and where did we get the coal? If you know then do let us know. I am sure that there are many young Malaysians who do not even know what coal is!
Wendy Lewis tells us that this holiday resort was in Pangkor Island. Back then (probably the 1950s) there was no air-condition – only fans and mosquito nets!
I wonder if this resort is still there….perhaps it has been upgraded with more modern facilities (besides air-condition, perhaps free wi-fi too?).
Any frequent visitors to Pangkor? Do share your experiences with us 🙂
All you Philatelists out there may remember this First Day Cover (or even have it in your collection!). Yes, this one came out back in 1957 – when Malaya received her Independence.
Just wondering: were there OTHER such souvenirs made for this momentous occasion? (like mugs, badges, t-shirts, etc.)
Ruth Iversen Rollitt (our donor) tells us that there was a time when F&N supplied swings and slides for birthday parties! I didn’t know this, did YOU? Did F&N bring such joy to your birthday parties? We’d like to know your favourite F&N memory 😉
If Ruth is reading this, do tell us more about this story.
I wonder if anyone out there remembers this young man (first picture). These pictures were part of an article which appeared in the Star (26th July 2014); according to the writer, this white van (second picture) was usually parked under a tree (around Canning Garden) while the many customers waited in line to be served. I’ve not come across Thum’s Burger (as advertised on the van) – perhaps it was before my time? 😉
Could anyone shed some light on this? We’re curious to know more about this mobile burger stall.
I remember the first time I tried to ride a bicycle – and failed miserably 🙁 My bicycle was a small red one, with an adjustable seat. I never quite managed to ‘master’ not falling off while riding the bike….sadly, I gave up. (so today, I still don’t know HOW to ride a bicycle…which is rather embarrassing!)
Anyways, here we have a receipt from a bicycle shop in Pusing.
I wonder if this shop is still there. Anyone care to tell us? On another note, what was it like when YOU first learnt to ride a bicycle? Do you remember how much your first bicycle cost?
Since Hari Raya is almost here, some of you might be thinking about your Kampong – this photo (from Michael Ho) may not depict your actual kampong, but I’m sure it may bring back some fond memories of life back then. For those of you non-city folks, what was life like back then in your little village?
We received this from Ruth Iversen Rollitt. Based on previous pictures, I’m guessing that the girl on extreme left is Ruth herself.
The children seem to be playing with make-shift bows and arrows.I confess trying to make one too, when I was a kid…this was after reading about Robin Hood – The bow didn’t quite turn out so well, and the twigs I wanted to use as arrows kept breaking while I attempted to shoot them 😉
What type of make-shift ‘toys’ did YOU come up with during your childhood playtime?
No, we’re not talking about those jungle-cats…we’re talking about the inflatable ones from Esso (see below). We also have a little story about this on our database – it’s not this (above) ‘tiger’ but of a similar one. So, like we mentioned in the title: Did any of you own such a toy? I don’t think Esso sells these anymore (but I could be wrong).
The AJS 350cc was my dad’s. This was taken back in 1956 and this time, the toddler is me! The photo was taken at the end of the block of houses in New Pasir Puteh where the Fabulous Thunderbirds were from as well.
We thank Mano for the picture and the above quote. I do wonder if anyone from Pasir Puteh remembers these houses or the bike…or even little Mano?
That’s what we’d like to ask you experts out there – especially the St Michael’s Institute Alumni. Was this the First School Badge? Take a closer look (picture below).
So ‘experts’, what do YOU have to say? We’d love to hear from you 🙂
Our donor Mano told us that: “The three wheeler is the Piaggio Ape. Unfortunately, it’s not a full picture of the scooter with the ‘Ovaltine’ as the subject was the toddler, my brother. The photo was taken in 1965. He had recently wrecked his tricycle and rolling one of it’s wheels, ‘parked’ it against the wheel of the scooter.”
Hence our question: were you a fan of Ovaltine? Has the taste changed over the years? 🙂
This is one dessert Ipoh has long been famous for……Tau Foo Far for those feeling a little peckish, and Soya Bean Milk for those who want something cold on a hot day.
We wonder if Funny Mountain’s tau foo far is as good as the one Ipohgal’s father used to make 😉
Some of you may have met me before. Some of you may remember me ‘singing’ during the war. Some say my ‘voice’ made quite an impression on the young ones too!
For those of you who don’t me, I’m a WW2 Civil Defence Siren 😉
At first glance, it probably looks like a stool. But it’s really an ice shaver – look closely and you can see the blade 😉
An ice block is run over the blade repeatedly while the shavings are collected into a bowl underneath. Have you seen your ABC / Cendol seller use this? Or, have YOU ever tried using this gadget before?
We were told by Ruth Iversen Rollitt that these houses were designed by her father B M Iversen.
Yes folks, these houses are STILL THERE – at the compound of the Perak Hydro Power Station in Malim Nawar! Those of you who once lived here, do you see YOUR former home in these pictures? 😉
This photograph is from Ron Lee (from Australia), sent through SK – who then forwarded it to us.
(click to enlarge)
So, Cator Avenue boys…do you see yourself (and/or your friends) in this photograph? Do you remember the teacher? I can’t help but admire her sense of fashion…she must have been quite a character too 😉
Mano asked if we could start a food blog page and after discussing it we have decided to intersperse our traditional style heritage photos with some food photos and invite comments on certain well-known local foods. If there is sufficient enthusiasm from our readers this will become a regular feature of ipohWorld’s World.
So what could be better than to start this new venture with the famous dish Sar Hor Fun and a picture of the most famous purveyor of this wondrous food – Spiderman.
We were fortunate to get this picture from Ms Ong Su-ming when she wrote her growing-up stories for our book “Ipoh, My Home Town”. As you will appreciate, like others in the book, it is a very rare picture and we are very happy to share it with you all.
But now it is your turn – Who remembers Spiderman, were his noodles really that special and where else on Kinta Valley could you get Sar Hor Fun in days gone by? Where can you find it now?
Yusof sent us these wonderful photos. From his email, we know that he lived in Greentown from 1969-1981. Yusof also had this to say:
“The house is one of six detached govt quarters surrounding a palm tree lined field within a circular lane off Jalan Iskandar, named Lorong Said Tauphy. As depicted in the photos attached, Greentown was indeed green back then, with the fields bamboo hedges and abundant coconut trees. It is really a shame what Greentown has transformed into now. Anyway, I hope these pictures will bring back some memories of the original Greentown to some folks out there, esp. ex Greentownians. Looking forward to more pictures of Greentown then from those who still have the old photos.”
Like Yusof, we at IpohWorld also look forward to hearing from former and present Greentown folks! 🙂
(click to enlarge)
KC sent us this cute one via Facebook. We thought we’d share it with all of you – especially with the Cator Avenue Alumni 🙂
KC shared a little bit about this photograph with us:
This photo was taken when I was in Standard-2 at Cator Avenue Primary School. Some of us in the photo are still in contact with each other after all these years. The class photo was taken in 1962, if I remember correctly. Would like to get feedback from people who were in this class. Cannot remember the teacher’s name now. Along the teacher’s row, on the far left is a Caucasian boy. I remember him only as Ian. He was with us for one year and we never see him again. It would be interesting to know his full name and hopefully know where he is now. One of my classmate whom I am still in contact with reminded me, and I recalled, he had a fight with a boy from another class and both were called to the headmaster’s office. Those were the days…….
We look forward to hearing about all the other shenanigans you boys got up to in your youth….and like KC, we’re also wondering what’s happened to Ian!
This was among the lot sent to us from Nick Band. His father Albert Roy Band was part of the Malay Tin Dredge Co. in Batu Gajah. He had two stints there: 1954-57, where he stayed at Bungalow A11 & 1958-61, residing at Bungalow A13. As Nick explains, his father was known as ‘Roy’ and he was an Engineering Draughtsman. The woman in the photograph is Nick’s mother; standing next to her is the family pet Ginger.
Ever come across an oval-shaped dining table? Well, this picture (from Sally Everist) shows the late John Allison‘s dining room. Unique isn’t it – since most homes have either long, rectangular tables or round tables in their dining rooms 🙂
Calling all Tarcisian Convent (Ipoh) Girls! Remember what your school library looked liked in the 1960s? Well, here’s a little clue for you. I’m sure much of the interior has changed over the years. For the present generation of Tarcisian Girls, DO tell us about the ‘new additions’ to your school library 🙂
Remember these seats? All you movie buffs out there, especially those who visited the old cinemas (not the modern cineplexes), I’m sure you’ll recall sitting on similar chairs.
We pay tribute to Run Run Shaw, of the famed Shaw Brothers, who passed away in Hong Kong yesterday.
The Shaw Organisation began in 1924, with operations in Singapore screening their own brand of silent movies. Frustrated by local distributors, they set up their own cinema, “The Empire”, to screen their movies. Led by brothers Run Run and Runme Shaw, they began to branch out into Malaysia building new cinemas and operating a mobile cinema for rural areas. However, it was only with the advent of sound that movies began to really launch themselves – by 1933 the Shaw’s had produced the Cantonese opera film ‘Normal Dragon’ which proved a breakthrough for them in both Singapore and Hong Kong. [more can be found at – http://www.hkcinema.co.uk/Articles/shawbronews.html ]
I’m sure many movie-lovers out there remember these famous brothers and their contribution to the cinematic industry. I was not born in that era, but from what I’ve read (and heard) the Shaw Brothers always had interesting ways of advertising the up-and-coming movies. (see sample below)
[ Warning: the picture below may cause some of you to drool excessively 😉 ]
We thank Alison Cotterill (nee Caldwell) for this one. To what we were told, this was taken at a wedding – and yes, folks…the guests are eating on banana leaves!
So, fellow Foodies…when was the last time YOU had a banana-leaf meal? 🙂
Here’s something to put you in the Christmas mood! We thank Alison Cotterill (nee Caldwell) for this one. According to Alison, this was taken in 1962 at the Lower Perak Club in Teluk Anson. On the far left is Trisha Caldwell, holding Fiona.
Well folks, it looks like Santa arrived on foot instead of coming down the chimney! 😉 I do wonder what was in those large sacks…..
Not wishing to have Teluk Ansom beat Ipoh, Ruth Rollitt sent us this one and said:
The Christmas party at the Presbyterian church was in 1963! Wow – 50 years ago. The little fair-haired boy is my brother Per’s son Morten – he is with his mother Vivi (Iversen). The lady in the batik dress on the other is my mother and the smiling lady is Dutch: Marian Voorhoeve – her husband was with Lindeteves Jacob and we are still much in touch.
Thank you Ruth for keeping Ipoh in the picture.
Are you in this photo? Or, perhaps you knew some of the players in this soccer team. Did any of them end up in our national football league?
If you look closely, there is a trophy at the bottom of this photo…which made me think that this was probably taken after a soccer match. I’ll leave it to you to tell me more.
We thank Zahar for this nostalgic photo 🙂
I’ve played it before, although I rarely won (perhaps, there’s a trick in throwing the dice in order to get the right number 😉 ) Anyway, LUDO seemed like a popular board game at one time. Then there was MONOPOLY. Wonder what’s the latest popular board game today!
On that note, what was YOUR favourite board game?
Yes, this is indeed a beautiful pair of beaded slippers. So, ladies…do any of you own such a pair? Or perhaps, you know someone who (still) makes such pretty footwear?
These Baba-Nyonya style slippers were once a rage – are they still in fashion? You tell us 🙂
Ah yes, the once popular Rediffusion Loudspeaker! Some of you may have seen (or owned) one in your younger days. I confess that I haven’t (probably born too late! 😉 ) but I do recall in past blog posts that some of our Readers speak rather fondly about Rediffusion.
Anyone care to share some memories?
In our previous post, we had a reply from the brother of the pretty lady sitting on the sports car. We now know her as Joan Lau. After some searching, we found a picture of Lawrence Lau (see below).
The caption for the above picture is as follows: “Adrian Boudville looking on, Barry Jansz acting as Time Keeper and Lawrence Lau acting as Starter.”
This was taken on 18th August 1971 at the Ipoh Railway Station. Anyone remember this event?
Do you recall the days when you could by an ice-cream sandwich for “satu kupang” (10 cents)? It was big money then, but today you hardly get a handful of sweets for that price. The donor of this photograph says that the location is somewhere up north – Was “kupang” a common phrase used for money in Ipoh?
We thank Taj Firdaus for this photograph 🙂
Don’t know about you, but milk is one of my favourite beverages – I especially love Dutchlady’s chocolate flavoured milk 😉
I vaguely remember growing up on Dumex. Can’t recall if there were any other famous milk brands in the 80s. From what I’ve heard, Lactogen was quite popular some years ago. Is this brand still around? What brand of milk did YOU enjoy as a kid?
This photograph (from Charlie Choong) was taken in the early 1960s. We think it was at one of the car shows by the Triumph Car Owner’s Club. Do you remember the car show? Do YOU own a Triumph? This is the Triumph that Dr Jeya was referring to. We are not normally into car sales at ipohWorld but we make an exception in this case as it suits the blog comments. If you are interested in the vehicle we can pot you in touch with the owner.
It is a very rare classic Triumph 2000 Mk1
Yes, folks…this seems to be the Standard 3 Class of Cator Avenue School. Do you see yourself in the photograph? Do you remember your class teacher’s name? Was he a much feared, strict man…or a warm friendly mentor? Be it fond or horrific, we welcome all sorts of recollections – and we’d also like to know a little bit about the history of this school too (if you can recall).
…St Bernadette’s Convent (in Batu Gajah) had a charity event for the victims of the Turkish earthquake? Here’s a photograph to jog your memory (see below)
We were told that this replica of the Malaysian flag was made entirely of JELLY! Can anyone tell us more about this event? Do you recognise the official cutting the jelly?
Happy Malaysia Day, Dear Readers! 🙂
I was about 8 years old when I took part in a school concert (in the early 90s). The concert was for the Hari Anugerah (Prize Giving Day), and I recall being absolutely exhausted after every practice. I had to wake up early since practice started at about 8 o’clock in the morning. It went on past lunch time. I also had extra homework to do because practices were during school hours. What I hated most was when the music teacher told us that we girls had to wear make-up on the actual day of the concert…..sigh!
This picture was taken back in 1963. Were school concerts any different then? Like me, I’m sure the rest of us are wondering what happened to these ‘stars’ 😉
Anyone remember what this stage play was about? Did the ‘couple’ live happily ever after in the end?
Here is a bit of nostalgia if ever there was one! Sent in by Mano it is a photo taken on a bus on the way to Penang from the famed NTPS Jalan Pasir Puteh, Ipoh in 1967.
Mano tells us: At the rear is Semret Singh, SEA Games Gold medallist at the Hammer Throw in 1985 and 1989. He is the son of the equally famous Ghenda Sing (deceased) who donned the national colours for the Hammer Throw as well till he was 55!
To the left of Semret is Suhaimi who, together with his brother, formed the band Apple Jam and went on to open Ipoh’s first Discotheque – Apple Jam.
In the right half of the photo, in the middle, wearing a zippered shirt is Suhaimi’s brother, none other than Wah Idris – Musician extraodinaire from the Berkeley Scool of Music.
As for me, I’m the other Indian kid looking out the window, behind the Indian kid smiling at the camera.
Cheers to all at Ipohworld!
Thank you so much Mano – may
One look at this photograph and you will notice that not only were the Ipoh Girls pretty, they also dressed in style 😉
If you look close enough, you can probably deduce where in Ipoh Town these buildings are. But we’d like to draw your attention to the sign behind the lady with the handbag – ‘Dress Maker by Chan”. Is this tailor/dressmaker still around?
[We thank Charlie Choong for this photograph]
We thank John McAuley – who was once part of the British Military serving in Malaya, back in the 1950s – for this photograph. Yes, folks it’s none other than the Majestic Cinema :). Although it doesn’t show up clearly, but if you zoom in you can actually see some vendors just outside the entrance of the cinema. Anyone remember them? What did they sell?
This is part of a matchbox collection emailed to us by ‘Stex Stev’. Do you remember the Chicago Coffee House? I don’t…perhaps it was gone by the time I was born. Or maybe it changed its name? You tell us 😉
However, as the discussion grew it reached the mystery of a bread also named Chicago and Rosebud sent us the following photo – especially for mano.
Remember him….your friendly neighbourhood Postman? He used to go around on a bicycle with a large brown bag full of mail. Take note of his uniform too! What else do you remember about him? We’d love to read your comments and memories – especially those (like me!) who are more familiar with electronic mail 😉
We thank Ruth Rollitt for this photograph.
The photo may not be that clear, but I’m sure you notice the wire fence in front of the station. This is similar to the perimeter fencing which was a common sight at the New Villages during the Malayan Emergency.
Those of you who are familiar with Tapah – is this building still there or have they built a new one?
This photo is from Bob Peers (from UK).
Our thanks goes out to Ruth Iversen Rollitt for this one. Yes, it’s a barbeque party. And for those of you who can identify the venue, you’ve probably guessed it right!
This was taken around 1965. As a food lover (especially when it’s barbeque!), I do wonder if such parties still go on. When was the last time YOU enjoyed a nice cook-out with family and friends?
Yes, here is the latest attraction to arrive at Falim House Exhibition “A Tin Mining Family”. It is the Mobo Pony Express, a dual purpose toy that can be used as a baby’s push cart and a pedal car,
And there are more good things to come. So if you have been to see us then don’t hesitate to come again. And if you have not got there yet then don’t forget we close finally on 11 August.
This isn’t a hard one to guess. Yes, it’s another photograph of Ipoh Motors Ltd. What I’m curious about is the street vendor – far right of this photograph (click to enlarge). What was he selling at that time? Can you also spot the petrol pump (below the sign Fargo Truck)?
This photograph is part of John McAuley’s collection. McAuley served in Ipoh in the mid 1950s.
This was Jubilee Park then….when they first started business. Later, the Shaw Brothers gave it a ‘facelift’ (see picture below).
Today, a night club has opened at the corner of Brewster Road and Cowan Street. But this side of Jubilee Park still remains. Anyone knows what’s going on inside? Are the stalls still there?
We thank Ruth Rollitt for these two photographs.
According to Wendy Lewis (the donor of these photographs), her father Alfred Simon (left) was the Superintendent of the Perak Hydro Power Station in Malim Nawar. On his right is none other than the Sultan of Perak.
These 1966 photographs bring back lots of memories - especially for Wendy and her sister, since they stood at their gate to watch the entourage. Wendy also recalls Peter Channer being the General Manager. Do you recognise anyone else in these pictures? Perhaps, YOU might be one of the crowd too! We'd love to hear your thoughts...
Whether they’re quiet, noisy, cheeky, hyperactive, or even the book-worm types…..kids will always have a special place in our hearts 😉
Today, we’d like to share this photograph with you. We don’t know what these boys were up to when this was taken, but I would like to guess that they were probably playing hide-and-seek (note that both kids are behind a pillar). Notice what they’re wearing? Have children’s clothes changed much over the years. I’d say definitely…what say you?
We thank John McAuley for this lovely photograph!
We’ve had posts where we’ve asked you to guess the street/event/person/ etc. This time, we’d like you to guess the movie 😉
Yes, take a good look at the advertisement on the outside of the cinema – do YOU know this movie? If you do, don’t be shy about leaving us a comment or two. Better yet, if you’ve seen it do tell us about your favourite scene in the movie.
A special thanks going out to John McAuley – the donor of this photograph.
I know it’s not even close to December yet…but all the same, I’d like to share Ruth Rollitt’s photo with you. This was taken at St John’s Hall back in 1958. According to the programme, those on stage were probably from the Ipoh Musical Society. The singers were accompanied by the band from the 13th/18th Royal Hussars (QMO) and the Perak Philharmonic Orchestra. This concert was in aid of the Federation of Malaya Red Cross Society.
Were you one of the performers? Or perhaps you recognise someone in this photo? Do share your thoughts with us!
This photo was taken about two weeks ago and it is one very small corner of the whole exhibition. Today, now that the remedial work is done to this particular display it is a great place to record your visit to this famous house. It is just one such photo-spot of many. Found in Falim, this tricycle used to ply the local roads of Ipoh and Menglembu selling Coca Cola. Does anyone remember it? Did you buy the ice-cold Coke from it?
The exhibition opens at 10.00am on Sunday 12 May, as published and will close at 6.00pm (last entry 5.00pm). It will remain open 7 days a week from 10.00am to 6.oopm, until finally closing at 6.00pm Sunday 11th August.
The show will be opened by Y Bhg Dato’ Haji Roshidi Bin Haji Hashim, Ipoh Datuk Bandar and there will be no admission before the formal opening. Some 400 guests will be invited but you are also welcome to attend.
There will be three vintage cars on display for the opening. If you would like to bring yours along please do so.
There will be a free shuttle bus service run by Tenby Schools Ipoh to bring visitors to and from Ipoh Train Station and Falim House during the weekends. The bus will depart from the train station at 10.45 am, 1.45 pm and 2.45 pm, and take passengers from Falim House to the train station at 1.15 pm, 2.15 pm, 4.15pm and 5.15 pm.
As there are many loose items on display we do not allow shopping bags or similar into the house. Please leave all bags and baskets in the car (ladies’ handbags excepted).
One final point about cameras, phones and videos. We have deliberately set this exhibition up for you to have fun and take your souvenir photos with the artifacts and models, but we do not allow deliberate copying of photographs or the film. Take as many general shots as you like but if you cannot follow these simple rules you will be asked to leave the exhibition.
We hope to see you there.
And here is Steve Oh (left), the Malaysian author from Australia in the exhibition.
This is none other than the Grand Theater & Jubilee Park – before the Shaw Brothers renovated it. From the clues in the picture, some of you may be able to roughly guess the year this was taken. What was YOUR early memory of this famous landmark? Were you a patron of the Cabaret? Did you frequent the amusement park? Or, were you one of the many movie-goers?
We thank Edwin Seibel for this picture.
Sometimes we’re so caught up with ourselves that we don’t ‘stop to smell the roses’ 😉 Here’s a look at what used to be a common sight in Ipoh – probably in the 1950s or 1960s. I do wonder if such a sight is present in this day and age…..but, like many of us I too am sometimes guilty of not observing my surroundings….
We thank Keith Nelson for this gem!
Here’s a nice one from a family album. We thank Alexander for this gem. According to him, the girl (standing) is his grandmother Madam Ursula. Behind her are her parents Mr Arokiasamy and Mrs Iruthayamary. The little one on the car is Ursula’s sister Kolanda Theresa. Incidentally, Mr Arokiasamy was involved in the textile & liquor business.
Anyone else have similar memories of their childhood to share? We’d love to hear from you 🙂
I’m making a rough guess and stating that this picture is from the 1960s (if I’m wrong, let me know). I found the designs of these cheongsams quite interesting. Personally, I’ve tried looking around for a simple one at the malls…..and found that the ones sold are rather costly (especially since they are embroidered or have some elaborate bead-work). 🙁
I wonder, how much did a cheongsam cost back then? Were they sold at malls…or did you have to get them tailor-made?
In the background is none other than the Fraser & Neave Ltd Aerated Water building. At the bottom right, there are railway tracks leading towards the F&N building. We don’t know who the gentleman on the bicycle is…neither do we know the date this photograph was taken.
We look forward to your comments – especially if YOU are the gentleman on the bicycle! 🙂
We’ve had quite a few readers on the blog talking about this school, hence today’s blog post. This picture is from Nicholas Jennings’ sister; and according to Nicholas, this building was “one of the two (or more) barrack-like structures” which were used as class rooms for this school. From the descriptions we’ve been given, this school was somewhere along Ashby Road. We could be wrong though. Does anyone remember the EXACT location? Could the barracks still be there…or perhaps, the place is now part of a housing area?
Note: The sign above the door is difficult to read (even on the original 600dpi scan), but we’re guessing it reads as “British Army Children’s School, Ipoh”.
No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you – this picture IS from 1928! In fact, ACS Kampar was founded back in 1903 by none other than Rev Horley himself.
Has the uniform changed that much over the years? Come on Scouts (past & present), we’d like to hear from you!
Before the present wonder of CGI of today’s movies, there was the ‘Anamorphic Camera Lens’. The first movie shot with this lens is said to be Broken Lance (see poster above).
Anyone seen the movie? While is was no Lord of the Rings or Avatar, I’m sure it had its special features which left the audience in awe 🙂 If you’ve seen the movie, do tell us about it!
The above photo, from Sybil, was taken in the front porch of No.8 Caldwell Road back in the late 60s (note the Mercedes on the left!). 4 or 5 years ago, Sybil came back for a visit and this (picture below) was what the house looked liked.
Besides No.8 Caldwell Road, Sybil’s family had another home along the same road – at No.5. Sadly, this place has been demolished (see below).
Wonder how many other houses along Caldwell Road went through a ‘disappearing act’ over the years….
From what our donor (Ko-chi Wai) tells us, this is a “view from inside Choon Seng shop house along 156 Hugh Low Street, ground floor front. Shows the structure of the horizontal sliding metal grill/shutter door, and an old heavy-duty weigh (in green, left bottom). My brother, sister and myself on the old Honda cub.”
This picture was taken in 1979. I wonder if the shop house is still there….perhaps another establishment has taken over? Those of you familiar with the layout of Hugh Low Street might be able to tell us more 🙂
Ask me what SEAL is, and I’ll relate it to the US Navy SEALs 😉 But, here we have another type of SEAL – apparently this SEAL is a name of a factory (picture above).
This was sent to us from Ko-chi Wai, along with this message:
School Visit to S.E.A.L Corporation Ltd factory – This was a school visit by my mum’s class to a S.E.A.L Corporation Ltd factory located in Perak (might be Tasek). The company that owns the factor is now known as SEAL Incorporated Bhd, and the registration of the “Sealply” logo/trademark of a seal was last renewed by the company in 1991 (http://www.trademarkuk.info/tm/1214169/sealply). Taken in Oct 1964.
ps: is this factory still there?
The Grandchildren of Chong Soon Fan’s eldest daughter lived in the “old house” at Main Road, Menglembu. They were all studying in the English schools in Ipoh. At the break of dawn, they all got up, brushed their teeth and started to walk towards the Chong Family bungalow opposite the Wan Hua Primary School. There were two reasons for going to the bungalow, to have breakfast and getting a ride by car to school in Ipoh.
There were also 6th, 8th and 14th Aunties going to school in Ipoh, Breakfast was served starting a 6:30 am. Breakfast menu were usually, toast with Kayang and Coffee, porridge or simple rice meal. Sometimes the late comers (usually getting out of bed late or spend too much time making up or some unexpected circumstances) would take their breakfast in the car. Generally speaking, the aunties spent too much time making up their faces in the morning and they were causing the delayed departure to school They were the elders and hence no comments or protest or you would get “hot tongue” for additional breakfast.
The Grandchildren living in the bungalow were spared these delays as they just walked from the front door of the house, cross the road and they were in school. Lucky for them, but when they started to go to high school, they had to join the crowd. By that time, most of the aunties have graduated from high schools.
The driver arrived at the bungalow at 7:00 am and his job was to take us to school. Sometimes the car would not start because of flat battery and we had to push it to start. Luckily there were plenty of people who can push. We all piled up in a Red Vauxhall Cresta 1956 model (AA9788) l with 3 forward gear, column shift and a bench seat in the front (seated 3 people including the driver). Later in the early1960s, a Ford Galaxy (BH2131) was used to transport the kids to school in Ipoh.
The journey to school started usually at sunrise 6:45 am. Turning out of the gateway to the right, it passed the Movie Theatre and at the junction of Lahat Road (Main Road), the car turned left and headed for Ipoh. Passing through the Menglembu Police Station on the right, it continues north passing the saw mills and iron foundries before reaching Falim. Passing Foo Nyit Sze bungalow on the right, it then crossed the Sungei Pari. The road then became divided with lamp post in the centre. Sometimes, the driver, on the urging of his passengers would overtake cars weaving pass the lamppost and crossed to the right hand side of the road and then weaved back between the lamp post into the left lane, It was exciting start of the day to be thrilled.
In those days, there were plenty of bicycles and motor cycles competing for the road. Bicycles were 2 to 3 abreast and sometimes they bunched together in a group of 12 cyclists. Cyclists did not wear helmets in those days and it was amazing that accidents were quite rare with bicycles.
Prior to arriving at the railway crossing, the car would turn left into Maxwell Road. After passing the road tunnel below, it turned left heading into the direction of the Kidd Bus Station. Then it turned right into Ipoh Tutorial, dropped off an Aunty and returned into the main road and this time heading for Guru Nanak School. From Guru Nanak, the next stop was the Convent and Rajah Perempuan, and it continued to Perak’s Girls High School in Kampar Road. On returning from Kampar Road, it went to Jalan Datoh and headed in ACS Ipoh at Lahat Road. In this route, the poor fellow who went to school in ACS was mostly late. If the car is driven up into the main building, you are sure to be caught. by the Prefects. The penalty at ACS Ipoh was one 220 yards round in the field for every 5 minutes late.
After much complaining and a change of circumstances, where there were two ACS students, the route was changed to ACS the first stop. It then went ahead through St Michaels to Yuk Choy High School, then to Convent, Raja Perempuan and Perak Girls High School. A few years later, the ACS boy got smarter and rode a bicycle to school.
There was no afternoon pickup service as the Grandfather used his car for business all day. Most of us take the bus home.
There were no TV in those days and it was fortunate for the Grandchildren of Chong Soon Fan to have a picture theatre next door and the admission is complimentary. I believe, the movie theatre leased the premises from Chong Soon Fan and he was given many complimentary tickets. Coming home after school, one would throw the school bag into the dark corner, eat lunch and headed straight for the movies which started at 2.00 pm, school day or not. It did not matter what language film was showing as long as we could sit there for one and a half hour entertained. In a year, we can have seen at least 50 movies (twice a week) and sometimes seeing the same movie twice.
The favourite food for the movies were ice kachang or ice ball, With the ice ball, you sit on the rattan seat (full of ticks) and you attempt to suck all the melted ice with the fan blowing hard under you. Of course, your clothes were dripped with coloured ice water. After the show, we cool our heads with the picture theatre tap located inside the cinema complex before returning home.
If we had seen a sword fighting movie, most of the boys would get some sticks and started to imitate the swordsman. Yes that was fun until one of the younger boys got hit accidently with the stick and started to cry. In a whiff, we all disappeared so no one can take responsibility for hurting the young brat. We swore not to include him in our activities but he also managed to get in because he could invoke the elders to fix us.
By 6 pm, the local appointed time for evening meal. Grandchildren can choose to eat at the bungalow or at the old house. Most of the time, , the old house Grandchildren ate at the bungalow.
After dinner, we had a bath and changed into pyjamas. We did our homework from 700 pm till 9:00 pm and were expected to go to bed by 9:30 pm. .
Ko-chi Wai had this to say, when he sent us this picture:
Ipoh Main Convent XI Hockey Team 1960 – Photo of the Main Convent hockey team which my aunt (front row, 2nd from left) was part of, taken within the grounds of the school. It was marked as XI Hockey, 1960 at the back of the photo.
Well, Convent Girls….anyone of you in the picture? For those who were part of the hockey team, do you remember the teacher/coach?
…such a scene (picture above) was a common sight around Ipoh Town. I never had a pair of striped pajamas, but I do remember (as a child) walking about in cartoon-themed pajamas and bed-hair! This cute picture was sent to us by Ko-chi Wai, who also included this message:
My mum (Lau Siew Hwa), my uncle, and my cousin on the stairs at the side of the Rex Cinema building. On the right one can see the rear part of the row of shop-houses facing Hugh Low St. where my mum’s family stayed in one till late 1990s. One can see the back doors to the shop-houses, as well as the small trap doors at the bottom where the “night soil” buckets were placed. Taken in 1959.
The above picture, taken in 1973, shows a couple at D R Seenivasagam Park. Through email, Ko-Chi Wai tells us that:
the rocks at the far side of the lake are still there today. however, the wooden platform where they are standing, and the wooden zigzag bridge across the lake are long gone. when I was a kid in the early 80s, my cousins and I used to feed the tilapia fishes from the very same platform.
Have any of you been fishing at this lake?
The girl in the picture seems overjoyed as she poses with her birthday cake and presents. Notice the presents on the table: biscuits, prunes and a mock iron.
I vaguely recall posing for similar pictures during my early birthdays. I didn’t receive biscuits….instead I had dolls, a large LEGO set (which I still have and treasure dearly!) and story books.
What were YOUR birthday presents like? These days, many kids would rather have an Ipod instead of a good book…..
We thank Sybil for sharing this picture with us 🙂
After WW2, Carradino D’Ascanio – the designer for the Piaggio Company – came up with a “simple, sturdy, and economical vehicle” which was also comfortable. This elegant design was named Vespa!
Here’s a row of Vespas, looking ‘pretty’ outside the shop houses. Recognise the street?
Nicholas Jennings sent us these – showing Freda, the wife of J A S Jennings (Editor of Times of Malaya).
Freda with her friends at the Ipoh Race Course
Freda playing billiards at the Crag Hotel, Penang
What fashion trends were popular during YOUR time? Did you attempt the ‘Jackie Kennedy’ look? Or perhaps you had a pair of ‘Saturday Night Fever’ pants? 😉
Here’s the 4th installment in IpohBornKid’s series. The picture (circa 1958) shows a little boy in brand new clothes – specially worn for Chinese New Year. In the background is the Man Hua Primary School.
Episode 4 -The 12 Grand Children of Chong Soon Fan
Celebrating Chinese New Year & the Ang Pow trail By IpohBornKid
This article describes the memoirs of the first 12 Grand Children of Chong Soon Fan where most of them had lived together and grew up together. The events mainly took place in the bungalow, the house of Chong Soon Fan in Menglembu, opposite the Man Wah Primary School in the late 1950s to early 1960s. Not long after the 1963, the elder Grand Children of Chong Soon Fan began to study in tertiary institutions. All the 12 grandchildren have either studied abroad or are now residing abroad.
Chinese New Year (CNY) was an important event in the family. From the children’s point view, it was a time to get something new and cash from the ang pows. In those days, the family did not spend too much money on new clothes or shoes and that only occurred during Chinese New Year.
During the eve of CNY, the family gathered together to have a reunion meal. Married daughters usually brought their husbands and children back to Menglembu, the headquarters of the Family of Chong Soon Fan. The cousins living in Menglembu, would anxiously wait to see their cousins from interstate. After the family meal, done in 3 batches of 12 were taken, the grandchildren would play with each other and renewing their relationship with each other. The night also led to the praying to the heavenly god (Tian Gong) around midnight, led by the matriarch of the family.
On the first day of CNY (Lin Chor Yat), it was a tradition to remain at home and not visit relatives. The visiting of relatives or the beginning of the ang pow trail started on Day 2 of the CNY. Hence on Day 1 morning, all grandchildren would line up and greet the Patriarch “Kung Hee Fatt Choy” and in return, each grandchildren was given an ang pow. In the 1950s, each ang pow contained a crisp new one dollar note. The sons and daughters of Chong Soon Fan got more than this and it was never revealed to the children who got what. It was not polite to ask.
Later in the morning, the Lion Dance troupes would arrive. They came to take the “green”, (a green “sang chow”) with the ang pow tied together. The Lion would first come into the house and bow to the God that was in the dining room and then back tracked to the front door. Firecrackers (big ones) were lit and this time, the Lion would take the green which was hung under the porch. The grandchildren will then wait for the next Lion Dance troupe to come.
On the second day of the CNY, the whole entourage of grandchildren in 2-3 packed cars did the customary route to get rich from their relatives. Most of the visits were to the sons and daughters of Foo Choon Yit, ie. the Matriarch’s siblings. Great Grand Mother (Mrs Foo Choon Yit) was first on the list (including 6th & 7th Grand Uncles) in Greentown, followed by 1st Grand Uncle (Foo) in Belfield Street, 2nd Grand Aunty(Lim) in Greentown, 3rd Grand Aunty (Khoo) Greentown, 3nd Grand Uncle (Foo) in Gopeng Road and 5th Grand Uncle (Foo) in Jalan Pasir Puteh.
In some years, the grandchildren also visited Grand Uncle Foo Yet Kai, a cousin of the Matriarch. At these visits, the grandchildren were well dressed and put on a good behaviour to show the relatives that they have manners. After saying the magic words, the ang pows flowed in and went straight into the pockets. A smile emanated from ear to ear. After all, the grandchildren appreciated cash and it was the only time of the year where you can get cash without doing any work. Cash was not the only things that the kids got from their relatives but food and soft drinks (F&N stuff) went into their hollow legs. Third Grand Aunty was best known for her “western” baked cakes.
Prior to New Year, the whole family were involved in making crispy wafers which wrapped like a fan (keuy ban cake – in Hokkien). Firstly, the cars were removed from the garage, a piece of metal roof was place on the concrete floor and hot charcoal was laid on the metal. A metal grill was put on top of the charcoal to allow the frying pan to rest above the burning charcoal. The pan was a special design frying contraption made up of 2 metal piece joined together like a set of pliers. Each had a 6 inch diameter round pan with etched patterns and was joined to a metal handle about 2 feet long. The two pieces were joined together next to the rounded pan which could be opened and closed by pulling the handles apart or together respectively.
After initial heating of the pan, it was opened and a scoop of flour mixture was placed on the pan. The pan was then closed by putting the 2 handles together and the excess flour mixture (with fresh coconut milk) ran back to the mixture container. The flour mixture was cooked in less than one minute with the frying pan turned once over. The pan was then withdrawn from the charcoal fire, opened and the cooked flat rounded cake (soft and ‘malleable when hot) was placed on a flat surface where someone would then wrapped it into a fan shape by folding it twice. If you were not careful, you could burn your figures. The cake hardens when cooled and it was tasty (coconut flavour) and crispy.
As an aside about working for money, one of the senior grandchildren told me that he was earning good cash buying wholesale cigarettes and selling it to the Uncles and Aunties who smoked (profit -$1 per cartoon of cigarette – 10 packs). He also said that as a courier in the number rackets (before they became legitimate), one can get 10% commission for every dollar gambled.
Gambling was “verboten” (forbidden) for the grandchildren but this ban was lifted during the 14 days of the Chinese New Year. Everyone in the family played the cards (except the Patriarch) and two games were usually the favourite, the 3 cards or 21 points. Winners were happy but losers were miserable, but that’s life. Some of them were careful gamblers and set a budget for losing no more than $5.00 for the gambling season.
Aside from gambling, the male grandchildren were allowed to drink some brandy. In the early 1960s, one young and foolish teenage grandson challenged his uncle (a regular drinker) to a duel on the brandy. He was knocked out after consuming half a bottle of brandy and he was out for the rest of the day. He was so sick that day that he vowed never to get drunk ever again.
Some of the traditional New Year rules about ang pow were followed. Only children and unmarried adults get it from their seniors whilst married people got to pay to all their nieces and nephew and unmarried junior siblings., There were also auspicious rules about the sum of money, in the ang pows, and preferably with similar double digit, ie. 2x20c, $1.10, $2, $8 or $10. The gross intake per grandchild averaged $20 (big money!). What was left in the pockets after Chinese New Year went straight into the children’s bank account and most of them had an account with Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank in Belfield Street, Ipoh. You were not allowed to have those dollars burning a hole in your pocket.
The children of relatives also came to pay respects to the Patriarch and they also received ang pows. The other popular pastime was lighting fire crackers. Cheap ones were little firecrackers and sparklers but the big ones were expensive. They were all made in China even till today.
Familiar? Looks like a street near your neighbourhood? Could this place be outside Ipoh? You tell us.
We thank Nicholas Jennings for sharing this photograph with us.
We’ve noticed that the past few blogs have prompted our fans to talk about the good food in Ipoh.
Artistic angle aside, if you look at the above picture closely you can see some ‘work’ in progress – yes, folks….the man is making Popiah!
There isn’t much background in the picture, but perhaps someone recognises this stall? As for the Popiah lovers, has your favourite dish changed over the years?
As a kid, I remember the ice cream van driving around my neighbourhood on certain evenings. You know the ice cream man is coming just be keeping an ear out for the distinct music which plays on a loop. Oddly enough, I was actually afraid of the music….and if I were out in the garden, I’d freeze and just watch the van drive pass! (maybe it’s because the music reminded my of the creepy carnival music from the movie IT)
But there were occasions (when an adult was outside with me, thus giving me an ounce of ‘courage’) when I would run to the gate and wave to the driver. I never paid attention to how much the green-coloured ice cream cost, but I loved the taste 😉 Yes, folks – lime flavoured green ‘shell’ with a vanilla centre!
This picture here, from Keith Nelson, shows a smiling man in a topi, with a Magnolia Cold Storage box on a bicycle. How many of you remember this? We’d love to hear from you.
IpohBornKid shares his 3rd installment with us. Happy reading 🙂
The picture showing the first 12 grandchildren of Chong Soon Fan was probably taken in 1957, during the Chinee New Year. The location is the bungalow, the family residence of Chong Soon Fan. The background building with the tin roof is the Nanyang Picture Theatre where the daughter of Chong Soon Fan was married.
Among the grandchildren, the eldest grand daughter and grandson came from the Pun family. Ranking in seniority among grandchildren were as follows: SFPun, YFPun, SLPun, (FWong,SLian Pun, YV Chong, PL Khoo – all same age), YW Chong, KC Khoo, YF Chong, KO Khoo, YT Chong.
Among the first 12 grandchildren of Chong Soon Fan who now resides overseas are Dr SF Pun (US), Dr SL & YF Pun (Australia), SLn, F Wong, YT Chong & YW Chong (UK) , KO Khoo (Canada). At the moment, Dr SF and Dr SL are proud grandparents., More 5th generation babies will be popping out soon. After the first 12 grandchildren, many others were born after the picture was taken and at last count, there were additional 3 residing in UK, 1 in Canada and 4 in Australia.
Among the 12 grandchildren there can be found graduates in Medicine, Science, Law, Engineering, IT,Teachers, Nurses and Businessmen.
I would like to invite those of you who are featured in this photograph to give your side of the history. Later chapters in this series will talk about a day in the life of the Family in in early 1960s, the other grandchildren and the golden wedding anniversary of Chong Soon Fan.
The number of grandchildren residing overseas reflects the sad picture of Malaysian brain drain to the Western countries since 1950s but it also reflects the global spread of the Chinese diaspora in Western countries.
Nicholas Jennings sent us these pictures some time ago. They were said to be taken around the early 1960s.
Nicholas (with Bintang, the family pet), together with his mother Joyce, his sisters Alison and Christina, and Ramah the nanny.
The Amah and her 3 children
Nicholas, who once lived at 141 Jalan Abdul Jalil had this to say:
Amah was our house cleaner, while her husband was our cook. My family was extremely close to our servants–they really were like family, especially Ramah (I remember fondly the times that Ramah took our family to her family’s kampong for homecooked Malayan meals). But we sadly lost touch with them when we returned to Canada. It would be wonderful if, through the portal of IpohWorld, we might be able to reconnect with them all these many years later.
Anyone who could tell us MORE about these women, Nicholas (and we at IpohWorld too!) would love to hear from you 🙂
This picture is from Ralph Khaw, who was the drum major in the SMI Cadet Band. This was taken in 1970 at the Perak Stadium – the Ipoh Combined School Bands. Among the schools which participated were SMI, MGS, and Perak Girls’ School. According to Ralph, either Raja Perempuan School or Poi Lam took part as well.
Do you guys remember this event? It wasn’t that long ago….I’m sure some of the band members remember 🙂
This photo was taken on 17 December, 1967 during SMJK Poi Lam’s school visit to Nanyang Siang Pau office. The two lady teachers were dressed in their traditional Chinese cheongsam. The girls were wearing their white sleeveless blouse and black skirt uniform while the boys were all attired in their white short-sleeved shirts and shorts. This was the uniform common for all Chinese secondary schools then. The new school uniform policy was implemented in 1969. From that year onwards until today, female students from all types of secondary schools in Malaysia are required to wear the white blouse and turquoise pinafore uniform while the boys their white short-sleeved shirts and olive green long pants.
We thank Veronica Woo for the picture and the short story.
To all our Poi Lam Alumni out there…..do you remember this school trip? Do share some of your memories with us 🙂
Chapter 2: The Children of Chong Soon Fan – by IpohBornKid
In a previous Ipoh World blog which I now called Chapter 1, (http://www.ipohworld.org/?p=3342), I wrote a short biography of the late Chong Soon Fan, JP, who was the Penghulu of Menglembu. As a Menglembu village headman, he was well respected and despite his wealth, he stayed in Menglembu with his fellow villages instead of living in plush suburbs of Ipoh.
In the picture above taken around 1939, was a family photograph of the patriarch with his children (Photo -courtesy of Mr Chong Yong Fook, a grandson of Chong Soon Fan).
Among his sons, the eldest was HC. HC, an old boy of Ipoh St Michael’s Institution followed his father into business. He served as a Councillor in the Ipoh Town Council in the late 1950s during the PPP era. Whilst a Councillor for MCA, his cousin in Belfield Street was a Councillor for PPP, He was honoured by the Sultan of Perak twice.
KC, the second son, was Chinese educated. His father took some of the family members to Daipu, the Hakka ancestral village in Guangdong Province in the late 1940s. For some reason, Kong Chew stayed behind when the family returned to Malaya. During the KMT retreat to Taiwan, KC was conscripted into the KMT army and was on his way to Quemoy Island and Taiwan. He served in Quemoy Island for several years and he used to tell the story of how the artillery barrage started in the morning and before sunset, the loudspeaker from the mainland would broadcast some women pleading for his son to return to the mainland. Of course, some villages made a living out of collecting the metal casings of the artillery shells. KC later returned to Malaya in the late 1950s and married a Singaporean. The couple and their children later moved to Singapore.
WC, the youngest son, attended Ipoh MAS (ACS Afternoon) school in the early 1950s. Of course, the Japanese occupation disrupted many youth from going to school and getting an education, hence there were a lot of matured student enrolments in the old days. WC also worked in his father’s business.
Chong’s daughters, MY2, MO3, MS4, MY5, MH6, and MN8 married into the Pun, Wong, Khoo, Lee, Bush, and Chew families respectively. The youngest daughter MC9 was not in the photograph since it was taken before she was born. She later married to the Poon Family.
Chong’s first son-in-law, a Pun, was an Ipoh ACS old boy (class of 1932) and his occupation was an electrician working in the tin mines. Wong was a school teacher in Yuk Choy High School Ipoh. Khoo was in the Police force and retired as a Superintendent. Lee was a former Ipoh Council worker and later became a successful businessman. Bush was an UK engineer and he worked in Malaya for a few years before returning to UK. Chew was a university graduate from Taiwan when he met MN8, a fellow graduate. He was a school teacher in Yuk Choy High School and later became Acting Principal in Sam Jai High School, Ipoh. Poon was an Industrial Executive working in the Tasek industry area for many years in Ipoh.
This article has two purposes. Firstly, it is intended to put into history the children of Chong Soon Fan and secondly, to allow the third generation to identify their father or mother in the picture and share their history with the people of Ipoh and beyond. The latter will remove any bias by the author. Chapter 3 will feature a short story on the first 12 grandchildren of Chong Soon Fan. The global Chinese diaspora is well known and who would have guessed that the grand children of Chong Soon Fan are now part of this global phenomena. Other Chapters will follow.
This is Mano, with part of the cast from the movie ‘Anna and the King’. (Mano played ‘Moonshi’ in the movie)
This picture was taken on location, back in 1999, and we were wondering: WHERE are the ‘Royal Children’ now? Recognise any of them? Or maybe you recognise yourself here?
We’d love to hear from you!
IpohBornKid would like to share something about the Cole Family, who lived in Ipoh in the early 1950s. Happy Reading! 🙂
Left to Right: L/Corporal Cole; the members of the Cole Family (the dark-haired boy is probably Brian)
L/Corporal Cole was a British Servicemen stationed in Ipoh and his family was given living quarters in Pasir Puteh, Ipoh in the early 1950s. Brian, a member of the Cole family, was friendly with his neighbours in that area. In particularly, he befriended the Hooi family, who runs the Hooi Chew Motors in Pasir Puteh. He mingled with them and often ate at their house. After 1957, most British military personnel returned to UK after independence and Brian returned to UK with his family.
A few years ago, Brian made a trip to Malaysia and to his credit and perseverance; he finally found the Hooi Chew Motors in Falim (Jalan Lahat) and renewed the old links with them. Brian left a contact number behind when returned to UK. One of the Hooi family daughters recently went to UK and looked up Brian, who is living in the vicinity of Bath Spa, England (east).
Brian remembered his stay in Ipoh very vividly and he has kindly provided some family photographs of the Cole family living in Pasir Puteh. To be able to meet up after half a century of absence and separated by a long distance, is indeed a miracle. It is hoped that other Ipoh people resident in that area during the 1950s would remember the Cole family in Pasir Puteh.
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.
Do they look familiar to you? (Or, perhaps you may be one of the children in the picture?)
This picture was said to be taken in Kampar. In the background is Weng Heng Aerated Water Factory. Is the factory still there, maybe under a different name? Or, has the premises been bought over by another company?
What do you Kampar folks think? We’d like to hear from you 🙂
Nostalgic flash back in Ipoh ACS – The little park in the site of the current Carpentry Shed 1953
by IpohBornKid
Prior to the erection of the Carpentry Shed, there was a little park of green grass with a middle line of trees, one of which was a frangipani tree of nearly 12 feet tall. The park was bounded by a bamboo plant fence parallel to Lahat Road, the main entry road to the Ipoh Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) Main Building, the impenetrable fence (south) and a deep grassed slope (west). On top of this slope was a School Residence (see illustration above). From the park looking towards Lahat Road, you can see the Hindu Temple.
Some students waited in the park to be picked by private transport. Many activities occurred in that area within a space of 30 mins after school.
When a piece of leaf from the palm tree was found, it was everyone’s favourite to do “bob sledging” down the steep slope. You climbed to the flat top, position your bum on the end of the wide leaf (bark side), move it on the edge of the slope, and with one shove, you make a quick descent to the bottom of the slope. It was a cheap thrill. Sometimes, your pants could be severely stained if you accidently slide off the leaf and continue downwards without it or you simply fell off.
The frangipani was a source of entertainment and prankish behaviour. One day, whilst I was sitting under the tree for shade and was waiting to be picked up,I felt something wet dripping on my head. My hand reached for the spot and felt wetness. I inspected my fingers and found the wetness was caused by a sticky white liquid. At first, I thought it was bird shit but the consistency and the smell (rather sweetly) eliminated my first guess. On looking up the tree, I discovered that the latex from the tree was dripping on my head. What a sigh of relief because if that was bird poo, it was considered unlucky and to reverse the curse, I would have to buy lollies and shared it with my friends. However, I did remember seeing someone known to me, had climbed up the tree as I was sitting down. He had cut the bark of the tree (or carved a grove in the bark similar to tapping rubber). The latex then flowed to the opening and when it accumulated, gravity did the rest. It was the “dripping latex on your head” trick. I had a fight with him then but we remained friends.
After learning the trick from him, I was able to do it to another person. You climbed up the tree and waited for the next victim to sit in the spot where the cut in the tree would result in the latex falling into his head or body. All you need is a good pen knife. All bad things can be learnt from ACS boys if you are willing to learn.
The little park is only second to the ground below the gymnasium for fighting. Many scores were settled in the park after school. It was a good place because the teachers were busy preparing to go home in the teacher’s office and the park was unsupervised. I had cut lips, sore arms and black eyes during my early primary years. As a young boy with classmates 2 years older and bigger, you need to defend yourself when they dislike you being more intelligent than them or you being the teacher’s pet. Or they were just bullies. Once you have established that you can fight back and not necessarily win the fight, you have gained their respect and they will not touch you again. The motto “I can bleed all over you” .was a principle that we smaller beings lived by in ACS. Despite these fights, we were all friends in the later years and we seem to have forgotten our past disagreements.
My maternal uncle attended the afternoon school in ACS called the Methodist Afternoon School (MAS) with Mr Wong Wai Lam as the Principal. He parked my Grandfather’s green Vauxhall near the little park and he had the driver’s window wound down so I could use the horn to summon support if the boys tried to wallop me. His classroom was in the Main Building where he could see the car from where he sat. Fortunately, I did not use his service because I was able to take care of myself.
The ice-cendol Indian man always came and parked his tricycle store in the front lawn between Lahat Road and the bamboo fence. If I had 10 sen in my pocket, I would also get a bowl of ice cold cendol. Very tasty and when I think of it, my mouth watered. As boys we were curious to investigate whether there is any truth in the matter about earthworms at the bottom of the cendol pot. The Indian man obliged us by scooping out the green cendolwith his large spoon and declared “see, no earthworms”. We were satisfied. I found out the truth whilst I was overseas when the discussion of the earthworms in the cendol pot started again. Yes, there were earthworms but they were carefully wrapped in a white piece of cloth and it sat on the bottom of the pot. Some said that it reduced the chances of the coconut oil in the coconut juice turning rancid, ie an anti-oxidant. Believe it or not!
One last comment on the bamboo fence – there were no fighting spiders living there but you can make a single note flute by pulling a young shoot of the bamboo and pulling other joints out and use the one part with a leafy stem. You can make a single note by either blowing into it or sucking it. Another old ACS boy trick.
I believe the fence on the south boundary did have some spiders (fighting ones). True or False?
P/S Does anyone remember the rabbits that were kept at Horley Hall, adjacent to the railway line?
In a previous blog, we featured an ‘old’ merry-go-round. Well, here is what a see-saw looked like back in the 50s.
This picture (sent a long time ago) is from Anne and Dennis Marsden of the UK. It was taken at a Christmas Party at an orphanage somewhere in Ipoh.
The Americans termed it “The Witches Hat” by IpohBornKid
Introductory quote from:http://tstbob.blogspot.com.au/2009/12/walk-down-memory-lane-to-dangerous.html
“No; I’m not talking about those sterile plastic lysol-sprayed hunks of crap nestled in a bed of rubbery soft nerfy flooring. I’m talking aboutreal playgrounds. The kind we grew up with, the kind that mangled us and taught us life lessons. Playgrounds deemed too dangerous for today’s wussy youth, which sadly have become a thing of the past.”
The most awesome contraption in the ACS Ipoh primary school playground was the carousel-like equipment and in the US, it has the name “Witches Hat”. It was located adjacent to the monkey bars in the Primary School (Heritage) building in the 1950s. The equipment was built up of 2 circular metal rings (diameter 4 metres) welded together by 400 cm straight metal bars which gave 8 slots. The welded circular bands were suspended by metal rods/or chains (6-8 of them) to a central iron pole which lifted it to about 1 metre above ground but not too high so that a young boy of six can jump up a bit and grab the bottom circular ring . The design was very similar to the one illustrated in the picture above.
There were two possible motions of the witches hat. It can rotate horizontally with the axle represented by the large iron pole and it also swing (yaw) from side to side. The angle of the swing was about 45 degrees and this maximum was reached when the circular ring touched the central pole.
To get on the witches hat, one had to jump a little bit to grab the lower ring. The next step was to grab the upper ring. With your hands firmly on the upper ring, you lifted your body up and move one of your foot in between the two rings. With both legs in, you were then able to sit on the lower ring and your two hands holding the upper rings tightly. Not long after you have settled in, the boys on the ground will rotate the ring and if you did not hold tight, you will be thrown off by the centripetal force to the ground and be injured.
For the more experience boys, they can do two things. First, they could stand up on the lower or upper ring with their hands holding the suspending chain.At the same time, they could also swing the ring (yawing motion) and tried to hit the axle pole thus making a clanking noise. Just imagine the horror when you were a novice on the ring. The rotating ring would tried to throw you off whilst the swingding action would pulverise your legs. Whilst the ring was swinging, you had better get off or you stand on the rings.
Secondly, as the ring rotated, boys can be seen hooking their legs at the bottom ring (like the trapeze in a circus) and loved the thrill of being swung around with their face outside the rings and arms hanging down.
The witches hat was not designed for swinging and yet ACS boys found a way to intimidate younger novice on the witches hat by frightening them off the ring. Hence, swinging violently and increased velocity of the spins was a way of the “king” of the witches hat.
I fell off a few times when the violent swings and rotation started. If I had remained, I would have injured myself. Six months later, I was standing with the “kings” defying their attempts to throw me off.
An American experience is very similar to those experience in Ipoh ACS:
The idea behind these was simple – you and a friend (or multiple friends) grabbed opposite ends of the ring and ran in the same direction until you got whipped off the ground. Of course, that would be too easy; so instead you always tried to pair up people of very different sizes for each side, so it would be off balance and one side would be flown up in the air from the other people’s weight. Another important lesson in physics; often followed by a lesson in first aid.
Looking back, the witches hat was quite tough playground equipment. It looked innocent enough but it was not. It took courage and determination to stand up in the ring and most of the time, the bigger boys controlled the motion of the ring. That was rough and tough ACS playground equipment. Today, I still maintain that the witches hat was an awesome piece of playground equipment which was not designed for duels of supremacy but ACS boys found a way to make it more interesting. It was almost a jungle then – survival of the fittest. Lastly, it is definitely an American import since ACS was founded by American missionaries.
Here’s another set of photographs from the Macduffs, taken in the 1950s (before they left Malaya).
This one shows the boys’ handicap race; Ian is said to be the boy standing 3rd from the left, while Ian and Sheila’s father – Ken Macduff – is the official in the far right (the one with the unique hairstyle).
The picture on the left shows the children standing in line, waiting to use the diving board. The picture on the right is probably the Macduff family.
These were sent to us by the Macduffs (Ian and Sheila), who also shared some memories of what the Ipoh Swimming Club was like back in the 50s.
Sheila tells us that the sketch of the four boys on the programme cover was done by Pat Power. We are not too sure of the identity of all the boys, but from left to right: Unknown; Ian Macduff; Unknown; Anthony Shuttleworth. Perhaps someone will recognise the other two lads?
From the comments we’ve been getting on the previous posts about the swimming club, we’re glad that some of you have met up with some long lost childhood friends! That’s one of the most satisfying aspects of running ipohWorld. Hopefully these and some more from Sheila, yet to be posted, will link more of you. 🙂
This was sent to us some time ago by Sybil de Roquigny-Iragne. I must say, those shop houses in the background seem familiar! Recognise them?
On a different note, taking a break and relaxing (like the youths in the picture) at parks/open spaces in Ipoh was once a luxury…..sadly, some of our parks/gardens are now disappearing….. 🙁
We have here Nigel Jennings, together with Cedric, Harold, his mother and aunt.
What we’d like to draw your attention to are the toys at the bottom of this picture! Notice the pedal-car, the steam engine and the Meccano set 🙂
I confess to having played with a pedal-car in my younger days; what was YOUR childhood like?
We thank Nicholas Jennings for this lovely picture.
Aaron Ong sent us this photo and said:
“Just want to show you pictures of a model tower crane I made with Meccano. Those are my kids beside the model.
The boom of this particular model tower can swivel via a manual hand crank, and the trolley (with the yellow wheels) can traverse (run along the boom).
The hook is a heavy lead hook with quadruple pulley system to engage heavy loads and can be actuated via electric motor with reduction gear, (the red box at the other end of the boom).
While kids these days have loads of virtual fun with their ipads and computers I too had loads of real fun with my meccano, besides honing my engineering skills.”
Thanks Aaron.
Here we have a picture of Nigel Jennings on the verandah of Rose Cottage in the Cameron Highlands. He is wearing a green blazer and cap both sporting a school badge. We would love to know which school this was.
Inserted in the picture bottom left you can see the badge is an “S” and then a “T” or a cross amd possibly an “M”. No prixes except that you have helped Nigel remember and enhanced our site with more information.
Incidentally, Nigel was born in December 1924 so this photo is pronbly from the early 30’s.
We look forward to your comments.
The Konkey Game played in Ipoh & Surrounds
By IpohBornKid
Introduction: When the X generation was growing up, they did not have affluent parents who would buy them toys, hi-fi sets or computer games. They relied on their ingenuity and played games that cost nothing. These games were usually played in the open air about 3 pm onwards when the sun was not so hot and the breeze was blowing. In the weekends, it was played in the morning until 11 am and later in the afternoon.
In those days, there were abundant flat sandy soil or grass covered areas in vacant building lots and the compounds of the village houses. Children whose neighbours (aged between 6-12) were played together and they developed a strong bond among themselves. They grew up together and as they matured into adolescence, another generation of young kids took their place. It was healthy outdoor exercise and the parents were never worried about what their children were up to because they played with the children of their friends or neighbours.
The Game: The “Konkey” (name derived from English word “Donkey”) game is a team game similar to cricket. Instead of bat and ball, it has two sticks, diameter around 2.5 cm or less, and the long stick (LS) is about 50 cm in length with the short stick (SS) about one third of its length. The LS is equivalent to the bat and the SS is equivalent to the ball. In cricket, the ball is bowled by the bowler and the batsman defends his stumps with his bat. Similarly, in the Konkey game, the opening player launches his SS with his LS from a trench in the ground and he defends his trench with his LS.
Before the Konkey game starts, a trench is dug on the ground about 20 cm long, 5 cm wide tapering on the ends, and about 4 cm deep. Two sticks as described above are used as bat (LS) and ball (SS). The SS is placed on the ground across the trench and is launched by the LS. The most effective way to launch is to place the LS in near the front of the trench and below the SS. You can change the angle of launch by moving the LS left or right. Usually most launches are perpendicular to the SS. Pushing the LS into the ground, the launcher lifts his LS and propels the SS up in the air. This is called launching the SS (ball). Please refer to schematic diagram.
The game begins after two teamsare selected and a toss to see which team launches (bat) first. The launch team stay behind the trench and the field team spreads out in the field and strategically position themselves to catch the SS.
The first player in the launch team prepares himself to launch the SS with his LS, The launcher lifts theSS in the air and generally puts it in a direction where there is no field player to catch it. When the SS is caught by a field player, the launcher is out and the next launcher in the team takes his place. The team is all out when they have exhausted the launcher (all bowled out) and the points are totalled.. (See point scoring next). If the score is less than 100, the team change sides and the field team become the launchers.
\When the field players failed to catch the SS, it falls on the ground. At this stage, a field player will pick up the SS and attempts to throw the SS back into the trench (trying to hit the stumps) with the launcher defending the trench (like a batsman) with his LS. He can whack the SS stick whilst it is still in the air. The field player can try to catch it. If they did, the launcher is out. If not, the distance between the position of the LS and the trench forms the basis of points scoring. Using LS as a measuring rod, the launcher scores one point for each length of the LS measured. The score is cumulative for the team.
If the first measure is not taken,the launcher can ask for second throw. This is only safe when the SS is a considerable distance from the trench. The rule for the second throw is the same as the first throw. If on the second throw, the SS is caught, the launcher is out. If SS is falls on the ground, the distance between the SS and the trench is the basis of point scoring but this time, the SS is used as a measure. Hence, on the second throw, the point score tripled (since one LS is 3x the length of SS).
On reaching a 100 points, (arbitrarily agreed target points), the launcher team wins the game. However if all the launchers are out and the score is below 100, the team changes sides and the game starts again.
The penalty part of the game varies from village to village, town to town. In one version, the winning team player holds the SS in one hand, drops the SS and whack it with the LS held by the other hand. One of the player in the losing team then picks up the SS in his hand and runs towards the trench. As he is running, he has to say “Konkey, konkey, etc. all the way to the trench whilst the winner player gently whack his bum with the LS, After the penalty, the game starts again,
As we do not have any photos of Ipoh youngsters playing marbles to illustrate the following text from ipohbornkid, I have used this one courtesy of wwwyeohongeng.blogspot.com. Perhaps some of our readers can help us out with similar photos from Ipoh or Perak. And how about some stories about other childhood games please.
Definitions
Marbles – made of clay and fired in an oven with average diameter of 2-2.5 cm. Average cost 12 marbles/10 cents
Glass marbles – made of glass and with cat eye inside win average diameter 1.2 cm-1.5cm. Cost 20 marbles/10 cents.
Goondo – Your top shooting marble usually twice the diameter of your ordinary marbles.
HL- A longer horizontal line drawn in the sand with a stick. Usually, HL is drawn parallel to a wall in front of it so the marbles cannot travel too far.
SL – The starting line where all players shoot with their goondos. The SL is about 1 metre away from the HL and parallel to it.
TM – Targetmarble. This marble is nominated by other players (in a consensual way) for the shooter. It is the targeted marble and you need to hit it to win.
Shooter – A player who is allocated the chance to shoot his goondo towards target marble.
In this article, the game involving horizontal lines game with HL & SL, is described.
HL game – The HL line, about a metre long, is drawn on the sand and is closed by two vertical lines at the ends. Another shorter line is drawn about a metre down from the HL and is the starting line where the shooter’s foot should not cross.
The game starts when each player puts in one marble into the pool and each player has a “goondo” (slightly larger than the pool marble) but it is his top shooting marble.
This is followed by a group determination of the order of player’s turn to shoot. The first shooter then takes all the pooled marbles and placed in the palm of one hand, kneels with one foot and places his front foot behind the SL. He then throws the marbles with the aim to get a good spread of marbles above the HL. Marbles straying out of the boundary defined by HL vertical lines is re-launched singularly.Some marbles may fall behind the HL. When the launch is complete, the other players get together and make a decision about the target marble and the shooter has to strike that nominatedtarget marble) with his goondo to win the pot. Sometimes, the use of a small marble is allowed. However there are complicated rules to observe before he can win the pot. On striking thetarget marble with his goondo, the main rule states that there shall be no collision with any marbles in the pool by either the goondo or the target marble. A penalty is applied and when that happens, the player pays a penalty of one marble and loses his turn to shoot. If he wins the pool he continues to be the shooter.The game continues then with the next shooter after a penalty is paid.
Tactical hint: The target marble is chosen by the other players and usually has a high degree of difficulty in avoiding the penalty. You will be surprised who much Physics can be applied in this game. Seasoned players intuitively know the angle of attack and can predict which direction the marbles can go (just like shooting pool). Hence, the shooter has to decide the launch direction of his goondo (using his left or right hand and stretching his arm to form a wider angle of attack; the elevation of launch is another factor whether it is necessary to hit the target marble from the top. Finally, the force applied (the inertia) for the launch is an important factor. In summary, the direction, height and force of the launch is calculated in your brain and this information is transmitted to the arm as instructions for the required trajectory.. So, don’t for one minute think that those boys playing marbles all the time are not academically inclined but they are a bunch of de facto little scientists calculating complex equations forthe required trajectory.
The naming of the target marbles can have their roots in Malay and English languages. For example the word “Yau” (Malay – Jual, pardon my Bahasa) describes the target farthest from the HL. For younger players this is a difficult task because of the distance and the power of the shooter’s trajectory.
The targetmarble that fell below the HL is usually called “rue” (English “roll”). A target marble can also be sitting on the line. In these types of targets, you will have to “roll” your goondo and hit the target. If the shooter rolls his goondo and collided with the target marble, he wins the pool when the collided marbles do not cross the HL. It can sit on the line. When either marbles cross over the HL or hit another marble in the pool, the shooter incurs a penalty of one marble and loses his turn.
The game becomes more interesting when the target marble is slightly positioned above the HL. The opponents can then place one goondo on the line but not touching the target marble. To win this game, you need to strike the target marble without colliding with the opponent’s goondo on the HL and other marbles in thepool. When the target marble is slightly above the HL, the opponent can put his goondo on the line without touching the targeted marble. Thus the goondo can be placed just in front of the target marble or adjacent (left or right) of the target marble. The shooter has to strike that marble without hitting the opposition goondo and not colliding with any other marbles in the pool.
There are other difficult targets to shoot at. For example, when two marbles on the ground are vertically aligned or closed to each other, the marble nearest to the shooter becomes a difficult target. Under the circumstances, it is highly probable that the target marble would collide with the marble in front of it.
The winner can take home 30-40 marbles in a game. If you do not have a pouch, you will damage your pockets as they are heavy. Many trouser pockets were damaged by holding too heavy winnings.
There is second variation to this marble game where a circle is drawn in the sand. There is also a third game where players chase each other’s marbles.I would like readers to fill in these variations with their memories and also comment on the major marble game.
Spinning top game is very rich in language especially in Bahasa. There are also complex rules and Bahasa phrases to learn when you want to play spinning tops with a circle drawn the sand . The game of “Konkey” (English – Donkey) was played with long and short sticks. This was a popular game then in 1950s. The game of Bat and Ball required an empty lot among residential houses.
The reasons for the wide popularity of these games in the 1950s were the availability of sandy patches of land (or vacant land) surrounding residential houses (particularly in the new villages), it did not cost heaps of money and you have no shortage of players.
Remember these tiles and the hours of fun you could have with them? It is believed that this game originated in China, during the 12th Century. In the early 18th Century, it was introduced in Italy and eventually the rest of Europe became engrossed in the game. Dominoes are played today all over the world – there are also annual tournaments held in certain countries too!
This game needs NO introduction! I was told that playing this is almost similar to Gin (but I stand corrected, since I’ve never played Mahjong before). What kind of indoor games did YOU play?
We thank Thomas Lee for these lovely pictures 🙂
Lam Lai Meng sent us this 1967 picture of some MGS girls painting a 3-panel mosaic like mural, on the wall above the Principal’s office. The mural is said to depict women in various occupations. The Teacher standing on the far left is none other than Mrs Vivian Chong.
To the MGS Alumni reading this: Recognise yourself in the picture? For those who have not seen the aforementioned mural, here’s a preview (picture below).
…that this was Pasir Puteh back in the 1960s? Yes, take a GOOD LOOK at the pictures below 🙂
Shops with zinc roofs.
Mercedes Benz Bus, Ipoh Omnibus Co.
These pictures were provided by Mano, while SK gave us a little write-up:
Mano stayed at No 7, New Pasir Puteh & LMS 136 further down the road at 94, New Pasir Puteh. I stayed in 429A, New Pasir Puteh behind the row of shops hidden by the trees. Dont know if this was the ice kachang stall. LMS136 moved out from here in 1958, Mano in 1963 and me in 1966.
The Sundry shop, Tong Huat which was opposite Mano house diagonally had a coffee shop where the coffee shop owner had a shining bald head like marble top. We used to have coffee there & my father would pour the coffee onto the sauce plate for us to drink as it would get cooler & faster this way. Lat drew this in his cartoon. I liked the noodle & the bean curd pieces which was wrapped in mengkuang & fish paste ( foo peh ) Just in front of Tong Huat Sundry Shop , there was a man selling a round pan kueh made of flour, margarine & grounded nuts ( Tai Kow Meen ).
Opposite the road would be a bicycle shop where we watched the Black & White TV of Man landing on the moon. This is the part I am not too sure. It stated the 1st landing on the moon was July, 1969 but I recalled it was much earlier. Unless it was something significant, maybe 1965 or 1966 as I shifted to Jalan Pasir Puteh, near Jalan Pasir Puteh School in 1967. I remember standing outside the bicycle shop with my brothers & neighbours watching the event as only a few household had TV & this one was for public viewing unlike now where public viewing is catered for football fans in mamak shops.
Coming to the date of watching landing on the moon on TV in front of the bicycle shop, since it was July 1969, which I had left New Pasir Puteh, it could be the first American man that came out from the capsule walking in space then.
NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration … the Gemini 4 mission on June 3, 1965, Ed White became the first American to conduct a spacewalk. This was more likely. I was still in 429A, New Pasir Puteh.
On the left side of Tong huat, after a break road from Tong Huat, was this factory making Coconut Candy. Remember the ice ball which cost us only 5 cents. The ice-seller would roll it & put the sugar coating & at times, she would put some read beans inside the middle. If we sucked the coating too fast, we have to throw the ice ball away as the sugar coating had not reached the middle. Yeah, I think the Indian Shop owner was a shame to cheat young boys. Next to the shop was the barber where we cut our hairs. I think there was one Indian grocery shop along the same row.
The end shop Picture No 1, there was a corner bungalow with a big compound occupied by a Malay Family. One of the daughter’s name was ” Puteh”. There was also a small road leading inside Lat’s Kampong & in that row of houses, which was where the Ham brothers lived. (The Fabulous Falcons)
All these were gone when I visited these places a few months ago. A complete change & if Mano picture had not captured it, that moment would be gone with the wind.
…pictures such as this one make your mouth water! 😉
Yes, these people are ‘paying tribute’ to the King of Fruits in their very own kitchen.
On a different note, observe the background – the different containers/jars which were once found in (almost) every local home.
We thank Charlie Choong for this picture.
Not too long ago, I received an e-mail which talked about the simple things in life. The e-mail ended with the phrase “Life was simple when Apple and Blackberry were names of fruits”. Hence, when I saw the following pictures (below) from Charlie….
…..I began to wonder: what was life like back then? Do boys (maybe some girls too?) still go fishing with their dads/buddies? I know in some housing areas, the common padang is almost empty (save for a few kids on their bicycles). To the youth out there – what is YOUR favourite way of passing time?
We know him as Rocky Teoh – a Taiping-born lad who loved singing and entered many talent contests. Shown here is the front cover of his album, which features two of Rocky’s famous songs: ‘There’s Always Me’ and ‘Crying In The Chapel’. Rocky and the Fabulous Falcons have performed in Cathay Organisation Theatres throughout the country; they even toured Thailand back in 1965 too!
Has anyone seen Rocky and the Falcons perform LIVE? I’m sure these boys had their fair share of screaming fan-girls (and boys too?) 😉
And to the members of the Falcons – we’d LOVE to hear from you!
This picture was taken back in the 1950s – around 1952/53. I wonder how many of our Readers out there remember this antique radio. Don’t forget the cabinet which this radio is sitting on! I’ve been to houses where such cabinets are still in use; also take note of those miniature liquor bottles too 🙂
And what about that television set behind this lovely lady? Could it have been a PYE set? What other unique deco can you spot?
This is yet another gem from Huey Foo’s collection, which has been lent to us so generously. The lady in the picture is Huey Foo’s aunt who once lived at Pasir Puteh, Ipoh.
This cute picture is from Shuen Huey Foo, of Ipoh. Recognise this place?
The signboard in the background says “Taman Didekan Kanak2 Wesley, Pasir Pinji, Ipoh”.
I’m guessing this was probably in the early 1980s (could be wrong, though). Is this kindergarten still around? Was it another branch of the Wesley Kindergarten along Lahat Road?
You tell us 🙂 Perhaps, someone in this picture remembers his/her face and could tell us more?
The top picture is said to be Form 5 Science, back in 1967. The bottom one is the Anderson School Library Prefectorial Board, also from 1967. Do you see yourself in any/both of these pictures? We’d like to hear from you – perhaps tell us a tale or two about your years at Anderson School, Ipoh 🙂
We’d like to thank Lai Wai Mun for these two pictures.
We received these interesting pictures from Ralph Khaw (from Perth, Australia). He also emailed us a short explanation for the above pictures:
“I can’t remember the date of the singout organised in MGS , involving students from MGS,ACS,SMI. I played a small part as a member of Choir. The teacher singing is Eddie Chin,teacher of MGS. One of female lead singer is Lim Siok Kim.( who later became my
sister-in-law and now residing in St Albans,UK). Miss Devi was the teacher and conductor/director of the musical “Sing-out”. A few months later it was performed in KL, due to its popularity but can’t remember the hall /venue. I can’t remember the name of the other female lead singer. The songs were from Oklahoma, and a few musical plays.
According to Ralph, he was also in this choir (back row, top from right). Anyone remember this singout? It couldn’t have been that long ago. Perhaps, some of the singers are reading this now? DO tell us MORE about this singout 🙂
Our donor Chooi Lau Fai had this to say, regarding these pictures:
“Both photos were taken in either 1952 or 1953. The scout master was Mr Sohor. The first photo was taken on the Iskandar Bridge on our way to the Istana Kuala Kangsar. The second photo was taken in the grounds of the Istana. Back then, some of us did not even have the money to buy scout uniforms.”
All you Scouts out there, what were YOUR memories like? We’d like to hear from you 🙂
Note: The students in both photos were said to be from the ACCS (Anglo Chinese Continuous School), later known as the Methodist Afternoon School.
What is so special about the GLCM that it deserves a write up? Well, among the Christian churches in Ipoh, the Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, and other denominations all have Anglo-Celtic influence but the Lutheran has German influence. Secondly, GLCM carried out its missionary work in the tin mining villages south of Ipoh. Thirdly, they provided an essential medical service to the people. There was only one GP in Menglembu doing private practice and he could see up to 80 patients a day. Hence, in 1957, the congregation, medical and missionary work of GLCM (herein the “Church”) began in earnest.
I came to be aware of the Church when I was in Std 6 in ACS Ipoh and I was familiar with the Christian teachings given by the Methodist Church in the school. The year 1957 has a special significance that Malaya was granted independence from British rule. It was a birth of a new nation and era.
The Church bought the premises where Lahat Road bends to the left and directly opposite a saw mill. The building was a former school house for Man Hua primary school which moved to the new “Regrouping Area (North)” opposite the house of Chong Soon Fan.
My elder sister became part of the Church youth group in the late 1950s and I can remember some of the youths at that time. Notable membership of the youth group came from the Leong family, namely Seng Yap, Seng Kee, Seng Mee, Wan Yoong and included the eldest Leong daughter who was a school teacher at Man Hua Primary School in Menglembu. Their mother, Mrs Leong, a giant pillar in the Church elder group, and was also the driving force behind the activities of the Church. Other names like Eva & her younger brothers, Esat & his brothers, Ng Tong Seng, Soong San, the Wongs (Ah See, Ah Look & her pretty sister, Wu Yan Poh, Ah Siew etc. Eva, a very pretty girl, was the organ player. Most of the youth group were in their senior high years. Seng Yap and Seng Kee graduated as Dentists whilst Seng Mee and my sister graduate with medical degrees. All these people were went through Form VI in ACS Ipoh.
There were, among the Church leaders, very interesting personalities. Pastor Koch, was the first Pastor of the Church that I remembered well. Sunday morning service was conducted in English and the evening service was conducted in a Chinese dialect “Hakka”. It was a curiosity then to observe a European reading the Chinese language bible and preaching in Hakka dialect. Pastor Koch lived in the bungalow constructed at back of the Church and opposite the Wong’s residence (whose son is now an elder of the Church). Of course, Koch is a German name. It was no coincidence that Hakka was the chosen dialect because most villages in Menglembu and south were predominantly Hakka villages.
Another unforgettable person was Dr Helmut Difenthal, a German trained physician. He was accompanied by his wife and young children. They spoke German in their residence but he was able to communicate in English and Hakka. We once went to a Kledang Hill hike with the Church group and, with his tall stature and military training he literally marched up the hill leaving us behind. Dr Difenthal later confessed that he was a conscript in the German Army near the end of the WWII, and if it had continued, he would have joined the “Panzer” division (tank brigade).
Dr Difenthal was a very dedicated medico who was ever engrossed with his work with hook worm infestation. Most of his free time was spent on the microscope looking at specimen collected in his village run for hook work infestation. Sometimes, he got in trouble with his wife for immersing himself in his work. I believe some of the youths were influence by him to do medicine and medical related work. He was a good role model for unselfish dedication in improving the health and hygiene of the local population. It is sad that he had to depart from Menglembu when his research work conflicted with the findings of the Health Department, in terms of the locality and degree of infestation of hook worm in the local population. He was sadly missed by all who had been in contact with this “saint”.
In my days with the Church, I was regarded as the naughty one (kuai chai) and was hell bent in the game of disruption. For example, I would fall asleep during Thursday night bible class and that had created some embarrassment for my elder sibling. I remember that the bible study class was conducted by an elder called Mr Chong, a no nonsense and strict personality, and obviously incompatible with me at that time. Maybe I was too young to be in the youth group because I believe they were too serious, studious and matured for me. However, I did have my usefulness in volunteering to go on missionary work in the southern mining towns from Lahat, Pusing, Jelapang, etc. I would accompany the driver on the small truck where the piano was loaded at the back. On arrival at the site, the Church people would start handing out milk powder to the villages followed by a sermon. I had no idea then why they were handling out milk powder and now, I believe it had two purposes, one to improve the nutrition of the babies in the villages and second to attract an audience to hear the gospel. There was also the travelling medical team to provide much needed medical services to the villagers. The outdoor evangelistic activities suited me more than serious bible study.
In my younger days, I was almost incontrollable. In desperation, my family decided to farm me out to live with the Leong family hoping they will influence my determination to perform better in school. I stayed with Seng Mee for 3 months prior to doing the Senior Cambridge and I managed to pass the exam. I did not have the opportunity to thank her in person but in my heart I am very much indebted to the Leong matriarch for her kindness and care. There was also a brighter side to my association with the Church that I was allowed to assist in the teaching of Sunday school for the young children.
The most unforgettable incident was a Church outing to Kampar swimming pool. Everybody enjoyed themselves except me. Barefooted, I managed to step on a bee and got stung. It was excruciating pain. The nurse, a kind European lady gave me a shot of anti-histamine in the Church clinic
The Church did played an important role in the development of the community in Menglembu. Besides a spiritual role, it has kept a steady influence on its youth group, encouraged academic excellence and kept some of the “gangster” influence out of the group during a period of gangster activities in Menglembu. I write this piece of history so future generations of youth and congregation would not forget the pioneers and particularly, the significant contributions made by Mrs Leong, a kind and gentle lady with a strong commitment to the Church.
Note: The photograph of the Church Women’s Group belonged to the author’s mother who was a member of the group. It dates from the mid 1960s.
IpohBornKid shared this little story with us through email. Here’s his take on a memorable outing. Happy reading 🙂
Convent Girls by demand – at Kledang Hill
Many teenagers walked up the Kledang Hill in the 1950s (see previous blog). It was a good natural outing where a big group of Menglembu neighbours and their Ipoh friends would joined in for a group picnic, exercise, dancing and friendship. Food and sandwiches were locally prepared at home (not bought) and they would be taken uphill by strong young men (or those who wish to impress the girls how strong they were). Most of them would be in their junior high school (Form i to III) with some in Form Iv and V. My friend Captain (or Major in the Malaysian Army) Teoh Hoot Aun, an ex-Ipoh ACS boy and queen scout, would be one of the leaders. He has probably retired by how. Yes, he did married a Convent girl. I was only junior but had an eye on all my elder sisters’ classmates.
Here is a group photo of convent girls, some from Falim and Ipoh who ascended the Kledang Hill for a picnic dance. This group of people were very keen to learn modern dances (cha cha & the rest) and they used to go to Ipoh YMCA or YWCA on Saturday nights. I can name a few, viz. Poh Yin, Soni, Yoke Fong and hope your readers might be able to identify themselves or others. The location was the first waterfall in Kledang Hill (note the water rushing out of the bridge tunnel. Happy Memories.
AP@IpohBornKid
Ah yes! MORE pictures showing Ipoh’s pretty lasses 🙂
For those of you who are wondering, this picture was taken at the Tambun Hot Springs – sometime in the early 1970s.
A special thanks to Sophie for this picture. Sophie, if you’re reading this: are you in this group? Could you tell us the names of these lovely lasses?
Any idea WHO is the gentleman giving a speech (picture above)? What about the other man next to him?
I’m sure we have some scouts who are reading this now…..were there frequent gatherings like these in Ipoh? If so, do tell us more. What about the building in the background? Was it a common meeting place for the scouts? I know the Girl Guides sometimes meet at the Wisma Pandu Puteri, opposite the Jalan Abdul Jalil field 🙂
Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to you the 1969 cast of ‘My Fair Lady’ – a Michaelian Production of course 😉
Did any of you catch this play? Give us a little review….
Better yet: Were you one of the actors? Or, were you one of those involved in the production (doing the Set / Make-up / Costumes…etc.)? Is the Director of this play here in Ipoh? Maybe you could share some memories with us?
Calling all alumni of ACS Kampar!!! 🙂
When did THIS happen? Are YOU in there somewhere….?
For those of you who recognise the uniform, yes….this is indeed part of the ACS Kampar school band!
Enjoy the long awaited Episode 4 recalling UV’s many ‘adventures’ during his career as a teacher!
EPISODE 4 – TEACHING IN AND AROUND IPOH
Teaching is not essentially academic in nature. It involves an overall development of the child. A teacher is not only expected to teach subjects offered by the school but also to train the child to adapt to society. This can be achieved in many ways, from being a personal example to being involved in training them in games and guiding them in activities related to clubs and societies formed within the school.
In MGS Ipoh, the excellence in ensuring students giving their “Utmost to the Highest” is ensured by not only maintaining a high standard of academic achievements but also to excel in games and other social activities. In this episode, I would particularly like to highlight sports and games.
It is most common for men teachers in all girls’ schools to be assigned to training the students in games. The late Mr. Teh Chin Seong was assigned not only as the Sports Secretary (a job without extra pay but lots of extra work) but also to other activities like being a coach in the various games the school was involved in.
I was not exception. The very first year I started work in MGS Ipoh, I was assigned as the softball coach. Softball was not a game that many schools in Ipoh were involved in. There were actually only three schools initially taking part in competitions in 1968. They were St. Michaels, Anderson and MGS Ipoh. Those were the schools participating in the girls’ competition. Later, more schools joined in. St. Michaels and Anderson had girls teams because they were Sixth Forms schools with girls.
That year, MGS Ipoh was to chair the Competition Committee of Softball for the Central District of the Perak Schools Sports Council. This was before the new system of Malaysian Schools Sports Council was established. Then Perak was divided into 3 Zones, Northern, Central and Southern. It was the responsibility of the school to organize competitions for the Central Zone. Unlike now, Principals of chairing schools were not the chairpersons. The teachers of the games were! Thus it was that I, as a greenhorn chaired the competition committee of Softball for Central Perak that year.
It was a simple task as there were only three girls team and two boys teams involved. What a game to be involved in to learn the ropes. That year, Saint Michaels came out champions. I wonder how many of those players of the three teams are still around Ipoh today. I would love to hear their comments. MGS Ipoh’s team was thrashed that year. That made me very determined to improve the team’s performance the following year and intensive training took place.
In the years that followed, softball team of MGS Ipoh became strong and it was not uncommon for us to beat teams with scores like 10 – 0, 20 – 0 and even once 70 -0. This happened because many new school teams started entering the competition, among them being Raja Perumpuan Ipoh, Menglembu Secondary School, Perak Girls School and a few lesser known schools like Sri Intan and Sri Puteri. SMI and Anderson continued but their girls’ teams could no longer dominate the game. In the early seventies, MGS Ipoh’s softball team was the strongest in the state. However, strong opposition started coming from Nan Hwa Sitiawan and eventually Ave Maria Convent, Ipoh. The latter would eventually be a school that dominated softball in the 80s, 90s and even today.
Eventually I qualified as a State Softball Umpire and also a National Softball Umpire and did my duties in various games conducted all over the country. My involvement in Softball saw me being appointed as the Kinta District Softball Technical Chairperson, the State Coach for the Softball School boys and girls team and being involved in the organisation of various softball competitions in the State.
When I was in Sam Tet, I assisted the school coach in training the boys too. This school team was the strongest in the State of Perak for a long time. However, when I was promoted as a Principal I was sent out of Kinta District to Kuala Kangsar District and I stopped my softall activities. I hung up my mittens, gloves, bat and mask for good. However, the years of demonstrations of softball skills to players caused me to suffer from wearing out of both my hip joints and knee joints. Recently, I had a bilateral hip-joint replacement and need to go for knee joints replacement soon.
The role teachers play in promoting sports is vital to the nation. It is a pity that so few teachers take this role seriously and learn to be good at doing this task. Through the years, with neglect by school teachers who are not fully qualified in the games they are assigned to and the lack of interest in this task has resulted in the deterioration of the standard of sports in Malaysia. Teachers, lay the foundation for sportspeople of the nation and if the foundation is weak, everything after that would be flimsy!
click on picture to enlarge
Today, we’re featuring the Form 5 Class of 1966 – from Ave Maria Convent, Ipoh.
Do you recognise them? Are YOU in this group? I’m sure we have some former students reading this 🙂
Somewhere along Chamberlain Road, Ipoh…..there is a Post Office. The picture here is what the post office looked like in the 1960s – we think it’s the 1960s, since there is a car parked on the far left, bearing the number plate AC 8426 🙂
From the picture, the main mode of transport in those days was still the faithful bicycle (notice the stands outside the post office).