Believe it or not, the Pasar Besar in Ipoh New Town isn’t that ‘old’! This early 1900s picture (taken from the Kinta Valley book) is quite unique – has there been that much change since Towkay Yau Tet Shin built this place?
I’ve noticed that those large rattan baskets are still in use today….
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.
Ok, maybe not the people in the picture…but how about the bikes?
Recognise the models? Bonus question: does anyone know the building in the background of the second picture?
Back in the early 1900s, Hoot & Company were “direct importers of motor-cycles and tri-cars” (more can be found at our database). I wonder what has become of this shop lot today? It is also interesting to note that while Hoot & Co operated at No. 93 Belfield Street, their neighbour at No.95 was none other than Hinode Photographer.
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.
No, this is NOT a product of Photoshop!
There was a ‘Parkson Ria’ shopping mall in Ipoh, somewhere in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Does anyone remember it? Did it close because of the fire….or before the fire broke out?
[ For those of you still wondering, let me put you out of your misery – yes, this IS the famous Lam Looking Bazaar 😉 ]
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.
Yes, folks. THIS is what the Kampar Police Station looked liked. This picture was taken by Mayfair Studio, back in 1956. I bet the Kampar-folks would have a story or two to share with us! 🙂
NEW PHOTO OF THE KAMPAR POLICE STATION (picture courtesy of Rafique)
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. 🙂
These lovely ladies (in sunglasses) look REALLY happy! Could it be because of the ‘diamonds’? (see below)
I really can’t tell what they’re trying on/ or what they eventually purchased….but I do know that this scene took place at none other than the famed Soon Yik Goldsmith shop!
Well there was one man at least in Ipoh who was very much into it, particularly ‘Kung Fu Karato’. He was known as Leong Fu and he lived at 119 Anderson Road, Ipoh. Not only was he into the art, he was the world champion, having fought in all parts of the Kung Fu world and beaten all comers. When he retired he did so as the unconquered champion of the Kung Fu world.
Subsequently in 1947 he produced a massive book describing the many moves that an exponent needs to learn. Here is the cover and a part of the title page of that book for your viewing.
This, truly a giant book, lent to us by Charlie, measures 10 x 12 inches and is 2.25 inches thick, with hundreds of drawings of the different stances and moves needed tp be practiced. Despite its size, it sold all over the world as is shown in the last few pages by a wide range of letters and photographs of people who benefitted from the publication. Leong Fu clearly put Ipoh on the world map!
Now the question is how can we obtain a photograph of the King of Kung Fu Karato? Does anyone know his family or have a photo we could scan? We really need to feature Leong Fu on our history database as there is no doubt that he made history.
We look forward to hearing from you.
From what was written at the back of this photograph, we know that:
Any Lions Club members out there? We’d like to know MORE about this event.
PS: does anyone remember WHO the Menteri Besar of Perak was that year?
Sent to us by Norman Doctor from the UK, these aerial shots were taken in the 1950s. The shots were probably taken during the routine supply drops.
Does anyone out there recognise these forts? There aren’t that many clues, but we’re hoping someone out there knows a bit more about these places.
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….. 🙁
Yes folks, your eyes are NOT playing tricks on you – that IS an F&N bottle on the rooftop of the Lam Looking Bazaar! This form of advertising seemed quite common back then; there was a similar bottle on the other side of the rooftop (front part of the building) – which can be viewed here.
We thank KKFoong for this picture 🙂
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.
Were you part of the Hash House Harriers? This group picture (from Thomas Lee) was taken to mark their 600th run, back in July 1976 – when the Harriers finished their Kulim-Ipoh run.
Do they still have such runs today? Any HHH members out there like to tell us MORE?
Ruth Rollitt updated us about the moving of the golf club from Golf Club Road to Tiger Lane in a previous blog http://www.ipohworld.org/?p=3056. She also sent the following photographs.
Her comment that went with these photos said:
“When my father (B M Iversen) arrived in Ipoh in 1930 he was working for the firm of architects:: Keys & Dowdeswell. One of the projects he was working on was the renovating of the Ipoh Golf Club. I attach a photo of the club as it was then – from one of my albums. The other photo? Not sure?
The following year the firm folded and my father started up his own: B M Iversen – architect.”
So it seems that the original post http://www.ipohworld.org/?p=3056 was correct and the buildings shown were at the Golf Club Road site and around 1931/1932 moved to Tiger Lane and rebuilt with significant improvements by Ruth’s father.
Does anyone recognise the second photo as being part of the Royal perak Golf Club today?
Y K Choong sent us this photo in October last year and it went on the the pile called “Must do site visit”.
Well this morning I actually got out to Jalan Theatre in Pasir Pinji to find that nobody 25 years old or less appeared to have ever heard of the place. However an aged Chinese gentleman in a little wooden shack pointed out the large square indoor badminton court building that stands on the theatre site today. This was opened in 2004.
So, with apologies to Choong, here is his photo of what I think was the concrete projection room of the otherwise wooden theatre.
Does anyone remember anything about the Mayfar Theatre which I understood from this morning’s conversation showed Chinese movies.
I received the following picture and message by enail. I know many of you tried to help Nicholas find his grandfather’s grave. Well done everybody particularlu Law Siak Hong who did a great service for Nicholas and his family.
Dear Ian:
Some good news. Thanks to Siak Hong Law, my grandfather’s tombstone was not only located but restored. Hong, who I met through IpohWorld, very kindly arranged to have the stone’s inscription re-painted, so that it is now perfectly legible. Time and weather had almost completely washed away the lettering. After meeting great resistance from the cemetery’s owners, Hong, through much persistence, was finally able to convince them that this was a job worth doing.
Not sure if you’d like to post the attached photo taken by Hong, but if you do you can tell readers that the grave and its refurbished stone can be found at the Christian Cemetery on Jalan Tun Abdul Razak (formerly Connolly Road). The cemetery is west of the railway line; east of the line is the Anglo-Chinese School.
And to think that all of this was made possible thanks to IpohWorld! Thank you.
Best, Nicholas
Nicholas Jennings
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,
This picture (from Thomas Lee) needs no explanation. Steamboat restaurants have mushroomed around the place (there is one barely 1 km from my house!) and at a glance, these restaurants are often packed. What I’m curious about though is HOW/WHEN this dining experience began in Ipoh.
This is the house that was taken over by the church from the mining company French Tekka on Tambun Road for the original Novena. Designed by my father pre-war. It was demolished and a hotel stands where it once graced Tambun Road.
Such were the words of Ruth Iversen Rollitt (daughter of the famous Danish architech B M Iversen) in a recent email. The above picture was said to be taken sometime in the late 1930s (I’m making a rough guess, say 1938 perhaps?). Those of you who remember this building BEFORE it was demolished, do tell us more 🙂
We’re proud to annouce that we have another picture of this church, courtesy of generous parishioner 🙂
Seems like this picture was taken during the church’s annual Feast Day. Can anyone guess the year?
A while ago, we featured a post about the on-going ‘renovations’ of the Station Gardens. So far, we’ve heard no news about what’s going on behind those boards. Has there been any progress lately? If anyone has noticed anything, do let us know.
In the mean time, here is a 1950s picture of what the gardens used to look like. Picture by Ruth Iversen Rollitt.
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.
Have any of you seen this product before? I wonder if such products are used by Martial Arts students/instructors today – perhaps they use a different brand? This one was produced and distributed by F & L Medical Hall and the bottle bears the warning.
“For external use only.
Keep away from
FIRE or FLAME.”
This is a close-up of the man featured on the box of the training lotion. What interests us as the pictures were in the Foo family album. Could this have been our donor’s father from Pasir Puteh?
We thank Shuen Huey for these pictures 🙂
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 🙂
This picture was taken on 28th September 1922! It was in conjunction with the birthday of Confucius.
Does anyone recognise the shophouses in the background? There aren’t many clues, but perhaps someone out there knows WHERE in Ipoh this is?
Here’s a rare picture of the former Post Office (behind the Ipoh Town Hall). Notice the stalls beneath the shady tree – and the crowd of patrons too!
We thank Ruth Rollitt for this gem 🙂
Charlie reminds us (#13 below) about Savings Stamps and immediately Hasbi sent us these scans. Thank you both so much.
I never cease to be amazed and fascinated by how well our readers support us. We are so glad to have you all with us. Thank you.
These pictures were sent to us by Lam Lai Meng, an Alumni of MGS.
This first picture needs no explanation.
The second picture was taken at the Regal Lodge, Ipoh. This large group met on 16th of February 2010, during the Chinese New Year period.
Lam had this to say about this picture:
“CNY 2010 photo – no. 4 and 5 are husband and wife teachers Mr and Mrs Ho Ho Chuen. Mr Teh Chin Seong is no 6 and his wife is no. 7. This could possibly be one of the last photos of Mr Teh before he passed away a few months after Feb 2010.”
Are you somewhere in any/both of these pictures? Do point yourself out….and DO tell us about this reunion!
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).
This is the other end of Leech Street. On the left is the Sun Cinema (yes, the SAME Sun Cinema that our local cartoonist Lat drew in his cartoons!). Does anyone know the building on the right?
We thank Ruth Rollitt for this rare gem 🙂
We received this picture from a STAR Alumni. The donor of this picture also gave us a list of the marked places in this picture.
Marked in green:
1. Tiger Lane (Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah)
2. Dairy Road (Jalan Raja Muda Mahadi)
3. Sekolah Izzuddin Shah
4. Pejabat Kaji Bumi & Minerals
5. Canning Garden
Marked in red:
A. Entrance to STAR at Tiger Lane
B. Administration office, Hall and Class rooms
C. Industrial & Science Labs, Library
D. Sixth Form hostel
E. Remove Class hostel
F. Green House hostel
G. Blue House hostel
H. Black House hostel
I. Red House hostel
J. White House hostel
K. Yellow House hostel
L. Dining-hall
Those of you who pass some of these roads/places often can testify that SO MUCH has changed over the years 🙂
These pictures were taken at the Opening Ceremony of Hock Wah Tin Mining Co. in Sungkai, Perak. The opening was on 23rd February 1967; seen here cutting the ribbon is none other than HRH Sultan Idris Al-Mutawakkil Alallahi Shah, the then Sultan of Perak.
Our donor, Emily Lowe (www.emily2u.com/), gave us some names. In this second picture, from left to right are: Ho Mee Wan (the girl in the white dress), Ho Choon Wah; Dato Shaari bin Haji Wahab (Comptroller of the Royal Household, Istana Iskandariah, Kuala Kangsar); HRH Sultan Idris, and his consort Che Puan Negara Perak (carrying a checkered handbag). Standing behind the royal couple is Dato Ron Boxall (a Planter who worked in Sungkai).
Update: Emily sent us another picture taken at the opening of the mining company. back in 1967. This picture shows Dato Ron Boxall bidding goodbye to the Royal Couple – Sultan Idris and his consort Che Puan Negara Perak.
More of the famous car driven by Sultan Idris. Special thanks to Emily for the latest update 🙂
This is the front cover of the STAR school commemorative book – published by the Old Boys Association of Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Ipoh. This book came out in 2007, to mark the school’s 50th Anniversary.
This picture shows the very first batch of teachers – way back in 1957!
STAR alumni out there, we’d like to hear from you! 🙂
We would like to express our thanks to the STAR Old Boys Association for gifting this book to the ipohWorld library.
…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.
Some time ago, some of our Readers talked about the ‘Novena Church’ along Tambun Road. Here are two pictures of the said church, taken during the annual procession.
The ‘Novena Church’ moved to a new location in the early 1970s – now known as the OMPH Church in Ipoh Garden. The building at Tambun Road has been demolished and on the same plot of land now stands Heritage Hotel.
Can anyone tell us which year these pictures was taken? We’d also like to know more about the church/event…..also, if anyone has MORE pictures of the actual building (interior/exterior) do let us know.
Those liviing in and around Lim Gardens would be familiar with this school (see picture below).
Yes, it’s none other than Tarcisian Convent – which was yet another ‘sister school’ of the HIJ Convent.
We don’t have much about this school, so if anyone out there knows more we’d love to hear from you. Maybe you’re a former student/teacher; if so, do share your memories with us! 🙂
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?
During the past weeks we’ve had hints about an up-coming reunion for the ACS and MGS Alumni. Here’s the official advertisement.
As stated in the poster, this event is scheduled for the 4th of August 2012 at the Grand Valley Ballroom, Kinta Riverfront Hotel & Suites. The party, themed “Friends Forever”, kicks off at 6pm. Spread the word, folks 😉
For reservations and more info, do contact: Ms Lim (05-2532882); Mr Chow (012-5283212); Ms Yau (012-5125693); Ms Doreen (019-5103270).
I had a brief ride around Old Town this morning to see what was happening. I couldn’t get any photo or update on the Railway Station Gardens as they are still hidden behind tall blue fencing. However apart from the Cenotaph and the Ipoh Tree there seems to be nothing of the gardens left. Not a great welcome for the tourists in “Visit Perak Year 2012!”.
Then I wandered along the road to see the Birch Clock Tower Garden renovation. What a surprise – as although it is unlikely that anything has been done to preserve the two statuues, Justice and Fortitude from falling down (see http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/2012/03/01/ipohs-virtues-in-danger/) the tower has been repainted Black and White.
Although that may be approproiate ……… Black and white stands for mourning and cheerless occasions. For example, traditional garb for a funeral is black and white. Black for the loss, and white for their passing onto the heavens, ……… I must say I don’t like it, but then again I did not like the pink either, much preferring the 1909 odiginal version which was all-white. Clearly I am a traditionalist.
By the way, could someone suggest (again) to Datuk Bandar that he gets the clock working.
As you can see the gardens have not progressed too much either. Sigh, maybe they will be ready to celebrate the successful (?) end to our special tourism year.
We welcome your views.
We’d like to draw your attention (away from this lovely couple 🙂 ) to the large signboard in the background. Yes, it says ‘Tanjong Rambutan’ in 4 languages! Similar signboards are very hard to come by these days. I do wonder: is this particular signboard still there?
Incidentally, this picture was taken at the former TR railway station. Rumour has it this station will soon ‘disappear’ as Perak continues to develop……..sad but true 🙁
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!
The Perak Motor Club‘s history goes back as early as 1907. The popularity of the club can be owed to the “large numbers of European tin miners and rubber planters and the ubiquitous, wealthy, mining Towkays” in Perak – who ‘contributed’ to the vast number of motor cars in the state. This picture was taken during the Tapah/Cameron Highlands Time Trial, which was one of the many events organised by the club.
From the number plate (PK 6207), we can deduce that this was before the war. Note how the passenger leans out to the side as the driver takes the corner; this is done to balance the car as it turns.
Sometimes, the driver can’t really control his car…..as this second picture shows. (We hope both the driver and his passenger escaped unharmed)
Such races did go on well after the war (you can read a little about Tom Wilson’s experience here). Does the Perak Motor Club still organise such events? Have YOU witnessed/taken part in any of these events? We’d like to hear your views 🙂
These pictures are from Yeoh Lam Swee
To the alumni of NTPS Pasir Puteh: does this (picture below) ring a bell?
The lady seated in the front row is none other than the ‘elusive’ Mdm Chow. How many of you remember her? As SK (our donor) told us, Mdm Chow keeps a ‘low profile’. Nevertheless, I’m sure her students will always remember her dedication and patience in ‘shaping’ the future leaders. 🙂
Sometime ago, we featured a Unique Wedding photograph on our blog. Well, IpohBornKid has sent us a copy of the certificate from that wedding (see picture below).
IpohBornKid was also kind enough to give us rough translation too:
The long awaited sequel to the Wedding Photo is here.
In this marriage certain, the following translation is available.R1 Mr Pun Su of Qing Yuan, Guangshou Province
R2 Aged 31 and date of birth details
R3 Miss Chong Ming Yet, Dapo, Guangzhou Province
R4 Aged 24 and date of birth details
R6 Organised by Mr Yang and Mr Qiu (pinyin)
R7 Date of Marriage ROC 32nd Year May 30th
R9 (top) Place of Marriage Zhong Hua Cinema (Menglembu)(pinyin)L1 ROC 32nd Year May30
L2 Host of Marriage Mr Chong Soon Fan (father of the bride)
Mr Pun Choy (brother of the bridegroom)
L4 Witnesses
L5 Marriage Couple signaturesThe answer name of the marriage couple, date of marriage and place of marriage were recorded.
We thank IpohBornKid 🙂
Suffice to say, the picture explains it all 🙂
I especially like the doll attached to the hood of the car (which is rarely seen today). Well IpohWorld fans: do you remember YOUR wedding car?
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.
…..folks in Ipoh witnessed the 9-Goddess Celebrations. The procession passed through one of Ipoh’s busiest roads, back in 1982/83.
As you can see in this picture, they are passing by the Perak Chinese Foundry Association (building on the left). Anyone have any idea about the other building in the background – the one under construction?
Here’s another picture of the procession.
In this picture you can see the crowd standing at the sidewalk. And for those of you who (still) don’t recognise this street – check out the building on the left: yes, it is none other than the Times of Malaya building!
We’d like to thank Shuen Huey Foo (of Ipoh) for these pictures 🙂
….that the first Elim Gospel Hall was built in 1920? As the assembly increased in number, a bigger hall was needed – there was also the idea of having separate halls for the Chinese and English speaking assemblies as well.
The picture we have here is of the first building (1920) which was built by none other than C H LaBrooy. Made of half wood and half concrete, the building was later torn down in 2002 to make way for the Chinese Assembly Library, Office and Conference Halls.
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?
Today we’re featuring the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, which is along Silibin Road. Long before the idea of a church in Silibin came about, the needs of the Tamil Catholics of Ipoh were taken care of by visiting missionaries of St Michael’s Church. Later on, more families began to settle towards Silibin area – thus the need for a proper building for Sunday worship rose. More on the church’s history can be found here.
This picture shows the first building, way back in 1905.
This 2010 picture shows the church as it stands today. The picture was taken from the ‘Bernadette Centre’ – a new building within the church grounds, which consists of the church office, classrooms/meeting rooms and more recently a Heritage Gallery. The Heritage Gallery, which is open from 10am to 5pm daily, has a unique collection of memorabilia dating back to the early 19th Century.
For more on this gallery, the following web links may assist you:
http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/2011/12/21/churchs-heritage-gallery/
http://www.heraldmalaysia.com/news/Heritage-Gallery-opens-at-OLOL-10605-2-1.html
We’d like to thank Alexandar for the photographs and the above links.
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.
But can anyone tell us when they will open again please. The world misses this famous hostelry which has been closed for restoration since 1 March 2008 – almost 4 years!
But what a night the 29th February was – the last night. Were you there?
By the way, for more photos of this grand old building and its history I have just put up a new album on our Facebook page.
Photographs kindly supplied by Weng Ong Lee.
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 🙂
Yes those were the days when popping round the corner to buy a few groceries was a pleasure for there was always a friendly face behind the counter with time to chat. So different to the coldly efficient supermarkets of today.
But what was your corner shop like? Any memories?
Anyone remember this van? Was this the van that delivered movie reels to the various Shaw cinemas? Or, perhaps this van was used for advertising?
We think that the man in the photo is the father of Shuen Huey Foo (our donor). Thanks Huey Foo 🙂
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.
This one should bring back some memories 🙂
Can any of you guess what year it is? What about those in the picture? Were they your teachers? (click to enlarge)
We’d like to thank Shuen Huey Foo, from Ipoh, for this picture.
This picture here was probably taken in the late 1960s or so. I’m just curious: did the clock (behind the little boy) actually work or was it just part of the garden’s landscape? If it did run, is it still there now?
Anyone been to the Japanese Garden lately? Do let us know 🙂
Yes, you read it right! These are the kiddies from the Sam Tet Kindergarten – back in 1980 🙂
See yourself in the group? Maybe you were one of the teachers?
We can’t wait to hear from you 😉
SK drew our attention to this book a few days ago and I have managed to obtain one and thought you might like to get an idea of what it looks like.
Hardbound with 280 pages it is a very nicely produced volume by Rokiah Talib and her team. I am sure many Old Andersonians will love it.
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.
…seen the inside of the Projector-Room?
Perhaps someone out there knows which cinema this is? If YOU are the gentleman in this picture, DO tell us about your experience!
We thank Shuen Huey Foo of Ipoh for this picture.
Sometime back we stumbled upon this advert – with the two dragons and what seems to be a ball of fire between their mouths. I’m no feng shui expert…but I’m sure this symbolizes something good? You tell us 🙂
You read it right, this advert is courtesy of the Odeon! Yes folks, it’s that time of the year again: family reunions, feasting and merry-making, ang-pau collecting 😉 …etc.
We have here a 1967 staff photo from Anderson School, Ipoh. Were YOU in this group? Do you recognise the teachers? We’d be glad to have some names (and perhaps a few fond memories too!) 🙂
We thank Chan Weng & Lim Kok Sin for this photo.
to get a better view, click the photo 😉
This photo was first published in http://p21chong.wordpress.com/?s=anderson+school+teacher+1967
By IpohBornKid
I have been thinking about this snapshot of night stalls in Menglembu in 1957. I wanted to record this snapshot before I get demented. I have been through this In my mind and on many occasions, even in my sleep. I now believe I have got most of it and I wish readers who know Menglembu better than I do, should correct me. This snapshot is based on a map inlaid with description of landmarks, night stalls and old street names.
The main night life in Menglembu had its focus in the intersection Pike Street and Treachers Street. Pike Street (now Jalan Kledang) was the centre of commerce where there were medicine shops (3), coffee shops run by Hainanese (3), drapery & imported goods shops (2), liquor shop (1) and food provisions shops (2). The other end of Pike Street ran into the fresh food market (meat, vegetables, food provisions and food stalls. The Loke and Yap were distinguished families with residence in Pike Street.
The intersection of this commerce spot had street lamps and the four corners of the intersection were occupied by a water repair shop (they also do Chinese medicine) the Chinese Amateur Opera (famous Hong Kong opera stars came from there viz. Leong Sing Poh & Sun Ma Tse); the Wing Kut Fong coffee shop (also sold curry rice & noodles) and the Yap family residence., Another famous Hakka Noodle stall that was doing business in a Pike Street coffee shop (Hainanese) called Choy OnnYuen. This stall was started by “Fei Chai’s” father and mother selling Hakka noodles, towfu and other delicious meat balls. The family business expanded to Treachers Street, south of stall 1 (see reference map). You can get a bowl of rice noodle for 10c and 20c for the egg noodle and each delicious meat ball of towfu cost 5c or 10c. Their chillies sauce was second to none.
Returning to the centre of night life, stall 5 sold iced soya bean milk and leong fun (cost 5c or 10c), followed by a fried noodle stall (6) and at stall 7, is the most famous Menglembu wan ton mein stall ran by a woman. She had a nick name regarding her dental arrangements that I should not want to mention as a mark of respect for her hard work and dedication to her food preparation. Her stall had chicken meat in her won tun. Many cars had to park next to the rubber factory to taste her wares,
There were no much food activities opposition stalls 5-7 but there were usually people doing what we now call “pasir malam” business. But the highlights were the Chinese clog sellers. They would fit the wooden clog on site and nail the plastic arch to finish the product and you can take it home. Clogs were important in household when there was water on the floor. Of course, any ACS boys will tell you that they had practised the art of “fei kek” (flying clogs) to fend off attackers. The Dutch was the only Europeans that I know who us1es them but their products were much more sophisticated, colourful and contoured.
Stall number 1 sold pork porridge and his specialty was the intestines. You can sample it for 5c or 10 c, and as a little boy, that’s all I could afford. The old gentleman, not only sells porridge but also educated me on the Chinese traditional beliefs in birth and death. I asked him why the dead people were given an extra 3 years in their death age and was told me that the heaven, earth and people constitute one year each and therefore 3 years were added. Adjacent to his site were sometimes travelling salespeople who sold medicine or snake oil. Some shows were frightening when they started showing how they could chew glass. Yak! Some of us felt sick after watching him performed. The most famous medicine then was “hoi gow yau ” (seals oil). The drums and the gong attracted a lot of customers. Of course, Mak Fei Hoong , the Cantonese speaking Indian fellow also came with his medicine van. He was very good with his mouth organ.
Stall number 2 is also a won ton mein stall. Stall 7 was too busy for us to get a seat, hence it was better for us go to stall 2. Stall 4, located in Pike Street, sells hor fun (hor hee) and was very famous for his fish balls. Stall 3 was an ice kachang stall and mainly trade in the day time.
On the same street but opposition stalls 1 to 3, Stall 8 was an ice kachang stall with a lot of tables in the back street of the Chinese Maternity hospital. His ice kachang was a bit expensive but you got good ingredients in it and he uses carnation milk. It usually cost 15c per plate (now bowls).,He also used flowery language!
Stall 9 sold “yau yee onk chow (cuttlefish/ganging vege), and rojak which were very tasty and cheap (10c a plate). Stall 10 is a cigarette stall owned by a very old fellow. He sold red tobacco and individual cigarettes for those who could not afford to buy a packet (40c a packet for Rough Rider or 45c for Navy Cut) You can buy the tobacco and role it yourself. Stall 11, was another fried kway teow stall but they did specialise in hot pot. Stall 12 was a daytime ice kachang stall.
Just imagine in those days when you have 20c in your pocket you could get a decent supper. As kids we were not so lucky and we can only save 20c in a week . The quickest way to make 20c was haircut day when you were giving 50c and you went to a barber who charged you 30 c. I had a skin scalp infection and ear infection after visiting one of the cheaper barbers in the market place who were using un-hygienic instruments. I never went back there again.
The final stall, not represented in the map and only trading in the daytime, was the “tai cow mein” stall at the other end of Pike Street, adjacent to the market. The stall was located under the veranda of the provision stores. It cost 5c for 1 piece and 10c for 3 pieces. It is Menglembu’s most famous cake made from flour and caramel sugar.
To this day, I often wondered why I would leave a town like Menglembu and lived overseas and had “nothing” to eat.
We thank IpohBornKid for sharing this with us. If any of you have had the pleasure of tasting the delicious food from the above mentioned stalls……DO leave us your comments! It’s a given: people (me included) from this part of the Peninsula LOVE talking about FOOD 😉
Remember this antique vehicle? This ambulance was apprently donated by Towkay Choo of Kampar, for the St John’s Ambulance (Perak Centre). Does anyone know this generous Towkay?
The next picture (below) shows what was probably the first building – before the present hall near YMCA today. From what we know about the St John’s Brigade in Perak, we think that both these pictures were taken in the 1940s.
We thank Bill Adamson from Australia for these pictures.
Come on Sleuths! I’m sure some of you have seen this unique traffic light (far back) SOMEWHERE in Ipoh 🙂
Know the place? It is at a park? You tell us 😉
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?
1030am at No 5 Gopeng Road. Admission is FREE. The refreshments are FREE! There are books on sale.
See you there!
These were sent to us all the way from the US of A by Ian Latham. They show his father (top picture) and mother (bottom picture), during the early 1970s.
Do you recognise the shop house in the second picture? Where in Ipoh is this place?
Here’s something for the football fans out there!
Did any of you watch this game? Who were these two teams? Where was the match held? We suspect that (given the trees in the background) perhaps this was at the D R Seenivasagam Park…..but we could be wrong.
If one of the players from either team is reading this, DO tell us MORE 🙂
We have here the PCADA String Orchestra. Do you remember them? Perhaps they performed for the public (something like our Malaysian Philharmonic althouh a little smaller)? What’s become of them now?
Yes, this archway was decorated specially for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
Notice the building that says ‘Borneo Motors’ (which is now a restaurant/pub called ‘OverTime’). Brewster Road was rather quiet in those days, wasn’t it? 😉
I wonder…..when was the facade of this archway renovated to it’s present design?
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 🙂
Fancy having your wedding picture taken in front of a cinema hall! That’s what these people seem to have done 🙂
Notice the sign above the entrance which says ‘Malayan Talkies’. To what we know, the former Sun Cinema was the first in Ipoh to screen ‘talkies’ (movies with sound) – which was way back in 1929. On the far right, there is a poster advertising the movie ‘South of Pago Pago’, which was released in the US in July 1940….and that would mean that the movie only made it to our shores towards the end of that year or in the early half of 1941.
Now that we’ve roughly established the year this picture was taken. what we’d like to know is: WHICH cinema this is and WHERE it is?
A special thanks to Charlie Choong for this picture 😉
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?
I see a familiar building (towards the bottom of the picture). Recognise it? What ELSE can you ‘detectives’ see? Come on Ipoh-ians 🙂 put those thinking caps on!
Note: We thank Charlie Choong for this picture 😉
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!
A special thanks to Jeremy (a.k.a. Paloh Chai) for these pictures.
Yes, folks…..this was what Panglima Lane (or Concubine Lane, as some Ipoh-natives call it!) looked like a year ago. 😉
Yes, folks…this is what the People’s Park used to look like in those days!
Here’s a little History lesson for you!
picture courtesy of Mohd Asri bin Rosdi
THE BUILDING OF A MALAYAN JUNGLE FORT FORT KEMAR 1953
By Dennis Wombell
____________________________________________________INTRODUCTION
Browsing one day recently on my computer, I happened to look up Fort Kemar and found a site which describes it as it now looks. I was incensed to see that the site includes a photograph of a monument (taken by Mohd Asri bin Rosdi) in the form of a wall, commemorating the building of the Fort. It is inscribed:KUBU KEMAR
DI-ISTIHAR PEMBUKAAN
OLEH SAS REG
PADA TH 1952
PADA MEREKA YANG
TELAH BERBAKTITranslated thus
FORT KEMAR
DECLARED OPEN
BY THE SAS REG
IN 1952
TO THOSE WHO SERVEDThe Fort was neither built nor opened by the SAS, nor did it exist in 1952 and the following is an account of the building of the fort in 1953 by the Malays of the Malayan Police 18 Federal Jungle Company.
For the second part of this story, click here.
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).
Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to you 99 Anderson Road, Ipoh!
This building was originally owned by Foong Seong. Later, the Cheong family bought it. When the Cheongs lived here, the front part of the building was a men’s hairdressing salon while the back portion was a famous tailors shop from where hundreds of made-to-measure school uniforms would emerge. Any of the old girls remember Mdm Loong Foon Yoong who used to measure all the girls herself?.
The Cheong family then moved away, thus the shop became a computer shop.
This picture was taken back in the late 1970s, when Utama Computer Centre sold Apple Computers. Probably the only Apple Store in Ipoh then – unless you know different! 🙂
What is it now?
N.B. The story of the Cheong family growing up in Anderson Rioad is in the book “Ipoh, My Home Town”.
We received the following by email.
Click photo to enlarge.
A Grateful Participant of the ipohWorld Blog
Cmdr Ian Anderson has brought out the best of every Ipoh person who had participated in the Ipoh World Blog. Despite the diversity in schools, ACS, St Michaels, Anderson etc. Ipoh World participants seems to have a spiritual empathy for Ipoh and are proud of their heritage, irrespective of the social economic background of their parents; whether they were, from the tin industry (from tin mining towkays to the humble dulang washers),, food industry (from big restaurant owners, coffee shop owners to humble fried noodle hawker) , white collar workers (from high ranking public servants to humble clerk) and blue collar workers (from developers to the humble brick layer), One great denominator stands out, ie. They“`all love Ipoh.
In my brief participation with Ipoh World, I came across Ipoh people who currently living in Ipoh, other parts of Malaysia and even overseas. Again, their comments were also diverse, from the very serious comments to the humorous ones. Although some comments may be considered outrageous, they were never offensive.
I have seen many blogs in the net and some of them are extremely political, some are offensive, some are used for propaganda, some are vulgar (in language) and others show extreme views. However, Ipoh world ranks among the respectable, educated, moderate (views) and friendly blogs in the world. Here is another feather in the cap for the watchful eye Commander.
Through Ipoh World, I was able to join in many conversations about Ipoh and at the same time, connected me to some old friends in Ipoh and classmates from my alma mater, ACS Ipoh after a 47 years absence. By reading the blog, I can say that I am not the lone benefactor.
When I was in Ipoh in early November this year, I had the privilege of meeting Cmdr Anderson and his Hakka wife, the ACS Ipoh OBA committee, and speaking to the senior forms of ACS Ipoh. All these activities were made possible through an initial connection to Ipoh World. May I take this opportunity to publicly thank Cmdr Anderson, SY Lee, LMS136, uv@valiant knight, IpohGal, Cheah Tong Kim (Ipoh’s Malaysian Olympic Swimmer& my classmate), ACS Ipoh Principal Mdm Soot and many others who had made my trip to Ipoh really meaningful, nostalgic and worthwhile.
The enthusiasm generated by my last Ipoh visit and the encouragement from the leadership of ACS Ipoh Alumni, has resulted in a drive to form the ACS Ipoh Alumni (Australian Chapter).. For those who are Australian residents, please send expression of interest to acsipohalumniatoz@gmail.com.
A big ‘HELLO’ to all Writers out there! I’m sure some of you have done strange/awkward things when trying to overcome writers’-block. I recall one of my online buddys telliing me that he attempted growing his beard and didn’t shower for a week – just to write about a homeless man! Well, what ever works for you, I suppose!
Some of us don’t usually go to such an extreme 😉 Here we have a 1960s picture of Cedric Jennings (son of Times of Malaya Editor J A S Jennings) working hard on his piece. Perhaps the garden and the tropical climate of Malaya inspired him at some point?
A special thanks to Nicholas Jennings (from Toronto) for this gem. Here we have Nicholas’ father Cedric (holding a briefcase, with some documents tucked under his other arm) talking to a businessman. Anyone knows who this businessman is? While you’re busy with that, can you also guess the building in the background?
Come on ‘detectives’… 🙂
First an SMI Sports Team, but who, which team and when?
And next another SMI Class but that is all we know.
What we really need here on ipohWorld is a greater number of SMI boys to help us. We have lots of SMI stuff which comes under the category of “Unknown”.
Please help if you can.
Remember this company? Recognise this street? Well, this picture was taken around 1961/62……I’m sure some of you remember 🙂
Today, we’ll try something different. Take a look at the picture (below) and tell us what you think! Just out of interest…. the words on the cart say “Japanese Doby FMS Laundry Ipoh”.
Yes, this is a 1963 picture of Shen Jai Secondary School. This picture was taken from a book which recorded the 1st batch of students who sat for their LCE!
Photograph G
And Photograph H
Please, anything you can tell us about these will be helpful. Thanks.
Photograph E. Yes, we need help again please, but this one is quite different, a sports team and trophies but who, when and where?
Photograph F. And now another class – Class 5B. Definitely SMI but we still need some help with who and when.
Please click on the pictures to enlarge.
Both photos were taken on the patio of the restaurant. They had put up the piece of cloth and a screen to hide their equipment.
Now the question is, do you recognise any of these partygoers from 1962. After all, it is only 50 years ago!
Here we have two contrasting Ipoh photographs from Sophie. The first she calls “Dressing for the 1940’s to 1950’s. It is no wonder that Ipoh got the name for having all the pretty girls. Just look at these!
Sophie describes the photo as
“Dressing for 1940’s to 1950’s.
Four young ladies, two of them are sisters. The second from left is my mother.”
And next comes an intriguing old bottle in which Sophie’s father used to keep nails and screws..
But this is where you are reader comes in for try as I might I cannot identify what it once held. Can you?
Sophie tells us;
“The height of the bottle is 4 inches plus.On the side of the cover it’s written ( Do not accept if this band is broken) so I guessed it’s something we can eat.It is Cola Cream not Cold Cream! Hope you can identify the bottle now.”
Here are two more school photos with almost no information.
Again we seek your help please: Which School, Which Class and What Date?
Photograph C. THis one said to be Class 3C, 1971, but which Convent?
Photograph D. Said to be Class 4B but when?
We look forward to your advice.
More to come over the weekend. Keep on looking!
We recently received a batch of 10 school photographs with almost no information. In order to add them to our database archive we really need your help. If anyone out there can identify the school, class and year that would be a great help. If of course you have names that would also be a great bonus. Here are the first two to tax your brains.
In order to help you, please click on the photos to see them full size.
Photograph A
Photograph B
Good Luck. And there will be more tomorrow.
A selection of car grille badges were donated to ipohWorld anonymously, with the message that they should be sold to the highest bidder and the money spent on purchasing rare photographs for our archive. We have put up a series of these on our database starting at http://www.ipohworld.org/search8/result.asp?strid=5657 and there are eight entries in the series. While not all are for sale, if you would like to make an offer for any of those pictured, please send an email to info@ipohworld.org.
Do look for there are some really interesting badges.
Here we have Form 5 Arts 1, of Anderson School Ipoh. The year was 1975, and their Form Teacher was Puan S Koshy (seated, centre). The donor of this picture is Othman Sabirin (seated, second from left).
Here’s a list of names….just to help you out (click to enlarge).
Calling all Andersonians! Do you recognise your classmates? Where are YOU in this picture? Do share with us your fond memories……and perhaps tell us more about your Teacher too 🙂
We have here the 3rd installment of UV’s account….about his teaching experiences in and around Ipoh. Happy reading 🙂
the waterfall at Buntung
Teaching In and Around Ipoh
Episode 3
Teaching is not merely the passing on of knowledge to students. It involves and interaction that is rather complicated. A student learns through various ways. [This article, being mainly for lay people, will not dwell into pedagogical terms but would be using layman’s terms.] Unfortunately, many teachers during my time still depended on the textbook or the ‘chalk and talk’ method. That is, the teacher would write on the board a lot of notes and try to explain and idea by merely talking.
Most of the students will be busy scribbling notes onto pages and pages of their exercise books, word for word and trying desperately to listen to their teacher. Sometimes, the teacher would scribble and talk (facing the blackboard) at the same time. This is when some naughty students will do cheeky things behind the teacher’s back.
Such teaching methods should be obsolete by now but unfortunately old habits die hard and many teachers today are doing the same. Another batch of teachers don’t even bother to write notes, they merely open the textbook [insisting that every child must have one too, if not the child would be punished] and read from it, and from time to time, instruct the students to underline important sentences or phrases. To ensure passes in their subjects, these are the parts they will set questions on during the examinations.
These are teachers that do not prepare their lessons or had done so once [underlining their own textbook so that he or she remembers where to tell his or her students to do so]. For years, until the textbook is changed, they would use this same old textbook [facts may have changed a lot] to ‘teach’!
However, there are others who would prepare their lessons meticulously and bring along to class maps, charts and models to make their lesson interesting. They would involve their students in activities necessitating them to move to the front of the class or into groups for group work and discussion. The lesson is different every time the teacher steps into class. The students are never sure what to expect. Motivation for learning is high.
Many teachers too resort to interesting anecdotes or simple but unforgettable stories related to the theme of the lesson. Students may forget the facts but will never forget the stories told and eventually recall the facts the story is based on. Some teachers use a joke to set the mood for teaching, but sometimes this would backfire on the teachers. The students are set wrongly and look forward to a period of fun and follies!
In MGS Ipoh in the 60s and 70s we have all sorts of teachers as described above. Boring teachers or interesting ones are remembered. The in-betweens are forgotten. When I started teaching, I modeled myself on some of the best teachers I had in ACS Ipoh. My Geography teacher, Mr. Yee Sze Onn impressed me so much that I gave up a place in Business Management when offered to me to take up Geography as my major from the Second Year of my Degree course instead. [I was called directly a ‘fool’ by the head of the Economics Department then.] When I started teaching in MGS Ipoh, I was one of three graduates, the most junior of the lot. I decided to emulate Mr. Yee and asked for a Geography Room to be set up and it was granted. I had a sand tray set up so that I could make landscape models to explain to my students what features I was teaching. To my horror, stray cats made it their toilet!
I had a map tracing table specially built so that I can trace maps and diagrams. MGS was one of the few schools with an epidiascope that could project pictures or diagrams from text book on to a screen [but the bulb was so powerful, if we leave it on for too long it would singe the page the map or diagram is on] and this was used for projecting maps, diagram and pictures in class or in the Geography Room and used for making charts. There were storage places for rolled up maps and drawers for topographic maps. Globes were available for teachers to take to class. A fantastic collection of pictures and charts, made by me with the help of my senior girls were available as teaching aids.
I give credit to the other teachers of Geography that came before me for a good collection of Geographical materials. It made it easier to put them into a room and made available for all teachers of Geography to use. Unfortunately, teachers being human would borrow items from the room and not return them to the proper places. Very often they became the ‘property’ of those teachers who kept them in the Staff Room beside their favourite place of perch for ‘easy excess’ whenever they go to class. This I consider as selfish as it deprives other teachers of the use of those items.
I also took it upon myself to take my pupils to field trips. Geography is not a subject you learn in the classroom alone. You need to make the students see what is really outside on the surface of the earth. When we teach the rivers and their various stages, we could show them a real river at its various stages. On one such field trip to a waterfall in Buntung [Guntung], we climbed up the steep slope of the waterfall and on descending; a student slipped and slide down to the base of the fall. Luckily for me, she only sustained a small cut to her chin which she wore till today. We rushed her to hospital and sent her home after that. It cut short our field trip. I never took my later students to the same waterfall again!
Visits to places of interest were another thing that made studying of Geography interesting. I organized [like Mr.Quah Guan Teik an ACS Geography teacher of Lower Secondary classes] field trips to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Lumut and Penang just to name a few places. These trips were to visit port facilities, factories, airports and other major landmarks in Malaysia. I even organized a trip by air to Penang and back just to ensure the students could see the landscape from the air. We raised funds to subsidize the fare for selected pupils who were the ones involved in fund raising.
Many of these were organized in the name of the Senior Geographical Society of the school of which I was the advisor. I remembered in those days, the USA Presidential Election was on and I would allow my students to hold elections for positions in the society based on the American Presidential Election system. This enabled them to learn about the American Election System, part of what is termed Political Geography and compare it with our own system.
I continued teaching Geography even when I became the Senior Assistant of the school. My love for this subject never faded until now. I wonder how many of my students went on to teach this same subject and did what I did when I was teaching it. I would love to hear from some of them who did.
Was this part of a play? Perhaps a Talentime Competition? All we know is, these pictures below were taken at an event hosted by the Y-Men’s Club!
Did you attend this event?
Familiar? Well, we believe that this was part of the Jubilee Park ……..yes, the FUN-Section where there were carousel rides, game stalls..etc.
How much did such a ride cost? Did they have a day-pass or something similar (as what Lost World of Tambun has today) ?
Yes, this is long overdue…..but thank you all for waiting so patiently. Here is Andrew Lin’s article on the other ‘famous brother’ – S P Seenivasagam! Due to the length of the article, only part of it has been put up on the blog. The rest, together with the credits, can be read at our database….
SP: The Much Misunderstood Politician
“Isn’t it a pity that S P Seenivasagam should go down in history as such a greatly misunderstood politician after having given his all for Ipoh? Andrew Lin recalls the life and times of the other half of the legendary Seenivasagam brothers.
Sri Padhmaraja Seenivasagam, fondly known as SP, was the other half of the famous Seenivasagam brothers of Ipoh, the other being D R Seenivasagam (DR). Both men were brilliant lawyers and founder members of the Perak Progressive Party in 1953. The party changed its name to the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) two years later. SP was generally perceived as the quieter of the two; a man of few words, at least during the time when his younger firebrand sibling was the president of the PPP and concurrently the Member of Parliament for Ipoh. SP himself was the MP for the adjacent constituency of Menglembu in the heart of the Kinta Valley.
Despite the frequent comparisons made between them by the local media, the Seenivasagam brothers’ genuine concern for the welfare of the people, especially the poor and the needy, was never in doubt. It was precisely this trait in SP that prompted him to make what most people at that time considered his biggest blunder in his long and illustrious record of public service – the fatal decision to join the Barisan Nasional (BN) in 1974 so that the PPP could continue serving the people of Ipoh through the administration of the municipal council of Ipoh (the Ipoh Municipality).
Outstanding Lawyer
In the heyday of the PPP between 1957 and 1969, SP was the vice-president of the party. Although credited by many as the “brains” behind the success of the party, SP remained in the background during that golden era, playing the role of a strategic planner while DR time and again dominated the headlines as a fierce and harsh critic of the then Alliance government. SP only came to the fore upon the untimely death of DR in early 1969, barely two months before the nation’s third general election. The racial riots of May 13, which took place immediately after the election, changed the entire course of the nation’s history.
As a result, very little information was available to the public on the personal side of SP. Like DR, SP was fond of liquor and was also a heavy smoker, averaging no less than four packs a day. His inner circle of close friends, which included the leaders of the PPP and his counter-parts in the legal profession, readily testified to his warm and easy going ways which often culminated in a thunderous burst of laughter. It was common knowledge that despite his hectic daily schedule, SP did his best to be available to the people at his office at the Municipal Chambers, which literally became his second home.
SP was first and foremost an outstanding British-educated lawyer, perhaps one of the best the nation has ever produced. Civil law was his forte. Together with DR, an equally eloquent and much feared criminal lawyer, their professional services were very much sought after. Both brothers featured prominently in numerous high-profile cases in the country. Their remarkable talent and extraordinary contributions as legal practitioners are well documented in the annals of the Malaysian Bar Council. Till today, the Seenivasagam brothers are still fondly remembered and respected by the legal community. Once, a rumour went round that SP had been offered a judgeship on more than one occasion but he turned it down.
Among the most memorable court appearances featuring SP was the Rahman Talib corruption case in 1964 where DR was sued for libel and slander by the then Education Minister. SP was engaged as the defence counsel for the co-respondent, one Abu Bakar, the businessman who tipped off DR on corruption allegations against the minister. (DR himself was defended by a young up-and-coming barrister by the name of Chan Nyarn Hoi, better known today as Dato N H Chan, an eminent and respected retired judge of the Court of Appeal.) The minister lost the case (and his job too) and the subsequent appeal the following year. Another case that attracted national interest was the Fan Yew Teng sedition appeal in 1971. Fan, then a Democratic Action Party (DAP) MP for Kampar, faced possible disqualification from Parliament as he had earlier been convicted in the Sessions Court under the Sedition Act for publishing an offensive article in the party’s newsletter. In the hearing at the Federal Court, SP successfully argued the appeal for Fan on the grounds of technicality. The court concurred with SP and ordered a fresh trial. The rest, as they say, is history.
A rare occasion when SP’s private life caught public attention was in October 1965 when he married the former Miss N Danapakia Devi from a well-known family of lawyers from Seremban. (Datin Seenivasagam died of a heart attack in 2006 at the age of 72). SP was then in his late forties. Prior to this, the Seenivasagam brothers were among the most eligible bachelors in the country. SP was conferred a Datoship by the late Sultan Idris Shah of Perak in 1964, an honour seldom bestowed on an opposition personality even to this day. The Dato Seri title was awarded in 1972.
Senior citizens and those in their fifties may recall that for a very brief period in 1973, Belfield Street and Hugh Low Street, two busiest streets in Ipoh were originally renamed Jalan S P Seenivasagam and Jalan D R Seenivasagam respectively in one of the earlier road-renaming exercises. At that time, the naming or renaming of roads within the municipality was the prerogative of the Ipoh Municipality and it had been the council’s policy to grant such a privilege to serving municipal councillors as well, irrespective of party affiliation. Thus we have Jalan Megat Khas, Jalan Chew Peng Loon, Jalan Yin Choo Han, Jalan Chan Swee Ho, Jalan S A Lingam, Jalan R C M Rayan (all situated in the Ipoh Garden housing estate), Jalan Leong Boon Swee and a few more in other parts of Ipoh. The first two mentioned councillors were from the opposition Alliance while the rest were from the PPP. But in this instance involving the names of the Seenivasagam brothers, the renaming was met with stiff opposition from certain quarters. To avoid further escalation of the controversy and being a true gentleman, SP voluntarily withdrew his consent to use his name for the road which subsequently became known till today as Jalan Sultan Yussuf. But SP told a press conference that the municipal council would appeal to the state gpvernment to retain the name of his late brother in place of Hugh Low Street. The appeal was however turned down. Hugh Low Street was subsequently renamed Jalan Sultan Iskandar. It was ironical that whilst his municipal colleagues had roads named after them long before this outcry, the president himself was unreasonably denied this honour.
Opposition Luminary
SP was elected to Parliament as the representative for Menglembu in the first general elections in post-independent Malaya held in 1959. He also won the state seat of Kuala Pari in the Perak State Legislative Assembly the same year. Both these two seats were successfully retained by SP in the subsequent general elections in 1964 and 1969.
As a parliamentarian, SP was ranked among the luminaries of the Opposition Bench in the infant days of the nation’s Parliament. Indeed both SP and DR left their indelible foot-prints in our parliamentary history. SP’s attendance record in Parliament, however, was rather dismal, averaging about five per cent. His opponents capitalised on this glaring weakness during pre-election rallies and other public gatherings – but with minimal effect as Menglembu was a stronghold of the PPP during that time due to the Seenivasagam brothers’ immense popularity.
To be fair to SP, he was never found wanting when important bills affecting the nation were discussed in Parliament. He participated actively in the debates relating to the Internal Security Act Bill in 1960, the Constitutional Amendment Bill, which saw the separation of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965, the controversial Constitutional Bill relating to the Sarawak Council Negri crisis in 1966 and the contentious National Language Bill in 1967. All his speeches in unequivocal support of the stand taken by DR were crisp and concise and reflective of the hopes and aspirations of the people.
Many observers believe that SP chose to remain in the shadow of DR in the discharge of their parliamentary duties out of sheer respect for the latter’s position as the party leader. Not one to relish undue media attention, SP never attempted to steal the limelight when DR was still around. In spite of his own enormous personal attributes as a shrewd and distinguished lawyer, SP took great pains to ensure that the celebrity status enjoyed by his flamboyant brother in Parliament was never in jeopardy at any time.
Most importantly, SP would also go down in history as one of the handful of opposition parliamentarians who courageously stood up and opposed the highly sensitive Constitutional Amendment Bill, which removed the parliamentary immunity of MPs in 1971.
Read the rest of the article here.
the famous Bridge
a view from the Bridge
These are from the collection of the late Geoffrey Clark. Believe it or not, Ipoh DID look like this about 64 years ago; the bridge (1st pic) definately looks different now…..even the view from the said bridge (2nd pic) has changed so much.
We have seen a number of Ipoh’s young ladies recently and here we step back a generation or two. It is before the war came to Malaya, Hitler is causing problems in Europe while the world is struggling to recover from the 1929 depression. This was the era of the Superman comic (first published in 1938), the Benny Goodman Band and the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was a popular attraction.
But here in Ipoh it was all about pretty girls, Cheongsams and shoes as the picture shows.
We thank ipohbornkid for this wonderful step back into Ipoh’s past.
Know this road? Way back in 1945, this was part of the Singapore-Penang route. This picture shows the road passing through Ipoh (although, we don’t know which part of Ipoh this is).
Yes, there weren’t many cars on the roads in those days; in the picture are a couple of bullock-carts.
Must have been a nice way to travel (save the LONG hours)…..minus the toll! 🙂
According to the donor of this photograph – Sybil de Roquigny – this was taken in 1945, sometime after the war.
Seated on the left of the Indian girl (wearing a plain samfoo) is Sybil’s aunt Linda Leong Kam Leng (daughter of Leong Eng Khean and granddaughter of Towkay Leong Fee). Seated on the far left (wearing a hair clip) is Linda’s best friend Lily. Incidentally, Lily and her husband owned a textbook and school supplies store in Old Town; across the road from the Ipoh Sar Hor Fan/Satay coffee shop (Thean Chun).
Recognise anyone in the picture? Perhaps your mum/aunt/relative is one of the pretty girls?
This was taken in 1945 by the late Geoffrey Clark (of the 4th Regiment Signals Troop). Here we have 3 dulang washers, complete with their wide hats and long sleeved shirts, working hard along the river.
On the reverse of the photo he identified the place as Ipoh and guessing that this was taken from a military vehicle, it is interesting that the land was so wild.
Where are those wide coolie hats now? Maybe they are in the same place to which the Japanese “invasion” bicycles went. I wish we could find examples of both!
Recognise this street?
Well, put those thinking-caps on, people 🙂 I’m sure some of you are grinning madly…while typing away your answers!
This picture is part of the late Geoffrey Clark’s collection. (We featured one of his pictures in a previous blog post) Clark served in Malaya from about 1945-1947 under the 4th Regiment Signals Troop (which arrived in Malaya just after the Japanese surrendered).
This was sent to us by UV, as part of his Teaching in Ipoh series. In the above picture, seated in the centre, is Mr Teh Chin Seong (mentioned in the story below). This picture was taken in 1968 and published in The Argosy 1968 (the school magazine). The lovely lasses in the picture are members of the St John’s Ambulance Brigade from MGS Ipoh.
Episode 2
Teaching is a vocation where those taking it up must be prepared to sacrifice. However, it can also be a vocation where those who are not really dedicated can exploit. I would like to deal with the negative aspects of some teachers as many today can only see this dark side of the noble profession. I want to deal with it now and put it to rest and in the rest of my story, I would want readers to put aside the image of a bad teacher and concentrate on teachers who have dedicated their lives to teaching pupils.
The teaching profession was at the time I joined it, a vocation you work for half a day only. Most schools would end at the latest by 1.50 p.m. Some lower secondary classes ended even as early as 12.30 p.m. and of course Primary classes ended around that time most days. This enabled the teacher to have the rest of the day free. Many would take this opportunity to give extra tuition for a fee. Others would mend their homes or used it for social events (usually a game of mahjong at home or in a club. To the detriment of the students and the profession, such activities usually result in neglect of the much needed correction of assignments given or better preparations that should have been made before a teacher teaches the next day.
Teaching provides a teacher with long vacation. In those days there were three terms per year and normally at the end of the first and second terms, a two week vacation is given and at the end of the final term, a four to five weeks vacation is in the offering. Of course, self-centered teachers would spend such vacations for their own purposes whereas those who love their students may organize special educational outings or provide remedial classes for the weaker ones.
When I joined MGS Ipoh in 1968 I was most impressed by the caliber of students there. Classes were streamed according to academic excellence but they were also divided into Science, Arts and Domestic Science streams from Form Four onwards. There were very little differences in academic performances between the best of the Science classes and that of the Arts.
When I was in school in ACS Ipoh, one can see a mark difference between the Science Stream and the Arts Stream with a few individuals in the Arts Stream showing equal academic abilities to those in the Science Stream and these were usually those who chose to take up Arts subjects even though they qualify for the Science Stream.
I was given the best Arts class in Form Five. I thought Geography there. I was really taken up by the diligence of the girls not only in doing their assignments, following the lessons as you teach but also the amount of extra time they are willing to put in after school to create and produce charts and models with me to enable the teaching and learning of the subject to be easier. To these girls, a big handful of them, the learning process was not restricted to the classroom alone but in extra activities related to each subject they can garner outside the classroom. They were keen on outings, to visit Geographical features on actual ground. We climb up waterfalls in nearby Buntung. We walked along the Kinta River banks, we visited caves and limestone hills and we went to nearby factories to see how things were made and took trips outside the town to study production of rubber and palm oil as well as tin ore. Such then was Geography taught and learned that year and years to follow in MGS. It is not the teacher alone that can give rise to this form of teaching and learning. It takes interested students to want to follow the teacher around to see for themselves what is actually happening in real life.
I have the good fortune of meeting these students after 40 odd years recently in Kuala Lumpur and these were the same group that took special interest in my subject as well as those of other teachers. They did very well in their SPM and went on to do well in life. Many were top civil servants and some captains in the commercial sectors. Yes, they were girls turned top ladies. When we talked of school days, what do they remember most, the extra-curricular activities we had. I felt very happy and satisfied that what I did was not in vain.
MGS Ipoh in 1968 had a small collection of male teachers. They were usually involved in the teaching of Science and Mathematics. I was the only Arts male graduate. The other men teachers were the Bahasa Malaysia teachers. Men teachers are very popular with girls’ students. They tend to take advantage of the men teachers but some of us were rather stern and many students learned the hard way when they do not put in enough effort.
Men teachers of course could not lay hands on a girl pupil in anger nor in affection but there are various methods well established in MGS Ipoh for them to take to punish recalcitrant girls. There’s a lady discipline teacher to deal with such girls. MGS Ipoh is also famous for detention classes where girls are detained after school or had to come back on Saturdays to perform some duties. In this manner, girls are kept in line.
The men teachers are also useful in providing transport for girls when they fall ill or when they need to go somewhere for an activity. Of course some lady teachers do likewise. The men are expected to handle the heavier duties of physically shifting furniture (with the help of men manual workers) and are responsible for many games. The Sports Secretary when I was there was a man teacher and he did a wonderful job all those years.
Mr. Teh Chin Seong was a male icon that no MGS student can forget. He was there before I joined MGS Ipoh and he remained there until he retired many years after I left MGS Ipoh. Not only was he a very efficient Sports Secretary who ran the Annual Athletics Meet every year without a hitch, but he was also good in coaching volleyball, basketball, and many other games MGS was involved in. In addition he was also the Band Teacher.
Is that all? No, Mr. Teh was also an officer in the St. John’s Ambulance Brigade and was in-charge of the MGS Ipoh Company. Many girls became nurses after joining this movement. Some of them went to England to take up nursing and continued working there. I had the good fortune of meeting one Operation Theatre Sister from my batch of 1968 Form Five during the last reunion of this class.
Mr. Teh Chin Seong passed away last year (2010) leaving much fond memories in the hearts of many who had served with him and who were his students. He was an excellent Mathematics teacher too despite all the extra-curricular activities he had to handle and any girl having gone through the LCE or SPM Mathematics papers would have him to thank.
To round up the appreciation of a well rounded teacher, I would like to add that Mr. Teh was a wonderful ballroom dancer and on many occasions he demonstrated his skill to the school in our Prize Giving Day Concert and Teachers Day Celebrations. He really added colour to MGS Ipoh.
We have here a picture from Helen Philip (who’s in the far right, with her partner Teh Jung Siang). Also in the picture are: Rosalind Goh (4th from right), and Teng Yoke Leng (10th from right).
This event is said to be the ‘most exciting’ event during the RPS annual Sports Day. (Some of you might remember one of our previous posts titled “Let’s March“).
Does RPS still have this event lined up as part of their Sports Day programme? Calling all RPS girls (past and present) and teachers too! 😉
We thank Howard Tang Hoy Wah (from Falim, Perak) for this picture. Howard now lives in the US, and was formerly a student of ACS Ipoh. He was also well connected to the Wesley Methodist Church – his brother, Tang Kin Wah, once served as a Methodist Pastor before he too left for the States.
This picture was taken in the 1950s. Are you in it? Do you know anyone in it?
We received this from Sophie via email. This was taken during Chinese New Year in 1969 – showing the Class of Form 3C of RPS.
Sophie has, unfortunately, lost touch with her friends (those in the picture) since she left school. Are you one of those in the picture? Do let us know…..and Sophie if you’re reading this, do point yourself out to us 🙂
PS: Can anyone guess WHERE this picture was taken?
The quality of the picture may not be that good….but I’m pretty sure that the building in the far right is the back portion of the Grand Theatre (which once stood at Brewster Road and Cowan Street).
Of course many of us remember that the Grand Theatre was also part of Jubilee Park; with that in mind….I’m taking a wild guess as to the date of this picture – perhaps 1930/1931? Keeping in mind that the Shaw Brothers began Jubilee Park around 1932, hence I feel that this picture was before the Jubilee Park was built.
Anyone with other theories? Perhaps someone out there could tell us MORE!
Here’s a picture of the PCADA (Perak Chinese Amateur Dramatic Association) Building, taken on the day of the association’s Golden Jubilee. At the time the picture was taken (some time in 1953) the 3rd floor had been completed.
Foh Sun restaurant used to occupy the groud floor, before it moved. I do wonder what’s become of this building now? Care to tell us MORE?
Written by Paul Callan, this book can be purchased at MPH at RM 39.90. Set in 1890 Malaya, this book recalls some interesting encounters between the Dulang Washers and Miners, as well as the British folk, in the Kinta Valley. The summary (on the back cover) is as follows:
Malaya, 1890 … in the tin-mining camps of Perak’s Kinta Valley, only the strongest and bravest survive … and the strongest and bravest of them all is Aisha, the beautiful solitary Malay dulang washer who labours to support two families.
Fook Sin, the mine’s treacherous, thieving proprietor, sees Aisha as his ultimate prize: the most desirable object he can add to his secret hoard of treasures.
Hun Yee, an ambitious young Hakka Chinese miner, shakes off the opium addiction that has insulated him against the harshness of his daily struggle and strives to win Aisha’s approval by starting a mine of his own.
But for Donald Redfern, overseer and the only European in the camp, Aisha comes to represent something even more important. The human contact she offers in the language lessons she gives him, and the small gestures of compassion she shows to the isolated, homesick man, fuel his dangerous obsession.
MPH asked us to review this book and this is how I find it.
“As a keen amateur researcher of Kinta Valley’s history, I am drawn to this book by its title as in the history of the valley and its commercial mining period, there were always dulang washers wherever there was tin.
The story as outlined by the above synopsis is a without doubt a story of love against a backdrop of harsh living, gambling, prostitution, opium smoking and more. Indeed all the evils that truly faced the immigrant Chinese when they came South to Nanyang to make their fortune and then return home. But central to it all is Aisha a Malay girl from a fatherless ‘padi’ family who somehow manages to stay above the chaos around her. Indeed, more than stay above, despite her diminutive size she somehow has the ability to control the rough and rowdy miners when the need arises.
Isolated among this seething mob of Chinese is the solitary white man with a wife and children far away in another land. For him this is a test of moral strength and the will to do what is right. But that’s enough about the story – what sort of book is this in reality?
Well first of all I must say that Paul Callan has definitely captured the feeling of the times. His descriptions are photographic and the reader has no difficulty in picturing the scene – and that is the sort of writing that I like. If I have any criticism it is that I feel that he has put too much into this first book and that it could have been a little shorter and focused more on the main plot. This might have turned it into that sort of book you cannot put down until you reach the end. Maybe for those addicted to love stories it might be still be that sort of book, but I don’t suffer from that addiction.
Going back to where I started, the history of the Kinta Valley, for an expatriate who has not spent a great deal of his life in Malaysia, Paul has done well with his description of the period. However, as a purist when it comes to recording history I feel that he may have overdone some aspects to add interest and excitement to his story. That of course is perfectly acceptable for a novelist, but not a historian. Having said that, there is no doubt in my mind that any publication that introduces history in an “easy to read” fashion is important, as too much of our history is being lost.
Now, would I buy the book? I think I probably would, ostensibly as a gift for my wife, but also for myself to savour some of Paul’s descriptions of life in the 1890’s. After all, this is an interesting, well written, nicely produced book that is value for money, particularly if you like love stories with a twist. What more can you ask?”
If you read this book I shall be interested to hear your comments. Review by IKA.
This was taken by the late Geoffrey Clark, of the 4th Regiment Signals Troop (one the the early British army groups to arrive in Malaya after the Japanese surrendered). Clark served here from about 1945-1947, and sadly passed away in 2006.
Look at the picture carefully…..WHERE do you think this place is? We’re stumped ourselves, but we know some of you out there know Ipoh so well – so, start typing out those answers! 🙂
This photo was provided by the Cheong family for use in “Ipoh, My Home Town” but it was not used as there were much more appropriate images to use for their story.
The banner reads something like “Professor Shu Tong Zen, Exhibition of his Chinese Paintings including an exhibition of his Malaysian Students’ Work”.
Now the questions are: where was this Guild, when was the photograph taken, who are the people and where does the Guild have its premises today?
No prizes, just the glory of being able to show that you know the Ipoh of days gone by.
Some time ago, we featured a picture from the Jennings Collection – showing part of Panglima Street, which was under water in 1919. Here we have another look at the same street.
This was taken in 1926/1927, when yet again Ipoh suffered another great flood. Notice any difference from the 1919 photograph and this one?
We’ve had the great fortune of receiving some lovely photographs from the collection of the late Percival Moss (which can be found on our database, under the title ‘Moss Collection’). Mr Moss was a tailor who was stationed in Taiping from about 1890 to 1910. He was a tailor who sewed uniforms for the Malay States Guides and other military organisations in those days.
From his large collection, we have here a portrait of Mr Moss, done by the ever famous A. Kaulfuss.
front view
back view
Do anyone of you have such portraits…perhaps handed down from your grandparents or great-grandparents? We may have gone into digital photography, but there’s nothing like these old gems! 🙂
We received this photograph from Sophie. It was probably taken in 1969 and those in the photograph (left to right) are Sophie’s brother, cousin and neighbour. She also told us that:
“The boys are standing facing my house in Jalan Pasir Puteh…..the building behind them used to belong to the late Dato Cheah Fah”.
And what about the toy? Some of you may recall Esso giving away these ‘tigers’ to customers, probably upon purchasing a certain amount of petrol. Did YOU have such a toy? Perhaps some of you had a little ‘collection’ of such toys 🙂
This was sent to us by YKChoong, via email. He also had this to say…
….not sure if it was a Ford or a Peugeot.
I think the foto taken around 1953-54, car was parked beside my parents home
in Pasir Pinji (No. 267, Queen Street to be exact).I remembered clearly the front portion was rented out to a Indian barber and
used to have my haircut and the traditional massage and pat on the
shoulder/back, and got a twist(left and right) of the neck to complete the
ritual. Not sure nowadays, but my eyebrows were well shaven at every visit.
Intention was to made them more thick and bushy ??Initially it was the ‘bucket’ system for the sewage collection and disposal
of the ‘night soil’, and our source of water is a deep well right at the
back portion of the house. This was where the kitchen and bathroom were
located. Can barely remembered the neighbours but I could still remember
there was a PIGSTY at the other corner of the block!! Imagine the stench
and the aroma surrounding the area of which all were forgotten, luckily. And
remembered a man leading a big male pig(boar) for mating purposes passing in
front of our house to its intended destination !Also bullock carts used as transportation for eg. tree logs which were used
as fuel in the kitchen …I was told I had the luxury of siting in a rickshaw to school and also in a
car (Vauxhall) with the back seat converted to a ‘double-decker’
by placing an elevated wooden plank across it. Cannot forget it, the ‘taxi’
driver was a CIGAR smoker and hardly saw him without the cigar, smoke or no
smoke emitting from it.
I wonder when THIS fashion trend began! The picture was taken from the bountiful collection of the late Percival Moss (some of which can be found on our database, under the title ‘Moss Collection’).
Imagine our surprise when we stumbled upon this picture – two locals dressed in Western clothing 😉
To our male readers out there….did YOU ever adopt this fashion trend? What about the ladies……I do know some women tried the ‘Jacky Kennedy’ look once upon a time 🙂
We’ve had comments about the (sadly) forgotten cinema at Kampong Simee….here’s a recent picture of the building (see picture below).
Anyone know WHEN this place closed down? What is it used as now? Perhaps some of you out there could share with us some of the better memories of this place……
For those of you who are wondering about what to do this Friday evening….how about sampling some Korean pop music? Yes, tonight at 8pm at Dewan Leong Wan Chin (Perak Girls’ School Hall) there will be a K-Pop Concert put together by a group of young and gifted Koreans!
This concert is in aid of IPOHBUG – an organisation ‘dedicated to encouraging sports amongst the youth’. As IPOHBUG President William Chang explains, the funds raised will “give Malaysian youths the opportunity to enjoy football, basketball etc. besides building healthy lifestyles and developing good morals through sports”.
For more information, you may contact Perak Society of Performing Arts (PSPA) at 05-5487814 or e-mail them at pspa2011fest@gmail.com
I remember playing with lanterns such as the one this lovely lady is holding. It was one of the things I looked forward to during the Mid Autumn Festival…..other then eating mooncakes 🙂
But our question for you guys out there today is: What is the building in the background? Where in Ipoh is it? Or, perhaps it’s not in Ipoh….?
Keep those comments coming 😉
..well, not quite!
This 1914 picture shows the Gunong Cheroh Taoist temple (in the background) and part of Anderson Road (just after where the present YMCA building is).
The one driving however is Freda Jennings, wife of Jack Jennings (Editor of Times of Malaya). She can be seen driving (a lovely white car) along the wooden bridge over the Kinta River. Yes, this same road is still there today – with MORE traffic though – but the wooden bridge has been replaced.
We thank Nicholas Jennings for sending us this picture 🙂
What a treat for a youngster to have an icecream on a hot Ipoh day. Just look at the small boy’s face.
But here is another clue to the location.
And just look at the face of the mother with folded arms on the left. What is she saying to her daughter? Care to guess.
For your further enjoyment, although http://www.ipohworld.org/search8/result.asp?strid=303 is not a good photo, it shows the 1963 version of an Ipoh ice cream man,
We thank ipohbornkid for these great memories of time gone by.
Looking for fresh food with a good bargain? Nothing like visiting the local markets, eh? Here we have a couple of pictures (taken in 1988), showing hawkers at a local market….YOUR task for today – tell us WHERE these pictures were taken! 🙂 Perhaps there are some clues in the background that might help you.
Here’s a short tale, from a Teacher’s point-of-view! Special thanks to UV for sharing his story with us 🙂
MGS Staff, 1968
Teaching in and Around Ipoh – Episode 1
Prologue
There are many major schools in Ipoh. The famous ones being the Anglo-Chinese School, Ipoh, The Saint Michael’s Institution, Ipoh, Anderson School, Ipoh, Methodist Girls’ School, Ipoh, the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus and Raja Perumpuan, Ipoh. In addition, there were numerous National Type Secondary Schools such as Sam Tet, Ipoh, Yuk Choy, Ipoh and Poi Lam, Ipoh. The oldest school that taught using English as a medium of instruction is the Anglo-Chinese School, Ipoh and its sister school, Anglo-Chinese Girls’ School (later both changed names to become Methodist Boys’ and Methodist Girls’ Schools respectively).
In 1895, the ACS Ipoh was established. In those early years, schools ran classes from primary to secondary levels under one administration and in one compound. It was only later that schools divided themselves into primary and secondary schools. Most Mission Schools and even government schools kept to the same compound whereas Malay primary schools were usually separate as in the early years of education in Malaya, there were hardly any Malay Medium Secondary school in Ipoh! Chinese educationists started many Chinese primary schools in Chinese enclaves and the town of Ipoh but through major dialectic associations, established the three secondary schools which initially used Mandarin as the medium of instruction but changed to using Malay after conforming to the wishes of the government after Independence.
Being a Teacher
To be a teacher, one has to be accepted by the school’s administration as in those early years, the schools had the right of hiring and firing (with the exception of government schools). Even after Independence, Mission schools could still hire teachers under the Unified Teaching Service which differ from the Government Teaching Service. I do not intend in these series of articles to go into the historical development of the teaching services but rather concentrate on a personal perspective of being a teacher from the day I joined it till the day I retired.
After graduating from the University of Malaya with a B.A.Hons. degree in Geography, I asked Miss Ruth Ho for a job in Methodist Girls School, Ipoh. I knew her through church connection and she accepted me because there was a vacancy for a Geography Teacher. I joined the school in early January as my Final Year Examinations just completed after the New Year.
MGS Ipoh
MGS Ipoh was a well noted school with over 1000 students from Form 1 to Form 5. I knew many of the teachers there, too. When I reported for duty, I was given three Form 5 classes to teach and another 2 classes of Form 4s. Please note I had no professional teaching qualifications and I was a rather young graduate, barely twenty-two years old. Some of my Form Five students were just five years my junior in age! I taught them Geography and English.
Miss Ruth Ho
The Principal, Miss Ruth Ho was a frail looking lady but with a very friendly and attractive smile. With this smile, she could get most of us to do anything she wished. She is soft spoken, and in all the years I served with her, I have never heard her raise her voice. She was very patient in giving out instructions and you can never go wrong if you follow her instructions.
The Principal of the school stayed in the compound of the school in a double storey bungalow named Kenyon Cottage. It was a lovely, stately building with ivy covering the front porch pillars and arch. From time to time, some of us would be invited over for morning coffee/tea or afternoon tea if we stayed back for some extra-mural activities. The living room where we sat for tea overlooked the school field and we could get a panoramic view of the Main Building of the school (see photo). It had polished wooden floor. This building was designed and furnished like a typical American home as many American ladies were head of the school. Miss Kenyon, the first principal after which this house took its name, right up to Miss Moriera (local) before Miss Ruth Ho, every Principal carved out a portion of the rich history of MGS Ipoh.
Miss Ruth Ho is the daughter of the illustrious Dr. Ho Seng Onn, a famous Chinese educationist in the Methodist Education Mission of Malaya and Singapore and sister of Mr. Robert Ho, a renowned author of Geography books for Malaysian schools. It is no accident that such a person from such an important family should be there to guide MGS Ipoh.
Most of the time, her staff would meet her in the office located above the porch of the Main Building. It would occupy half the area above the porch, while the general office would take up the other half. The Principal’s office, like her is simple. She would seat herself behind an outsized desk that has a glass top. It would be covered with files, papers, etc. Her chair is not like those well-padded, shriveled executive chairs but a small wooden one with an armrest that curved behind her in a semi-circle to form the backrest and the other part of the armrest. It has a thinly padded cushion. I am sure it was not very comfortable.
Miss Ho is simple in her manner of dressing too. One would often, if not always find her in a dress that has not waistline. It would spot a high collar and would reach to just below her knees, fitting her frail form loosely. Usually, it would be of pestle colours with some floral motifs. Call it a ‘Cheongsam’ of some sort if you like, but the slits would not be there.
One cannot expect to find any serious or distinct signs of make up on her face too. Maybe there is a hint of powder to keep her face fresh and a gentle and faint perfume as she walks pass can be detected. Her round steel-rimmed spectacles, which she removes from time to time to look up at you when you stand before her, suggests a middle age lady with long-sighted reading problems but a pair of eyes that is still 20-20 when looking at her staff and pupils.
It was my misfortune that I did not work for long with her but yet it was long enough for me to use her as a model in later years of my teaching career when I too became a principal. She entrusted me not only with teaching her best Arts Students in Geography but also gave me the most challenging class to teach English in the Form Five year. In addition, she made me take charge of Softball, when in that year MGS Ipoh was to chair this game in the Central Perak Sports Council (precedence of the Majlis Sukan Sekolah Perak, Zone Kinta). During those days, it was not the Principal that was the Chairperson, it was the teacher-in-charge that chaired the game and sat with the Chairpersonof Central Perak Sports Council, then another imposing character, Mrs. Nadarajah of Raja Perumpuan School, Ipoh.
In addition to these responsibilities, that year I joined MGS Ipoh, they were planning a Fun Fair to raise funds. Mission schools were always doing this or that to raise funds to finance new building projects or to run the school, like providing furniture and maintaining the buildings and utilities. I was given the task of being the Chairperson in-charge of games for the Fun Fair! What do I know of organizing games in a carnival? Nothing except having participated in handling a game stall or two when I was in school and attending a few Fun Fairs in Ipoh. However, with her guidance, we made a success of the whole activity.
These are the memories I have of Miss Ruth Ho. She left MGS Ipoh for reasons only know to her and her close associates and served in Singapore for some time then eventually she landed up in Hawaii, got married to a Japanese American and settled there. She is now alone, living in a senior citizen home under the name of Mrs. Ruth Lindley. She would only be too pleased if any of her old girls or ex-teachers/staff would contact her. If you are interested in contacting Miss Ruth Ho, please ask Ian to pass your email address to me and I would forward it to her.
These pictures were sent to us by IpohBornKid.
IpohBornKid also wrote the following:
The attached photos were taken in the late 1950s, during the local primary school’s song and dance performances.
It is a tradition in Chinese schools to perform traditional song and dance as opposed to the Western arts performed in English schools.These performances were well attended by the school children, teachers and parents. Many teachers spent hours of their free time teaching the young to sing and dance. Unlike today where you can buy colorful costumes from China, most of the costumes were locally made by parents and volunteers. The dancers should be in their 50s and 60s now. I believe that the “old girls” who left the primary school were asked to perform on these occasions. It is more like a town performance ratherthan a school performance. As a kid, I did attend all these performances as my family members were involved in the stage production and performance.
Yes, at last Ipoh, My Home Town has gone to the printers.
There are stories from a “Flying Tiger” who grew up in Market Street in the 1920s, Professor Wang Gungwu, a Greentown boy before the war, Lat (who has also written the Foreword) and a number of others from stage, screen and radio plus of course successful businessmen and women, housewives and mothers, but interestingly, no politicians. Our oldest contributor is 92 and the youngest 12. The book therefore is really a history of life in Ipoh through the eyes of young people. With 276 pages and a wealth of original photographs and illustrations it has been a fascinating exercise for an expatriate, ably supported by his Malaysian wife.
The book will be launched by Tun Lim Keng Yaik on the morning of Saturday 17th September at the Royal Ipoh Club so if you can be in Ipoh that day that will be the place to be. Details of the programme and invitations will be sent out as soon as possible, but if you don’t get one and would like to attend, please just let me know.
Regarding the price, as this is a self funded project we have been able to keep the price down to a bare minimum with no profit taking. Hence the book will be on sale in the bookshops at RM100 and direct from us at RM90 excluding postage and packing. There will be plenty for sale at the launch, but if you cannot make it then you can always pre-order via info@ipohworld.org , providing your postal address. We can then advise you of the total cost as soon as the book is in our hands.
I look forward to seeing you at the launch.
….the Abdul Samad Building? (see picture below)
Was this what the building looked like in the early 1900s? Or, perhaps its an entirely different building altogether?
We’d like your ‘expert’ opinions on this one………
This picture is taken from the collection of the late Percival Moss, who tailored the uniforms for the Malay States Guides.
We thank Nicholas Jennings for these lovely pictures.
Here we have ‘Rosedale’, a cosy Malay-style house on Kledang Hill. This house was once owned by J A S Jennings (better known as Jack Jennings) – the former Editor of the Times of Malaya.
Do notice the two gun holsters on Jennings’ belt! Standing next to Jennings is his wife Freda.
The second picture shows another view of the cosy abode – notice the style of the roof!
Is this house still there?
(This was sent to us by IpohBornKid)
This picture was taken way back in 1961. That’s about the only thing we’re sure of. Maybe someone out there could help us with the following questions:
Was this taken at the Ipoh Padang?
Who are these pretty girls?
What was the occasion for the costumes?
Come on! I’m sure someone out there remembers this (probably somewhere in the picture too?) 🙂
Yes, these boys seem to have found a solution for the hot weather 🙂
This picture was sent to us by Edwin Siebel. Apprently, this was taken at Teluk Anson (Teluk Intan). Anyone know WHERE in Teluk Anson this is? Was it taken at a swimming club?
Note: This picture was taken on 31st May 1956 😉
MI
You may have noticed two comments and a Chatterbox entry from a new reader Yip Chee Whye (Chee Whye Yip) who is looking to find his old school friends of 1956 and in particular he is seeking Mr. Ooi Kim Huat and Mr. Eddie Che. He presently lives in UK but says he will be back in Ipoh soon.
He sent us this photo today and if I understand it correctly he is the one circled in the back row and Eddie Chee is circled centre in the row in front. So readers all can we help? We have done well so far with reuniting the Old Salts from ACS and the HIJ Convent girls. Can we do the same for SMI?
As you can see we now have a clearer picture of that sent in by Yip. This was kindly donated by AFR1970. He says, “It is from my late father’s collection of photos. He doesn’t seem to be in the photo. I have Form IVA and Form IVD but he is not in those photos either. Sadly, Form IVB is missing. That could have been his class but I could be wrong.”
Thank you so much. I hope it helps us find the other classmates.
Here’s a lovely coloured postcard of St Michael’s Institution. Care to guess the date of this picture? Needless to say, those palm trees aren’t there anymore….and the space behind the school building is now where the new Primary Block is.
You can also see St John’s Anglican Church; notice also a green-roofed mansion (top most of the picture). Wonder whose house it was?
Here’s another little sharing by IpohBornKid, about a school trip to Penang with his friends!
This picture was taken in the 1950s where Mr Quah Kuan Teik took a bus load of ACS boys to Penang. It was a most memorable trip and of course, we gave the old boy heaps but he remained firm and show exceptional tolerance to all of us. For example, when you go to sleep at night, someone will squeeze some toothpaste in your mouth. On the journey to Penang and back, there were no toilets in the bus (an old ACS school Bus) and the boys would literally go to the back of the bus and “washed” the windscreen of an unfortunate car following behind the bus. If any of you recognised yourself in the photograph please own up.
Mr Quah also told us the story of how some of the boys were lost during the night on a trip to Emerald Island, an island west of Pangkok. Those adventurous ACS boys decided to venture across the island through the thick growth and into the other side. There was a big panic, alarm bells were raised and search party was organised. The boys were finally found safe and sound. Any normal teacher would have said ” I had enough of the buggers, no more trips for you fellas”. No, Mr Quah totally forgotten what had happened and continue the next excursion as if nothing had happened..
On an excursion to Cameron Highlands, Mr Quan took us to visit a vegetable farm. One is supposed to ask the farmer to cut the cabbage if you want to buy it (only 20c each). No, ACS boys were different. Several boys gave a swift kick at the cabbage and it rolled down the hill until it hits an embankment. I cannot remember whether they eventually bought the cabbage.
Nicky Chin, Mano, Me and Z.. : off to Penang we go on an ACS Excursion, if you see yourself in the photo, please hands up.
IpohBornKid
We know some of you out there love mysteries! Well, here’s one for you (see picture below).
Familiar? At first I thought it was the Shaik Adam Mosque (along Clayton Road, next to St Michael’s Institution)…..but then, could there be another building around the country with a similar design?
By the way, this picture was taken by the late Percival Moss. We thank his grandson Bernard for lending it to us!
Can anyone guess the street? We think this picture was probably taken in the 1960s (we could be wrong though).
Notice the banner that says ‘Clearance Sale’…..I wonder which store was advertising their goods on this day?
Familiar? Recognise any landmarks? Let us know 🙂
By the way, this picture was sent to us by IpohBornKid……
I know some of our fans out there love looking at old photographs. Well, here’s a nice panorama for you!
Bet some of you are already trying to guess WHERE this place is! 🙂
Yes, it was WAY BACK in 1957…..when we saw Gregory Peck play the role of Captain Ahab!
They don’t make movie posters like they used to…..same can be said for the ‘cinema-experience’ that made cinema halls like Rex, Ruby, Lido, etc. favourite haunts.
The poster we have here is from Edwin Siebel.
Here’s another gem – the Iskandar Bridge, Kuala Kangsar!
Anyone care to guess the year? Perhaps you could tell us MORE about this bridge…..
Bet you didn’t know that THIS (picture above) was what the Turf Club‘s grandstand looked like back in 1919! 😉
Of course it’s different now, after all those renovations. But we’re lucky to have such a unique picture to add to our collection. A special thanks to Nicholas Jennings who sent this to us 🙂
The Kinta Valley Wind Orchestra present to you Around the World in 80 Minutes!
This is in conjunction with the Perak Performing Arts Festival 2011. The orchestra will be performing at the Syuen Hotel on 31st July (Sunday) at 8pm.
For further enquiries / reservations, do call PSPA 05-5487814 or email them at pspa2011fest@gmail.com
Ah! Some of you might be recalling fond memories of this place 🙂
Yes, this is none other than the Japanese Garden, along Tambun Road (Jalan Raja DiHilir).
For those of you (the younger generation like myself!) who didn’t know, THIS is what the Hugh Low Bridge used to look like 😉
Yes, this was before those strange towers were erected along the bridge….
We thank Edwin Siebel for this beautiful picture.
And that is just about all we know about this picture which we are led to believe was taken in the 1960s. So come on guys and girls, stop looking at all those Bersih videos and photos and help us out with this one please. Judging by all the cups, shields and other trophys they must have been pretty well known.
No sooner had I asked for a photo of the above group’s reunion photograph, Merrill Leong provided this one.
Merrill added the following:
“Attached is a single photo of the reunion mentioned by CK Leong. The lunch meeting was held at a room in Mun Cheong Restaurant which was being prepared for a wedding dinner; the two names on the wall have no bearing on the group of guys gathered. Let’s see whether your readers can match up who’s who from the two photos. Of course not all present in the black and white picture are in the newer one, and there is one person in the coloured photo who is not in the other.”
Here’s a little nostalgia from IpohBornKid, about a trip to the famous Kledang Hills. Happy reading 🙂
A Nostalgic Climb up The Kledang Hill circa 1950s.
Dear Ipoh and Menglembu Old Timers
Everyone has heard of Cameron Highlands (off Tapah), Frazer Hill (Off Taiping) and later on Genting Highlands but not many have heard of the humble Kledang Hill. Menglembu (Chinese name is Man Li Mong) meaning thousand li view, is a quiet little town surrounding by tin mines and its locality is at the foot of Kledang Hill. Although it is mainly limestone hills in the Kinta Valley, Menglembu seems to have some hills full of granite which was frequently quarried. Surrounding Menglembu town were 4 residential areas called “North, South, East and West Regrouping Areas. Their geographical arrangements seem to following the emergency procedures.
Jalan Kledang, previously known as Pike Street, runs into the hillside, first passing through the old cemetery, the Sikh Diary Farmers (the man with the Bullock Cart – there is another story here) and into the mining pools.
The road to the top of one of the peaks (probably 1,000 ft) existed but was later sealed when a radio transmitter was erected on top of the hill. The communication centre was guarded by soldiers and probably had a strategic military use. If I remember correctly it would take a couple of hours to hike up to the top of the transmitter station.
In the beginning only land rovers (or other 4 wheel drive vehicles) are allowed up the hill and most of them were PWD, Police or Military vehicles. Beginning at the bottom, the road cuts into the hillside in a zigzag manner. Sharp and steep corners were common as you drove up the hill. At a third of the way up, you would have reached the “First Waterfall” (left of the main hill). Another third up the road, you would have reached the second waterfall. As you climb further you would reach the peak where the radio transmitter was located. The area is normally fenced in and guarded.
There were two ways to ascend to the main hill. One was by road and the other, a steep climb directly on the main hill. There were man made steps on the face of the hill which indicated that the first team of workers to ascend the hill made those cuttings. They have to get the electricity up the hill. I have personally climbed this part of the hill and it is a bit dangerous.
Early in the 1950s, people in Menglembu began to trek up the hill when the road was sealed. At one time, it became very popular and picnics were organized by local residents (mostly school kids). I remembered clearly that we ascended to the top of the hill was not permitted to enter the transmitter buildings. Through the intercession of a well know Menglembu politician (Sailing Boat Party, probably MCA) Mr Yap Yin Fah, we were allow to use the premises. The roof top was tarred and most of us had learned how to dance, cha cha and the works; so we went up the roof and started dancing. We would descend at about 3.00pm and reached town by 5:00 pm. As an outing, it was fun and cheap. One photographed showed us walking on the tar sealed road, another with the Menglembu beauties (langloi) and a group p picture at the base of the transmitting antenna tower,
When the fad died down, many started to drive up to Kledang Hill in their own cars. My uncle was an enthusiast and he drove his Austin Mini up the hill and back. Going up is no problem but coming down is hard on the brakes. It is not unusual to stop the vehicle and let the brake pads cool otherwise the brakes would overhead and you lose your brakes. The only thing left to do was to crash on the hill face and not the off side which send you down hundred of feet to your demise. Also, never pour water into the brake assemble or you might crack the brake drum. Anyway, after a few trips you need to change your brake pads and have the drum sheared. Before I forget, if you have a lousy radiator that leaks, you will be asking for trouble as the engine will start boiling. Fortunately there was always ample supply of cool water. We had the same experience when we pushed our bicycles up the hill and free wheel downhill. What a stupid thrill!
Another interest event that took place was racing car up to the first waterfall. In the old days, some bright spark started the sport of racing cars to the first waterfall and it became popular for a while. For safety reasons, each car accelerates toward its destination and was timed. The shortest time won the race.
There is another route up to the first waterfall. To get there, you have to follow the stream to its source. After reaching the foot of the hill, there is a precipice, a drop about 10-15 feet. After you have ascended this rock face, you move up the slippery rock surface. If you had slipped and fell, you would have severely injured yourself or worst, got killed. I had an experience on my descent on those rocks. I slipped and slid down the rock surface. I was very lucky that my friend Chow Kai Sek (an ACS old salt) was on guard near the drop. He lodged himself with a tree branch hanging across the rock surface and grapped me. If he had missed me, I would not be writing this story.
You can say that there were a lot of fun loving days that could get one killed. I also remembered about my trip to the foot of Kledang Hill with 2 other ACS boys. Two were my senior and we all rode in one Honda Cup. Coming downhill on the flat, we swerved off the road and continued along the grass patch. We did not manage to cross the stream running across us. The motorbike went up and we went down. We all fell in the water. Of course, one was Kai Sak and the other was the son of a saw mill owner near Falim.
We also used to play Russian roulette. On top of the Bukit Merah entrance, we would signal the bike rider up the top that the main road is clear of traffic. On a given signal, the rider took off from the top, down the steep slope and cross the main road. Lucky for us there were no speeding car on the road…
Why go to Kinta Swimming pools when you have mining pools all over Menglembu. I used to swim a lot in mining pools. Adults often told us horror stories about drowning accidents in mining pools. How many managed to dive into rocks and swam under a submerged rock hole and ended up drowned. Those stories did not deter us one bit… I guess we were lucky to be alive after all the dangerous activities we did without our parents’ knowledge. I used to get caned if there were tell tales signs of having swum in a mining pool. If they scratch your skin and a white powdery line comes up, it was a sign that you were in the water for some time. Always take a bath at home immediately after swimming in a mining pool.
The only horror I have encounter in mining pool was to see a black snake competing with me to get on the edge of the pool. Whew, that was close. My second encounter with the black snake was riding my bicycle from the foot hills to town. Traveling quite fast, my front wheel was about to run across the snake crossing the road. Luckily, I was skilled in jumping off the bicycle (hours of training for this event). Before my bicycle hit the snake, I jumped off the saddle and the bicycled collided with the snake. After 10 minutes I recovered my breadth and started to retrieve my bicycle. The snake was killed when it lodge is body in the spikes of the bicycle. I used a long stick to remove the snake and when I went home, I was still shaking from fright
Later on in the 1970s, I heard that not many people want to walk up the hill. People would only walk up to the foothill as a form of exercise only.
When you live in Ipoh town, you do not have open space to play with. But in Menglembu, the play ground is open space full of mining pools, snakes, and good fishing spots.
As an aside, I fondly remember the Sikh family living near the cemetery. They were diary farmers and they sell fresh milk. Ever try to jump up to a bullock cart and get a free ride without the driver swearing at you in Punjabi. Most of the family members speak Cantonese and one of their famous sons was an ASP in Singapore.
I write this story before people forget that Kledang Hill was once a great playground for its residents.
AP@IpohBornKid
You know the Sri Maju bus station? Well, this was what the main building looked like before the bus company took over (see picture below).
To what we know, this mansion was once the family home of Dato’ Yeoh Kian Teik (Michelle Yeoh’s father).
We thank Ian Latham for sending us this picture 🙂
We thank IpohBornKid for this story of Chong Soon Fan, who was the Penghulu of Menglembu during the Japanese Occupation in Malaya.
Mr Chong Soon Fan, JP, The Penghulu of Menglembu
The “Kapitan Chinas” in the Kinta Valley or Tin Mining Towkays, in Ipoh, have been well described by Dr Ho Tak Ming, the author of “Ipoh, when Tin was King”. For example, Foo Nyit See, Foo Choo Chong, Foo Choong Yit, Yau Tet Shin, Chung Keng Kwee etc. were well known philanthropist in the late nineteen century.
Some Ipoh streets were named after them.
The next generation of successful tin miners and philanthropists in Ipoh include Lee Loy Sang, Lau Pak Kuan, Fung Seong, Foo Yet Kai, Chong Soon Fan etc. This article only focuses on the late Chong Soon Fan, JP, for the simple reason that Mr Chong was personally known to the author. The author also recognized other Towkays in Ipoh who have contributed significantly and substantially to the community.
There are many stories about education in Ipoh and most of them which appeared in the English language media involving English language schools rather than Chinese Language Schools. In this article, I wish to present a visionary person who is also a philanthropists, educationist and social worker in his times. He was the late Mr Chong Soon Fan, JP, and in his heydays, was Chairman of the Board on several Chinese language schools in the Ipoh municipality viz Man Wah Primary, Yuk Choy High School, Perak Girls Primary and High School, Sam Chai High School etc. Before Menglembu became part of the Municipality of Ipoh in the 1960s, he was also the “penghulu” or village headman of Menglembu. He was also a Director in the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Hong Kong Association.
Prior to Merdeka, the township of Ipoh was run by an Englishman Mr Lee, who was the colonial administrator of Ipoh. After independence, the Seenivasagam brothers DR and SP later controlled the Ipoh Municipality. It is interesting to note that DR (a well-known Ipoh lawyer) was also famous for owing an American convertible with a golden ignition key.
According to published record, Mr Chong Soon Fan, born in China in the 1890s, migrated to Nanyang (Malaya) from Xihe (West River) region in Guangdong Province, China. The current location would be north east of MeiXian City, 8 hours drive from Shenzhen via the highway. He was a “Tai Poo” Hakka and was determined to seek his fortune in “Nanyang”. At the age of 17, Mr Chong came to Perak state with minimal clothes and cash. He had a humble beginning and he started to work in Soon Foh Wu Lang, a Menglembu tin ore extraction establishment which collected tin ore from the dulang washers as well as extracting tin ore from the sandy resides which settled in the tail end of the palongs. (Note: in an open cut mine, the alluvial sand containing the ore is washed down by strong jet of water and the slurry is pumped to the top of the long wooden“slip-dip” structure. As it flows down, the tin stayed at the top of the palong and the smaller tin granules flow to the bottom. This bottom residue is rewashed for more tin). Dulang washes can earn up to $3 a day selling their tin to the collector.
At the Soon Foh, he was intelligent, literate and a hard worker. As the story goes, the late Mr Foo Choon Yit, OBE, the owner of the establishment, was so impressed by this young man’s talent that he allowed his eldest daughter to marry him. From then onwards, the young Mr Chong learned about the tin mining business in Ipoh and prospered. He later became the Manager of the establishment.
The two storey bungalow family home of the late Mr Foo Choon Yit, a Fujian Hakka, is in Kuala Kangsar Road and is now a museum for tin mining. There is an air raid shelter built in the compound. One of Mr Foo’s nephew is the late Mr Foo Yet Kai, another famous tin miner in Ipoh.
As a Hakka, Mr Chong was very traditional in his thinking about education and has a high degree of empathy for his fellow clansman. He was the President of the Perak Hakka Association in Jalan Datoh (Sam Chai school is located in the land owned by the Hakka Association) and a Director of a prominent Chamber of Commerce in Ipoh. His contemporaries were famous tin miners in Ipoh. Mr Chong’s passion for education was the driving force behind the fund raising and building of Chinese schools in Ipoh. Together with his peers, they managed to raise funds totaling $2M to build schools in Ipoh. He was recorded to have donated at least $200,000 himself.
Several important schools that come to mind were and they were the Yuk Choy High School, Perak Girls Primary and High Schools, Man Wah Primary (Menglembu). Mr Chong and his contemporaries have left a great legacy behind for the future descendants of the people of Ipoh. Many parents who have migrated from China were determined to send their children to schools in Ipoh. Some parents insist that their children learn their mother language first before English. Hence, the Chinese schools satisfied the cultural needs of the Chinese immigrant. They endured the hardship and sacrifice in order that their children will be better off than them. Together with the other generous philanthropists who built the schools, a great opportunity was created by these visionaries. Today, many Ipoh people have benefited from a good education. Hence, we should remember our pioneers who brought us the great gift of education.
In erecting the Chinese schools in Ipoh, the generosity of the Hakka clan played an important role since Hakka tradition is strong in education. Hakka people originate in Henan Province in China over 2,000 years ago. In a particular Hakka clan, their history dates back to the Zhou dynasty, having 92 generations in Henan, 17 generations in Guangzhou (as Hakka =guest people) and 7 generation overseas. Most Hakka occupations in Henan Province (China) were either military or government officials. They excel in literature and military tactics. They were Sung Dynasty’s refugees (Mongol invasion) and most groups migrated south to Guangzhou.
It is interesting to note that recently, a second Chinese Primary School (Man Wah No 2) was built at the foot of Kledang Hill in Menglembu. I was informed that one of the grandsons of Mr Chong was involved. It is good to see a continuation of commitment in education by a third generation Chong.
As Headman of Menglembu during the Japanese occupation, Mr Chong walked a tight rope in saving a lot of people from the Japanese. He had to deal with the Japanese authorities and at the same time, not to offend the communist hiding the jungle. In those days immediately after the Japanese left, there were a lot of revenge taken against “Han jian” or Han traitors. Mr Chong stood tall and his trustworthiness, courage and fairness earned him respect from all sides.
There was another aspect of Mr Chong’s work in Menglembu which is not well documented. In the 1950s, his family home in Menglembu (the bungalow opposite the Man Wah Primary School) was open to his constituents on Saturday mornings. Many villagers would bring their family problems to him. He was a peace maker & conciliator; and many benefited from his wisdom to get the family back together. In the gangster era, he was instrumental in bailing out many young mis-guided youth and kept them out of jail. The Police would release these youths under the guardianship of Mr Chong.
If one sat on the front door of Mr Chong’s house, you will see the 3 famous mountain peaks which were framed under the archway of the Man Wah Primary School. Those mountains peaks represent good fungsui. Mr Chong had good reason to build his bungalow opposite the school. Reliable sources said that Mr Chong told her eldest grand daughter that he wanted to keep an eye on the school and watch it grow. He wanted his grand children to go to that school.
Most of the villagers have no proficiency in English and filling a form is a difficult task. Mr Chong provided Menglembu villagers with form filling assistance for citizenship & IC card applications as well as other government correspondence. . These clerical services were an enormous task and required a good typist with a good command of English. His eldest son filled this position well with dedication and efficiency. According to reliable sources, his teenage grandson, an accomplished ACS trained typist also assisted his uncle in preparing the forms and typing letters.
Mr Chong was treated with utmost respect in Menglembu. When he walked the streets in Menglembu, the villagers often greeted him with respect. Mr Chong received wedding invitation from the villagers at least once every fortnight. Sometimes, he would send his eldest grandson to represent him in these events when he was unable to attend.
In writing this article, I want to create awareness among later generations of Ipoh people about a pioneer, a visionary person who has given so much to the community. He should be remembered for his role in saving people during the Japanese occupation, building schools in Ipoh municipality for future generations, and providing much needed community services to his constituents.
For his exemplary community work above and beyond the call of duty, the Sultan of Perak made him a Justice of the Peace and a member of the Privy Council.
Mr Chong passed away in 1969 and today, more than 40 years passed, I wish commemorate his passing and acknowledge his exemplary dedication and commitment to public education. He was indeed a pioneer and a humble servant of the people. Lest we forget.
AP@IpohBornKid
We have yet another school picture here – but we don’t know the year nor the school. Care to give us a hand? 🙂
I wonder how many of you saw Rhett and Scarlet at this cinema!
Sadly, such experiences are only memories now…..since the cineplex-craze began 🙁
Like other cinema halls, Ruby has also seen better days……
We present to you a little tribute to Mr NC Thomas – a man who was both Friend and Mentor to many a youth in Ipoh in the 1950s. We thank IpohBornKid for this write-up!
A Tribute to Mr NC Thomas – Pioneer in Youth work
Mr NC Thomas came to Malaysia in the early 1950s and took a teaching position in St Michaels, Ipoh. He was an English teacher and was among the great English teachers of Indian descent. Good grammar books were written by Indians and used throughout Malaya then. Mr Thomas was a Malari, a devout Catholic, quite and unassuming man. Yet his contributions to the Youth activities in Menglembu are legendary. The author owed this man a great debt, not only in adolescent personality development but also for the foundation laid by him for a successful academic achievement later in life.
When Mr Thomas arrived in Menglembu, he started a youth club in Lahat Road opposite the Indian settlement and adjacent to the Lutheran Church in Menglembu. It was a wooden house raised by pillars, and one can play underneath the house without being noticed. When the youth club was established, the elder boys were part of the youth committee whilst the author was not. The author and some youth often disrupt the youth committee meeting by being a nuisance under the house. The situation was corrected when these errand kids were roped in by Mr Thomas to do something useful.
The youth club has boys and girls in it. Most teenagers then attended the Ipoh English School, viz. ACS, St Michaels, Anderson, Convent, MGS and some attended Chinese schools like Yuk Choy and Perak Girls. There were boxing, weight lifting inside the clubhouse, but soccer was played across the field adjacent to the Indian housing.
Mr Thomas never smoked nor did anybody see him drink (if so, never in public). He set a good example of clean living for teenagers under his charge. Parents were delighted to have Mr Thomas look after their kid’s interests. In this, Mr Thomas has gained the utmost respect from the parents in Menglembu.
As a teacher, he is soft spoken, not easily angered, good tempered but firm. In his bachelor days, he always has cooked meals by an Indian family and delivered to his residence in the Youth Club. Later, Mr Thomas moved to another location in Ipoh, and the Youth Club went with him. The place was near the banks of the Kinta River and close to the Mosque in Jalan Datoh.
One of Mr Thomas’ most popular activities was excursions. In 1957 or 58, he organized an Excursion to Kuala Lumpur. For small town people, it was a big deal. To top it up, Mr Thomas has political clout. He arranged the visit to see the first Prime Minster of Malaya (Tengku Abdul Rahman) and the Education Minister Ong Yoke Lin. During the visit to the PM’s residence in KL, we had an opportunity to greet the PM in person and for a bonus; we were also introduced to Miss University (Miss Japan) who was visiting the PM at the same time. We then met up with the Education Minister, Ong Yoke Lin and have afternoon tea with him. The visit was a basic introduction to politics and politicians. For a kid, the author did not recognize the importance of such a meeting but the benefit was realized in later life.
Mr Thomas also took us to see his relatives who operated the St Thomas Dispensary in KL. In a group photograph shown here, one can see the youth of Menglembu rubbing shoulders with professional medical personnel in KL. Another observation is the multicultural group of people in the photo, all traveling together in harmony.
There is one story I must relate. Mr Thomas took me to see his friends who was a former student of his and lived in a fishing village called Morib. All five of us (photo enclosed) went for a trip to Seremban on a Morris Minor. On the way back, we traveled on the coastal road lined with palm oil trees. Somehow, the author convinced his travelling companions that he could drive and they let him. In an attempt to overtake a lorry, the inexperienced driver hit the uneven surface of the right edge of the road. The car started to swerved and the brake was applied fully (like emergency braking). The little car then made a 180 degrees turn on the road. It was miracle because they were no oncoming traffic in either direction and missed slamming into the palm trees on either side. It was scary and the author’s driving opportunities were curtailed. After returning to Morib, they all went to buy a lottery ticket. None of them ever related this incident to my mother. Phew!
As I left Malaysia for overseas study, I lost contact with Mr Thomas. I was informed that Mr Thomas later got married. If the descendants of Mr NC Thomas are in Malaysia, please accept our thankful acknowledgement of his significant contribution to Menglembu youth of the 1950s generation.
AP@IpohBornKid
[Note: Due to the lack of space, the other pictures which accompany this story will be uploaded onto the database in due course.]
Familiar? Well, those of you who followed the fashion trends of the different eras would know this look 😉
Fashion aside, do you recognise the place? Where is this fountain, where the lovely ladies are standing next to? Judging from the school buses in the background, this was probably a school field trip….
Taking place as yet another event of the Perak Performing Arts Festival on 1st and 2nd July 2011 this is a dance extravaganza brought to you by PSPA that should not be missed. Get your tickets today.
We had some comments in one of our blogs regarding those weight-cards – the ones which had a picture of a celebrity in the front and the weight written on the reverse. Well, here’s a sample of what some people might called an ‘artifact’ 🙂
Front of card
Back of card
Yes, we have another class photo! This time, we’re clueless about the year; all we know is these smiling faces seem to be Prefects from St Michael’s Institution. Are you in this photo? Or, do you know anyone in this photo?
Looking forward to your comments 🙂
For those who have been waiting patiently, here is UV’s Episode 8 of ‘Schooling in Ipoh’! 🙂
Episode 8: Schooling in Ipoh
Life in Lower Six quickly went by. Soon we became the seniors and new Lower Six students were coming in. Many of those, especially those from MGS Ipoh were my friends from MYF (Methodist Youth Fellowship). ‘Ragging’ was the usual activity for these new Form Six students. It was really mild as each one had to appear before the whole Upper Six and was asked various questions. It was more like an introduction of themselves to their seniors.
With that done with, academic work became our priority. We have the HSC (Higher School Certificate} Examination to worry about. This is one hell of a tough nut to crack! We sat for four main subjects: English (English Literature), Geography, History and Economics as well as General Paper. There were 3 papers in English and Geography and History and Economics had two papers each. The minimum requirement for entry into local university (Only one then in Malaya – University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur) was two A Levels Principals and two A Levels Subsidiary passes (equivalent to an Ordinary O Level pass). If one does not pass with at least a Six in all the papers in a subject, one would be given a subsidiary pass.
Most of us would be concentrating on getting at least two Principal passes or three at best but the brighter ones would strive for 4 and even try to score distinctions in as many subjects as possible. Arts students are not noted for academic excellence and to get one or two distinctions would be very outstanding in those days. I decided to go for three and decided to leave English out, merely hoping to score a Subsidiary pass in that subject. Why? Our English teacher was Mrs. Teerath Ram Senior. She was boring to tears and I could never appreciate her teaching. I think the only thing I learned from her was the title of the poem about Omar Kayam! Until I started teaching poetry to some students as a private tutor, I really did not know what the content was!
In order for us to pass those three papers even at Subsidiary Level, we had to beg Mr. Chin San Sooi to give us extra lessons on poems. Passing the paper based on Shakespeare’s plays was not difficult as we could learn on our own with the help of guidebooks (something very popular in the 60s among students). However, the Romantic novels were left aside by those, like me, who didn’t want to get a principal pass. Thanks to Mr. Chin San Sooi, many of us were even able to get a principal pass, the writer included!
I banged on getting a distinction in Geography, as it was my favourite subject and taught by my favourite teacher. History was great when we had the late Ms Tye Soh Sim (Mrs. Eddy Chin) teaching us in Lower Six, but unfortunately she left for a scholarship to do her higher degree in Canada at the end of our first year. Ms Chong Nyuk Mui took over the subject. I was her ‘artist’ drawing those Historical Maps on the Board for the rest of the pupils to copy. I vaguely remembered they were European maps (rather difficult to draw) as we were doing European History from the 15th Century till Modern Days!
Economics was taught by a Ms. Wan and later a Ms. Tan. I remember Ms.Wan as someone who would come to class wearing cheongsam. She has a ‘unique’ way of pronouncing certain words and names. I can always remember how she would call Chevarani (Mrs. Siva now). Most of us would try to suppress our laughter each time she called her to answer a question. Many a times, the class almost brought her to tears! She left teaching after a short period with us. Ms Tan took over and was a direct contrast. She spotted the then fashionable slanted white framed glasses. She wore mainly Western dresses and was slim and petit. Many of the boys must have ‘fallen’ for her (writer not included). Her teaching was excellent as most of us did well in this subject (except for some girls)!
General Paper was taught by Rev. Butler White, a pastor of Wesley Church but also taught as a teacher in ACS Ipoh. His lessons were never dull. I did not shine in this during my Form Six days. I was only a moderate writer then and still is now.
In Upper Six, the Prefects were being scrutinized to be selected as Head Prefect and Deputy Head Prefect. Manogaran would has slotted easily into the Head Prefect slot and the post of Deputy would go to a Science Stream Upper Six Student (if any qualify) or an Arts student when they fail to get one from the Science Stream or the Girl Deputy Head comes from the Science Stream. However, Manogaran was a playful character and very often seen by the teachers to ‘misbehave’. His greatest sin was to go around poking girls on their side of their waist to make them scream and was caught doing so, one day, by a teacher! He was therefore not made the Head Prefect but the Deputy Head Prefect. The Head Prefect posts went to Yap Teong Aun (became an Engineer later) and the Girl Deputy Head Prefect went to Ung Swee Kim (daughter of the famous Mathematics teacher from Anderson School, Ipoh, Mr. Ung Kwek Chow).
At the end of the year, we sat for our examination in MGS Ipoh. Yes, the Arts HSC Centre for us was in MGS Ipoh and not in our own school as we had no hall big enough to accommodate both the Form Five Examinations and the Form Six Examinations. I already had my scooter (Lambretta) license in Lower Six and I transported my good friend, Loh Chin Hin from Rose Garden, to MGS every day we had a paper.
The examinations were soon over and it was a period of waiting for the results which came some time in March the following year. Some of us went to work, others took up various courses. I did neither but lots of church works – helping in the office, etc. When the results came, most of us qualified to enter university but some couldn’t because of financial restrains and so had to go into teaching colleges.
I was fortunate to get into University of Malaya, although at first I wanted to opt for law in University of Singapore, but because PSA sent me a set of application forms for University of Malaya and stated that I was on the reserve list for a Teaching Bursary, I submitted my application for an Arts Course in University Malaya instead. They never granted me the bursary! My parents struggled to pay for my fees and boarding.
On a sad note, Mrs. Teerath Ram died before the results came out. It was rumoured that she took her own life by burning herself at the back of her house. When my results came out, I dreamt of her walking from her house (in the school compound) towards the porch of the Main Building of ACS Ipoh and asked us for our results. I was there, in the dream, with a few of my classmates. I woke up with a start! It was so real. She was dressed in her usual flowing saree!
Life in school as a student ended in December 1964. I would return to ACS Ipoh not as a teacher but as a Principal 46 years later! I never taught in ACS Ipoh although I was a teacher, Senior Assistant, Afternoon Supervisor and Principal in other schools in and around Ipoh before returning to ACS Ipoh.
We know that many of our fans out there know Ipoh inside out! Well, could you tell us WHERE this part of town is? (picture below)
This picture was taken during the great floods….perhaps you may find some clues in the shop signs?
Happy guessing 🙂
In conjunction with the Perak Choral Festival 2011, the following events will be taking place:
For further enquiries/reservations, do contact PSPA: 05-5487814 / pspa2011fest@gmail.com
We thank Ignatius Chew for these pictures – taken at the Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) Ipoh, in the 1930s.
Perhaps Ignatius or any of the other ‘Old Salts’ (as they call themselves) could tell us MORE? 🙂
Looking forward to your comments!
We did better than just comments for AP(at)IpohBornKid sent us the following picture and words.
Re:ACS 1930s
Dear ACS Old Salts
Having read ACS 1930s and looked at the photos, I suddenly remembered that I am in possession of an 1932 ACS School Certificate Class photo of my late father. He was in the first standing row fifth from the right. Would someone bother to comment on the similarities and differences between the photograph already published and the one I just sent. Can someone name the teachers or the students?
My mother showed Mr Kesselring the photograph and I was immediately accepted to ACS Primary School at the age of 6, one year earlier. The old school tie system always works and what a great British tradition. Maybe UV@Valiant Knight might be able to explain to us what Form would the School Certificate Class be equivalent to?
PS:I was born in Ipoh General Hospital , hence the name IpohBornKid.
We have here a picture of the interior of Soon Yik Goldsmith shop. This picture was apprently taken when this famous duo (the lady with a knee length dress and the gentleman in a suit) visited the shop. Do you know these celebrities? I’m sure there’s a little story that goes with this picture – if you know more, we’d like to hear from you! 🙂
Here’s a sample of an old Soon Yik receipt…sent to us by ‘Ipoh Born Kid’
Dear Ipoh Old Timers:
Re: Soon Yik Tukan Emas in Hugh Low St
My mother bought a jade bracelet from Soon Yik in 1973, nearly 38 years ago.
My family members used to frequent this store.
Their receipt s clearly described what you bought, how much and who is the person that sold it to you. I agree with SY Lee that this is a truly honest shop.
AP@IpohBornKid
This picture was sent to us by Hasbi, who also provided us with some information:
1. 6th December 1927 – The Grand Hotel building which housed The Anglo-Chinese Girls School turned again into hotel.
2. 29th December 1928 – Grand Hotel new Dance Hall and Lounge were opened Saturday night by Mrs. E. A. Dickson, wife of D.O. Kinta.
3. 1st May 1936 – Voluntary liquidation of Grand Hotel, bought over by a wealthy Chinese syndicate, manager Mr. Lim Hee Jee.
4. 16th December 1937 – Dance Hall re-opened at Grand Hotel.
We thank Hasbi for the picture and the little details. Sadly, the Grand Hotel is no more…however, judging from the picture…..it was quite a magnificent building indeed!
Calling all Sam Tet alumni!
Can you guess the year this picture was taken? Do you know WHO they are? Maybe someone out there was once in this happy group…. 🙂 And, what about the flags?
We look forward to hearing from you.
From the recent comments we’ve had, some of you love looking at old photographs. Well, today you’re in for another treat!
We estimate the date of this photograph to be 1926, around the time of the great flood. The picture shows part of Station Road – notice the sign on the far right “Charles Grenier & Co Ltd”.
Making a rough guess, I think this was taken in the early 1940s (although I could be wrong). Is the arch still there in the present Kinta Swimming Club building? Tell us MORE….especially all you Ipoh-natives out there who know your hometown so well! 🙂
I’m sure many of you are grinning and nodding your heads at this picture!
Yes, this is what Medan Kidd looked liked in the late 1960s. Some of the buses shown in the picture have seen better days, but they still make their way round the town 🙂
There was some talk about giving this place a ‘face-lift’……I wonder what’s become of it?
We had a request for a picture of the famous Rose Villa. Here is one taken around 1982 (to see what it looked like inside, click here).
This mansion was once owned by Towkay Leong Tian – a miner and philanthropist. Sadly, the mansion (which was along Gopeng Road) is not there anymore. After it was demolished, the area became the site for 6 new houses.
We have here a rare picture of the Capitol Cinema, which was along Anderson Road, Ipoh. From what we’ve found out, this cinema was a ‘victim’ of a fire almost 20 years ago. Since then, the vacant site was turned into a car park. Sometime last year, the car park closed and the site is now under construction for a row of shop houses.
Can you guess the date of this picture? One clue would be the Kuomintang Flag flying above the large sign. Another clue would be the movie poster.
Mark Lay of Kinta Heritage recently informed us about the demolition of these pre-war shophouses – along the corner of Jalan Sultan Abdul Jalil and Jalan Lau Ek Ching . (see pictures below)
Notice that in the second picture (above), the frames of the door and windows are STILL in good condition. Sadly, they will soon be torn up and stacked on the ground (like the pile of planks in front).
Here’s part three of our little series! Can you guess the street? There are quite a number of clues in this one…so, keep those comments coming! 🙂
PSPA’s Brand New Musical Show, “Shiny Black Gold” depicts the life of an imaginary coolie who came to Ipoh from China to make his fortune from tin mining. In order to support the show, ipohWorld put on a small exhibition of artifacts which stressed the main aspects of the musical. Above you can see the story of the coolie at work and the dulang washer’s life.
The show is very true to life and also featured the coolie’s 4 Evils from which he suffered – The Triad Brotherhood, Gambling, Opium and Prostitution. This table features the last three, with old gambling tokens, a full opium smoker’s outfit and a book about local Japanese Prostitution – in 1921 there were at least 50 Japanese prostitutes resident in Ipoh.
Of course the coolies lived in the kongsi and here we feature communal eating by the light of an oil lamp.
Today, Sunday, is your last opportunity to see the show and visit the exhibition. There are two shows today at 4.00pm and 8.00pm and if you would like a ticket then there may be a chance if you phone 0125088818. Do it NOW.
Your ipohWorld hosts IKA and Felicia will be there to welcome you from 3.00pm.
Recognise this street? I’m sure you do…..especially those familiar landmarks on either side of the street 😉
For those who don’t know where this place is, keep following our blog – look out for the comments from those who know Ipoh like the back of their hand!
The picture may not be that clear, but do YOU know which part of Ipoh this is? The aerial view shot dates back roughly to 1967/68.
On the far left of the picture is the Ipoh Motors Ltd building…THAT should give you all a clue!
Happy guessing 🙂
We have here a Malayan Airways airplane, parked near the permetre fence of the airport. I’m sure it brings back memories of the Ipoh Airport a long time ago!
From what we’ve heard, there have been plans to revive this airport – anyone know MORE about this? Do share it with us…..it would be a shame if the airport is just left to waste away…..
This item was used by an Ipoh based, Kinta Valley surveyor in the 1950s. What is it? Sadly we have no budget for prizes – indeed, very little budget for anything, but if you get it right at least you can walk tall among your friends as the man who knows his Ipoh artifacts.
A second picture clue will be posted tomorrow if nobody has guessed it correctly.
So – Whatsit?
Well guys, you are all too smart for me and so I don’t need the second picture clur, do I? However the least I can do is put up the original item in both the closed and open position. So here it is.
So what about the most popular place in which it was probably used?
We have here a picture of Cedric and an antique car (note the number plate!). This picture of Cedric and the Austin 7 was sent to us by Nicholas Jennings.
Now, what about the building in the background, which is under construction? Here’s a tiny clue: this picture was taken around 1961….so, this building was opened to the public the year after.
I know some of you have the answer already! We’ll be looking forward to your comments 🙂
I’m sure some of you remember what this part of Ipoh looked like – way back in 1967/68.
Of course, now….a LOT has changed! The SHELL station has been renovated a number of times. As for the row of shop houses beside the SHELL station; well the half nearer to the junction is now Maybank, while the other half has been demolished (sadly). Across the road is Jubilee Park, which seems to be a shadow of its former self. 🙁
So, what was it like in the late 1960s? We’d love to hear your many stories!
Yes, there was a Rex cinema in Kampar! Of course, it’s not in use now….last I checked it was boarded up.
Anyone care to tell us MORE about this place? We look forward to your comments!
Believe it or not, this is what Ipoh’s first railway station looked like in the late 1800s (before the present Taj Mahal-like structure).
Amazing isn’t it? It is interesting to note that:
“…the first section [railway construction in Perak] was an eight-mile line running between Taiping and Port Weld….[which] opened for traffic in June 1885. The construction was carried out by two divisions of Ceylon Pioneers, lent by the Government of Ceylon.
The first through passenger train from Perak was that conveying H.H. the Sultan of Perak and suite from Kuala Kangsar to Kuala Lumpur on July 17th of that year [1896] to attend the Conference of Chiefs of the Federated Malay States.”
The above quote and picture were taken from the book Twentieth Century Impressions of British Malaya: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries and Resources.
Click here if you wish to see a coloured postcard and short history of Ipoh’s first railway station.
This was Tapah Road Railway Station in 1980. Old fashioned, rustic and clearly a leftover from the Colonial days that Malaysia seems to be so ashamed of. But those who feel this way won’t have to be ashamed of their history for much longer as we are told that KTMB are to demolish all the old stations. Kuala Kangsar, Batu Gajah, Tanjung Rambutan and all the others will soon be gone. And then travellers can enjoy the clinical atmosphere imparted by stainless steel and concrete, without having to look back at what life used to be like. However, if you wish to look back then click here where you will find a photograph of the station opening celebration in 1893.
Seriously though wouldn’t one or two of these old stations make great railway museums for the thousands of rail enthusiasts the world over? I thought Perak State wanted to encourage tourism!
Incidentally we are told that Tapah Road, being on the road leading to Tapah led to its name and that this name has drawn some criticism from local Malay linguists because it has a colonial ‘stain’ on it. A number of towns in Perak also have or had a similar ‘stain’ such as Slim River (still in existance), Port Weld (now Kuala Sepetang) and Teluk Anson (now Teluk Intan). Tapah Road maintained its name because the equivalent version in Malay (Jalan Tapah) is not suitable as a station is not normally named after a road, but a place. History is fascinating.
The photograph is again courtesy of Jerry de Witt. Thank you sir for thinking about us.
Courtesy of Jerry de Witt, this photograph taken from a MAS aircraft in 1975 clearly shows the Kinta River winding its leisurely way across the valley on its way to Teluk Intan. But don’t miss the tin mines – those large brown patches alongside the river – for in 1975 there was still a tin mining industry here, albeit approaching its “last legs”. Look carefully and you can probably spot a dredge or two clanking away and wresting the black gold from the ground.
Not so long ago was it, just 36 years, but today even though fortunes were made locally we don’t even have a suitable marker of any sort in Ipoh to remember those days gone by or, as Dr Ho Tak Ming put it, when tin was king.
Last week I had a meeting in The Cameron Highlands and took time out to visit a rather special place called “Time Tunnel”. Branded as “The Local Museum” this attraction features the personal collection of Mr. See Kok Shan – a fascinating collection of almost everything old found locally. Long and wide it is just like a tunnel and it is soon to become even longer.
As you can see it really is like a tunnel but completely stacked from wall to wall and floor to ceiling with fascinating collectibles.
Originally Mr. See came from Ipoh and would like to do something similar here – as we at ipohWorld would also like to do – but we all suffer from there being little or no interest in Ipoh for such attractions, even though we claim we want to expand tourism!
So next time you are in the highlands why not pay Time Tunnel a visit. Entrance is only RM 5 and it is well signposted just north of Brinchang by Kok Lim Strawberry Farm.
Do you know what / where this place is? Any clues? Well, I’m sure there are some sleuths out there who are cracking their brains – trying to figure out this little mystery!
Good luck to you all….we hope for LOTS of feedback/comments 😉
Those of you who grew up in Kampar might recognise this landmark. Yes, this is the Great World amusement centre – almost like Ipoh’s Jubilee Park!
We’d like to hear stories (as many as possible, of course!) about this place….I’m sure some of you out there have fond memories……
Ruth Rollitt was so incensed by the multicoloured Cathay that we featured, she sent us this photograph of how the Theatre looked when it first opened in those days of Movies and Mercedes. She included a newspaper article from 1958, the first part of which is inserted below. The whole article will appear on or database archive before too long. Unfortunately we received it to late to catch the movie! Did anyone out there see it?
“Special Cathay Supplement
A Milestone in Cinema Entertainment
Ipoh’s New Cathay Theatre
To build a luxury theatre in Ipoh has long been a wish of the Cathay Organisation. This is in keeping with their policy to provide the best that there is available in cinema comfort and entertainment.
Costing over $600,000 their new Cathay, Ipoh will be officially declared open by His Highness the Sultan of Perak, Raja Sir Izzudin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Jalil, KCMG, OBE, before a distinguished and cosmopolitan gathering at 8 pm tonight, the eve of Chinese New Year.
Out of a piece of rubber estate land there has risen a handsome steel and concrete structure housing one of the best equipped theatres in the state of Perak.
Among the guests who will attend tonight’s opening ceremony will be State and Town Councillors, community leader, heads of Government and other personalities.
Cathay Organisation personalities include Mr Loke Wan Tho, Head of the Organisation, whose inspired leadership and farsightedness has provided Ipoh town with the handsome and imposing entertainment landmark.
Mrs Loke will accompany her husband and Mr John Ede, Director and General manager of the Cathay Organisation will also be present.
This new theatre – a worthy acquisition to the large number of theatres already controlled by the Organisation – was designed by Mr B M Iversen, the well-known Ipoh architect.”
More about the Cathay can be found here.
…..that back in 1956, the Anderson Road Playground was affected by floods? (see picture below)
Notice the cars….as they drive through the water-logged road. Anyone recall this incident? Got any stories to share?
Fancy ‘IPOH’ being written in 4 different languages! To what we know, this picture was taken in 1958; we don’t know the place nor the people in the picture. Have you seen this multi-lingual signboard around the town? We await your comments and feedback!
Here we have a picture of the Ipoh Golf Clubhouse, which was printed on a postcard.
Care to guess the year (a rough estimate will do)? I for one don’t remember the club house looking like this…
Is this the same club house along Tiger Lane today? Or was there another club house somewhere else in Ipoh?
Back in 1919, there was a terrible flood in Ipoh town (as you see in the picture here, sent to us by Nicholas Jennings). This part of Ipoh is just off Panglima Lane (or Concubine Lane, as it were). What we’re curious to know more about is the name of this particular shop in the background – Japanese Curios. I believe the building is still there today (though I could be wrong); I do wonder what’s become of it?
This was sent to us by Nicholas Jennings. Does anyone recognise the building in the background? The only clue we have is that: upon close inspection, we noticed that this building was built in 1914. Other than that, we’re stumped!
Looking forward to some feedback 🙂
We have here a 1966 class photo from the National Type Primary School of Jalan Pasir Puteh (NTPS JPP). Our donor, Rosebud, told us that Chan Wan Seong (featured in a previous blog – ‘Badminton Hero from Ipoh’) can be seen standing in the back row, 6th from the left.
Can you spot anyone else in this photo? Perhaps one of you might have been in this photo too….. 😉
Recognise this place? Here we have a van advertising Sam Poh Medicated Oil – if you look closely, this same van was in the picture of the ‘Mercedes Hill’ (which was featured in an earlier blog post).
The van here is seen parked outside an unknown shop. Next to this shop is Sharikat Kin Wah Motor. Does anyone recognise the place? Perhaps there are other clues as to which street this is and as it also came with last Mondays “Mystery Street” blog it could be the same place?
Looking forward to your comments 😉
We have here a picture which is said to be the Kinta Swimming Pool. As many of you know, this pool has undergone quite a make-over (as stated in the previous blog). More about the Kinta Swimming Club can be found here.
Do you know which year (roughly) this picture was taken? Do share your thoughts with us….
We thank Nicholas Jennings for this gem – yes, there was a great flood in Ipoh in 1919!
I’m sure some of you recognise the street and the famous white building in the background.
Notice the hill in the background? Yes, this is the SAME hill which once ‘advertised’ the Mercedes symbol 🙂
Of course, now the symbol is gone….apparently it’s been replaced with 4 large white letters which spell out IPOH – almost similar to the famous HOLLYWOOD sign in California!
But I will always remember the Mercedes symbol which once stood proud on this hill – it was a unique landmark in a way. Does anyone have a picture of this hill with the Mercedes symbol? We’d like to hear from you….perhaps there’s a little story that goes with it as well 😉
From the recent blog posts, we know some of you out there know almost EVERY street in Ipoh! Which is a good thing, since today we have a little mystery for you – do you know which street this (picture above) is?
Looking forward to all your comments! 😀
I’m sure many of you recognise the bridge in these two pictures.
A lot has changed, hasn’t it? The bridge doesn’t look like this now – and the traffic has increased too! Can anyone guess the year these pictures were taken?
Looking forward to your comments 🙂
We received the following email and pictures this morning and thought that we should share it with all you heritage supporters out there. No doubt you will be as lost for words as I am – or will you?
HI all! This is one of my favourite kampung houses just outside of Terong, Perak, on the way to Lumut. It is right on the road side & I have taken pics of it over the years and was totally shattered to find it has been turned into a swiftlet house with speakers blasting like crazy. The swiftlet house pics were taken on Friday. Perak is being over run by swiftlet farms. Pantai Remis Sungei Kerang, all a mess! This particular change looks like a joke right? Total disrespect of such a beautiful example of Malay heritage!
Care to share your thoughts with our correspondent?
We have here a picture taken outside the Grand Hotel, Ipoh. This picture was taken on Christmas 1917, according to our donor Nicholas Jennings. Recognise anyone in the picture? A relative perhaps? Do let us know.
We thank Nicholas for this picture via email.
Here we have a 1960s picture of the Ipoh Swimming Club. Yes, I found it hard to believe it myself! This picture was sent to us by Nicholas Jennings.
This is a picture of Chan Wan Seong, a former student of Anderson School, Ipoh. This former Perak Junior Champion (badminton) was featured alongside the Veteren Men’s Doubles Pair of Ong Sin Oong & Woon Tong Yeong – in the Metro Sports section of the Star newspaper (dated 14 August 2010).
We thank S K Ong who highlighted this to us via email. According to S K, Chan has achieved World No.3 status in the Men’s Senior Category. He has also trained with another badminton legend – Datuk Tan Yee Khan. We were also told that Chan will be taking part in a number of upcoming events, such as: the All England Men’s Senior in Milton, Keynes, London (April 2011); the BWF Men’s Senoir in Richmond, near Vancouver, Canada (August 2011); and the World Chinese Badminton Championship, Shunde near Guangzhou, China (November 2011).
These two extra pitctures courtesy of SK.
There’s been requests of pictures of J A S Jennings’ gravestone. Thanks to Nicholas Jennings, here are an old and new picture of the grave. Hope this helps in terms of trying to find the grave. If anyone can provide us with more details, please do! All we know is that these pictures were taken at the Connolly Road Cemetery.
Here’s part 5, from UV.
Episode 5 – Schooling in Ipoh
After two years with the brightest of ACS for this batch of students which included Yee Woon Chee, Nga Tung See and others who constantly hogged the first and second place in the form, my various extra-curricular activities took its toll on me. In the crucial Lower Certificate Examination (Form 3) year I went to the ‘B’ class again.
In Form 1 and 2 I had Mr. Rasathurai for Mathematics. Incidentally, he was the son of the Head Master of the TR ACS Branch school. Later I understand, Mr. Rasathurai’s daughter became a teacher too and I think I met her once in Taiping when I was giving a talk to one of the schools there. Mr. Rasathurai was a fantastic Mathematics teacher but his jokes were even more fantastic. He would not fail to crack a joke every time he is in class and until today we can always recall some of them and oft-time we would use it whenever we are called upon to do some Master of Ceremony work.
In Form 3B in 1960 I was taught Mathematics by Mr. Balagopal. He is most noted for his bicycle and simple rattan woven bag. This greying, almost bald Indian gentleman would come into the class in a no-nonsense manner and would solve Mathematics problems rapidly on the blackboard for us to jot down, those who couldn’t solve them the previous day. Then he would stop half-way and asked some of us to complete the solution. Most of us couldn’t or would try and make some awful mistakes and he would be at at back, rubbing it with his open palm a few times before raising it to slam it hard down on our back! It would usually be accompanied with the words, “Idiot, it is?” Then we know for sure it isn’t the right solution! However, one would never forget how to solve a problem let it be Arithmetic, Algebra or Geometry after that whacking!
Mr. Balagopal gave me a strong foundation both in Mathematics and Mathematics 2 and it helped me qualify the next year for Four Science A. I have him to thank for this but I never pursued a career later in life that would require my using my Mathematical skills.
In Form 3B too we were blessed with Mr. Oh Boon Lian, our Geography teacher. No one would dare play the fool in his class. He wasn’t Mr. Quah Guan Teik who would cry when boys do not pay attention to his lessons. You pay attention to every word that comes out of Mr. Oh’s mouth when he is in class, so I missed nothing during his lessons. That was the start of my interest in Geography. In those days we had to learn all the Southern Continents and the whole of South East Asia for the LCE Geography syllabus. That is why today; those from that era could tell you the capitals of practically every country in South America, Africa and States in the Continent of Australia and New Zealand.
The Lower Certificate of Education Examination was a major hurdle to cross. It would decide whether you continue in Form Four in the Science or Arts stream. Most of us would sit for seven subjects. Others may also offer languages like Chinese, Tamil and Punjabi. O yes, I took up Latin in Form 1 and 2 but learned more to take punches for not being able to conjugate Latin verbs from our teacher who taught us during Saturday mornings for free! Some of you might recall him. He was the one instrumental for the start of Berita ACS! (No, not Mr. Jamit Singh)
When I visited Venice, Florence and Rome after I retired, I recalled some of the words I learned in Latin class but it did not help me at all when I was lost in Rome and luckily English was such a universal language, I was able to find my way back to my residence using it.
Science always intrigues me since Form 1 when Mr. Low Kum Wai started teaching us. He would make science come to life with all his stories of how to apply Science to our daily lives. I can never forget his lesson on friction when he described how he nailed nails into the sole of his clog and when cycling fast at nigh down the road he would let it glide over the surface of the road and would leave a trial of sparks to attract the attention of young girls! That’s Mr. Low Kum Wai and his Science lessons. How can one ever forget the facts with such a tale to fascinate you?
History was boring as usual. With the ‘What is Bronze’ teacher (see Episode 2) spending the whole year asking us to define bronze as the main part of our History lesson in Standard Four, I never took a liking to History in school. All we need do then was to buy a revision guide book written by a particular Indian gentleman (not a teacher in ACS) and memorize it and we are sure to pass! I did that for Form 5 too and even scored an A!
However, History was still the British version unlike what we have today. We learned Colonial History and History of the British Empire. We learned about Ancient Civilizations. We learned very little of Malaysian/Malayan History as there was so little of it except from book written by Englishmen! Parameswaran was a Hindu Prince then and Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat were heroes! I have often been involved in arguments with younger people over this! They do not learn what I learned in the past about these same characters!
In this episode I tried to give you an idea of what being in lower secondary was like. It was not so much the subject matter but who your teacher was that made you remember enough facts to pass your crucial examination! The teaching methods (Pedagogy) may be unique but it was effective, at least, for me. Learning was fun despite the threat of a major examination. Why so? It was so because our teachers made it fun! Even the whacking on the back with reprimands of “Idiots” and “stupid rascal” never deterred us from wanting to study and perform well.
What has changed today? Should a teacher lay a finger on a pupil the press will make a big issue out of it, police reports would be made and politicians will cry blue murder. I too have cried for the ‘blood’ of some teachers who went beyond the point of decency in handling students (especially girl students). Times have changed and teachers no longer can do what their own teachers did. I would accept a lot of things teachers did to my son but I don’t think he would accept the same being done to his children.
Do we call those days when I was in Lower Secondary school the ‘good old days’ or the ‘bad old days’? It depends on who is reading this. You share your comments on this, please.
We received this from Diana McGavin. This picture was taken at her christening, in December 1947, at St Andrew’s Church. In the background is the manse (featured in a previous blog), where Diana and her friends attended Sunday School (around 1955). Like some of our readers, she too hopes that this building will be saved!
Here’s part 4 of our series, written by UV.
A photo of the Author, in a Boys’ Brigade uniform during a Methodist Intermediate Fellowship programme. The American boy in the picture is the son of Bishop Lundey (Lundey was the pastor of Ipoh Wesley Church then).
Episode 4 – Schooling in Ipoh
I crossed over into secondary school education at the same time Malaya achieved independence. In January 1958 I entered Form 1. I was among the elite of ACS Form 1 students, many of whom today are famous professionals or business captains. Having taken things easy for the last few years in the 2nd class each year, to catch up and change my style of studying was rather difficult.
In the secondary school I became interested in singing as the teacher in-charge was a charming lady, Ms Wong Suet Lan who was also my Form Teacher. I joined her junior choir that would sing for some church services. It was this year too that I took part in a Christmas play and played the role of Joseph. Of course there would be a Mary and of course my friends would link us together for years to come, but we never became more than just choir mates.
In the primary school days, my parents would send me to Sunday School conducted by Wesley Methodist Church Ipoh. Here I obtained my religious education in Christianity. I was also involved in the Methodist Intermediate Fellowship and the Boys’ Brigade (2nd Ipoh Wesley Company). I have already selected my path I wanted to follow from those early years. The Church would become a very integrated part of my youth.
I took my studies as something that was essential but I would not devote all my time to it. I decided that my extra-mural activities must also play a very important role in my life. My parents, thanks to them, left me alone and never pressured me like some modern parents do to their children to just study and do nothing else. In this way I had a very full and rich life in my lower secondary school days. It was because of this that I never imposed on my own children the need to just concentrate on studying.
I never attended a single day of tuition throughout my school life. My tutors were my fellow classmates who were better in certain subjects than I was and I too became their tutors in subjects I was better in than they. You would be surprised that the telephone was a great way to communicate with your classmates to ask for help in doing homework in the late 50s and early 60s.
Yes, singing was fun. Parading under the hot sun every Saturday Afternoon when it was not raining with the Boys’ Brigade was great training for discipline. I had to spend the whole morning on Saturdays to polish my shoe until I could see my face on its surface, polish the metal buckle of my belt, all the metal badges and make sure my shirt and pants were starched stiff and ironed smooth. After Boys’ Brigade meetings, the whole group of us would then adjourn to the Kidd Road bus station for a cool drink or the famed ABC (Ais Batu Campur or then known as Ice-kacang). Our mode of transport was our bicycles. [Some of my BB friends have already contacted me through this website.]
During the holidays we would go hiking or camping. The Kinta River was the favourite spot for hiking or camping. We also attended an all-Malaya gathering of Boys’ Brigade Companies know as the National Boys’ Brigade Parade (same as Jamboree for Scouts). It would take place in various towns in Malaya. I attended those held in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and the local one in Ipoh.
Methodist Intermediate Fellowship was a church organization for youths below 16 years old. Here we were involved in social activities centred on Christianity. We had an elected organizing committee like any society with counsellors giving guidance. Here too we had the opportunity to socialize with girls. Something other boys my age never had, except for those girls in their neighbourhood. Many of these girls were from Methodist Girls’ School, Ipoh but there were others from other girls schools too. Here too developed some puppy love among the boys and girls.
Life was rather interesting in those early days in lower secondary. I would continue with more interesting in-depth stories in the coming episodes.
Aren’t they cute? Well, this adorable pair are the de Lucy twins (once featured in our blog).
When was the last time YOU played dress-up? I’m sure you have some fun stories to share!
We thank Charlie Choong for this postcard – featuring an aerial view of Ipoh.
From the building at the bottom left, you can certainly guess which part of town this is! Also notice that there was once a roundabout near the Ipoh Padang….
Today’s feature is none other then the Star Barbershop, at Belfield Street.
Star Air-Conditioned Hair Dressing Salon,
97 Belfield Street (now Jalan Sultan Yussuf) IPOH 30000
The Star Hair Dressing Salon came into being in 1927, it was started by Megarai Karuppiah with just 2 barbers – Katchiappan and Manickam – and the premises were shared with a Japanese tailor before it was fully owned by the barbers.
It is a very old and well- preserved hair salon, with two 4th generation barbers still working. One of them started working at the salon in the 1953. The exterior of the shop is quite old and the building is old though there were few changes made to the structure of the shop over time. The shop has a unique style of tilted mirrors which run across the right side of the wall when entrance is made
through the front door, according to Thirunavu Karasu a/l Krishnan, the 4th generation barber, the mirrors were tilted for a better view for the customers. Right opposite that wall, there are 2 gorgeous ceramic basins without any damage of cracks over all these years.
There are electric hair trimmer and hair dryers ( Italian made) in the shop though rusty and old but still in working condition. There are few remaining chairs in the shop which look absolutely fine and strong, these chairs were imported from Japan, with the grey embossed letters “TOKYO – TAKEHANA CO – KURAMAE” on the metal frame of the foot rest, where Kuramae meaning “as strong as a sumo wrestler”.
Leaning against the back wall of the shop is a wooden cabinet with slots cut on the drawer fronts. These slots were used by each of the barbers to put in the daily takings from the customers.
Initially there was no electricity supply in the shop, so the cooling used to be provided with a Punkah Wallah to fan the customers before the ceiling fans were installed. Then in 1954, a ducted air-conditioning system was installed which was then replaced by 3 window air-conditioning units after 10 years.
The shop once employed 14 barbers and they used to live above the shop where they were provided with food as well. Their records were adequately kept and at the end of the month, each barber would be entitled to a salary depending on number of haircuts achieved, minus food and laundry allowance.
There is a framed group photograph (above) of all the barbers and the valued customers, hung from the top edge of the mirror and dated 1965. In the centre is Dr. Moreira who would normally ask for a barber to visit him in his office.
The salon has been given a notice from the property owner which means that there has to be end to its service after 84 memorable golden years.
This is a summary of the full story and a great selection of photos submitted by Peter Shaoming Wang. The full story and photographs may be found here.
On the left, we have Mr Thiru’s grandchildren. A traditional family they are seen saying their prayers. On the right, is Thiru (today) with his wife and granddaughter, Saathana.
Some of our fans out there love old photos. Hence we decided to feature this one on our blog today.
Here’s one of J A S Jennings (Editor of Times of Malaya) and his wife Freda – being chauffeur driven round the town. In the background is the first Times of Malaya Building.
Yes, folks! Today’s blog is a tribute to the Ipoh Tree – the picture we have here was taken (by S Y Lee) just outside the Ipoh Railway Station. Below is the plaque with an explanation.
Besides the Railway Station, the Ipoh Tree (also known as the Epu / Upas Tree) can also be found at the D R Seenivasagam Park.
Today we’re featuring the 3rd installment of UV’s Schooling Days.
Picture of the ACS Primary Building (from the 1800s), taken from the Kinta Valley book.
Episode 3
I didn’t do too well in my first year in ACS Ipoh. I was placed in the ‘B’ class the following year. It knocked the pride out of me and possibly the high expectations my parents had of me. It also set me off, young as I was then, to accept disappointments and being taken down a peg or two. I settled in easily in the new ‘B’ stream. Practically all schools stream their students according to their academic performance during that time. There would be class positions and ‘Standard’ positions based on the total marks of all the subjects. So if you are first in class in the ‘A’ stream you may be first in Standard but should there be someone from the other streams obtaining a higher total than you, you may end up being second in Standard. Nobody wants to be the last in class (even in the best class) or worse still, last in the Standard!
It was this system of evaluating a pupil that started this silly race to be academically ‘excellent’ in our Malaysian education system. Parents talked about their children having obtained this or that position in school. “O, my son was first in class”, a proud parent would proclaim proudly while another would sheepishly say, “My son only came out 10th.” So what if he is first or tenth or for that matter last? Is his future determined by the so-called ‘position in class and Standard?
Mixing with boys who ‘were not so clever’ so to speak widened my outlook in life more. It proves to me that I am also someone who is not at the top all the time. My desire to lead a life of a boy in the Fifties just started then. The pressure was off and I could do with the minimum of studies and get by. I started playing games amongst my neighbourhood friends; go on cycle rides every evening and practically the whole day on weekends. Life was great!
I had my first sex education in Standard 4B in ACS Ipoh. There were some ‘naughty’ boys who would tell you tales of ‘sexual exploits’ (more like peeping) that they had experienced and one even showed what masturbation was in class! (I hope I am not censored.). Yes, during the Fifties we were not so fortunate as to get all the pornography via the Internet. It was all related through word of mouth from ‘experiences’ someone had. All the innocent ones (me included) would listened attentively to ‘juicy’ tales from the more ‘experienced’ fellas.
I had a lady class teacher then, Mrs Lee Hoo Keat, the daughter of Mr Aw Boon Jin, our Junior Supervisor. ACS was divided into Primary, Junior and Secondary then. Mrs Lee was a tall lady and would often come to class dressed in ‘samfoo’ (a Chinese form of attire made up of a pair of pants [straight cut] and a short blouse of the same floral cotton material. While she teaches, she would be seated behind her teacher’s desk and she would cross her legs and swing the leg that was placed above the other. Eventually, her shoes, which she put on loosely, would fly off her foot and fly out of her desk region and someone has to send it back to her. The boy seated at the front of the row that was nearest to her desk has this task.
Our English teacher was Mr Aw Boon Jin and we would dread his periods. Every mistake we make would be ‘rewarded’ with a swipe of his thin cane that he carried around across our palm. I learned my English Grammar and spelling very well those days. Even worse would be detention after school for serious and repeated mistakes. I was detained once and my brothers left me behind and I had to walk home. It was a lesson well learned.
History was taught by Mr. Wong Chong Choon (we nicknamed him ‘Choon Toi’ because he was rather mean to us). He would from the first day of his History lesson about the Bronze Age asked us “What is bronze?!” For weeks that would go on and none of us ‘stupid’ fellas could answer him. This would go on for practically a whole term and he would never give us the answer. I think I did not find out exactly what bronze was until very much later. I remembered this teacher in particular also because he made a classmate of ours stand on a chair with his pants off as a punishment! I can’t imagine what would happen to a teacher who does this today!
In Standard 5, I once had a hockey stick landing on my head by a teacher for talking while he was teaching. I too will never forget him. He was Mr. Ng Pak Hing, a brother of the famous Dr. Ng Yoke Hing, Chairman of the Board of Governors of ACS Ipoh. I never told my parents about this incident until I left school. Luckily I must have had a thick skull then. Punishments were dished out in all sorts of forms those days and we do not go crying back to our parents for obvious reasons. Our parents will blame us for being naughty and that was why the teachers punished us. We also took our punishment like a man and would consider it sissy to tell our parents.
In Standard Five, I had a very interesting teacher. He was Mr. Robert Leong. He runs a small shop in Anderson road (half a shop) selling comics and other gadgets. Because of his outside trade, he would tell us fantastic tales from comic characters like Superman and Captain Marvel. These characters come to live the way he told the stories with gestures, facial expressions and ‘sound effects’ (made from his vocal organs only). This would then make us interested in the comics he sold. No, I am not saying he sold them in class too! We would then go out and hunt for them and long for each new one. He was very creative too as he would invent new stories and characters with superpower. Once he told us how his ‘hero’ could fly because he ate lots of onions and let off gas to propel him into the sky!
Yes, we had some interesting teachers then. Soon it was the year for the Secondary School Entrance Examinations. If you fail this examination, you cannot get into Secondary School. You would become a Primary School dropout! The year was already 1957. It would be Merdeka soon. The Examination would be post Merdeka. By the time I was admitted to ACS Ipoh the Primary School Grading System had already been changed. It was from Standard 1 to Standard 6. (Primary 1 and 2 were dropped and the old system of Standard 1 to 9 abandoned. Secondary school started from Form 1 to 5 as it is today with Lower and Upper Six for those who wanted to go further to Universities.)
I took my studies more seriously by then. I spent more time reading and learning but still played a lot with my neighbourhood friends. I continued with my model making hobby and played with self-made toy soldiers and table-soccer. I too was very creative and imaginative in the way I created my own play things and battle scenarios. I use my bed, mattress, blanket and pillows to create battle terrains of various types for my mock battles that would last hours. I love to read war comics. Since my brother-in-law was an ardent fan of those war comics depicting battles of World War II, I had the opportunity to read lots of them. These gave me a very good background of military tactics and strategies and reading books about pilots (Biggles) and war heroes was my craze.
The end result of my taking my studies seriously was I passed very well and for a ‘B’ class boy to end up with the 12th position in Standard was a surprised to my teachers. I remembered Mr. Ng Ah Fook announcing the result to my class and when he called out my name and position and I was not really overjoyed, he showed a shocked face. I had never been excessively overjoyed by any major successes in the academic field no matter how good the results may be. To me, it was merely another hurdle to cross and the next one to face.
It is said that the main building of the Angle Chinese School (ACS) was ‘erected and opened in 1914’. It was also said to have a ‘landmark, Edwardian-style building’ which stood ‘parallel to Lahat Road’. Interestingly, this building was designed by C H LaBrooy! (for more on ACS, click here)
This picture here was sent to us by Ignatius Chew. Do you recognise anyone?
Here’s a Day and Night shot of Cathay Theatre (when it was STILL a cinema) – notice that the mall behind Cathay was Ocean (now, it’s The Store). We thank Valerie for these pictures who has now provided the following additional information:
“The dayshot was taken in the morning of October 1998 when the street was not busy.
The building was just freshly repainted with new color shemes that combine the
best of traditional art deco and modern day glitziness. The “C” on the right hand
side of the marquee is the Cathay logo that was not yet put back up after the paint job
but was up for the night shot.
The nightshot was taken that same day right after Ocean turned off their lights
to close up for the night. The timing of the nightshot was perfect as it made the glittering lights of Cathay stand out elegantly without the distractionof Ocean in the background.”
Thank you Valerie.
We have here a picture (sent to us by Phoebe) of the Kinta Lodge. Notice the members in their Freemason Regalia – particularly the interesting designs on the Aprons!
From what we’ve gathered, the first Masonic Hall was along Maxwell Road. The building was later taken over by Anderson School. Then, the Masons moved to their new building (in 1931) along Tiger Lane (this building is still used today).
However, the building shown in this picture seems rather different from the former and latter Lodge. Was this the interim building used while the new Masonic Hall was being built? YOU tell us 🙂
By the way, we are currently putting up a large collection of freemasonry items on our main database all related to one Ipoh planter, Dato’ Ronald Boxall. Just go to http://www.ipohworld.org and search for “All” and “Boxall”. Although all the 150 items are not up yet there is plenty to see there and you may be able to help us improve the descriptions.
What a nice touch this was for on the back is a flyer for the next Chinese movie showing at the Rex.
Dpoes anyone out there have any info or photos of the old Rex? If you do please share it with us and do have a Happy and Prosperous New Year.
Here we have two pictures from S Y Lee – teams of the Perak Chinese Recreation Club, Chung Thye Phin Road. You will notice the old wooden building in the photo of the footballers. The present building is quite ugly but functional and built at the minimum price.
The Inter CRC Ladies Hockey Champions (1951)
SY says: “For the ladies hockey team, I can only remember Ms. Lim Suan Gaik who is standing at the extreme right. She is still around for I saw her a few days back. I remember the Ooi sisters, there were three of them but I can’t remember who are the ones in the photos.”
Ipoh League Champions (1958-1959)
And for the photo of the footballers he says, “I know some of the nicknames but not the actual names except for Mr. Yee Seng Choy, who represented Malaya or Malaysia. He was recruited to Hong Kong as a player. He is second from the front row. Second from the extreme right is Mr. Wong Kam Seng, another national player. My father, Mr. Lee Kang San, is standing at the extreme left.”
Does anyone know more names of these star players, or more about the Recreation Club? If you’re one of them in these pictures, we’d like to hear from you too 😉
…there was this corner shop (see picture below).
Your task for today: tell us a little more about this shop. Is it still there? Perhaps it’s been turned into something else?
There also seems to be a tiny booth just outside the shop. I wonder what the booth was for…..
Here we have another picture from Robin Tan’s collection. He is seen here (in red) with some friends at the Ipoh Airport. In the background is the Jetfox 97, and on the extreme left is part of the airport’s control tower. As stated in the caption, Tony (white shirt, with shades) used to airdrop payrolls in the 60s (ref. to our previous blog post).
From the smiles on their faces, it must have been a great reunion 🙂
The proud owner of this beauty is none other than William McKenzie (the man with the hat, standing by the car). McKenzie, as we were told, was the Manager of the Ulu Piah Mine in Ipoh. This picture was taken in the 1920s.
A big thanks to Phoebe for the picture and the little details.
Here’s the 2nd Episode from UV-Valiant Knight.
Episode 2
The Central Mental Hospital, TR. This picture was taken in 1952; the Writer’s mother is seated next to the Matron (an English Lady).
Aerial view of the ACS School, Ipoh
Mr. Samuel Welch later joined the newly formed Royal Malaysian Air Force and became a very high ranking officer before retiring. He married a woman police officer, Blossom Wong, who became famous when she was the bodyguard of Queen Elizabeth II when she visited Malaysia.
I remembered the time when Mr. Welch was teaching us English and we were reading from the reader a story about Red Riding Hood and he wanted to dramatize the story. He got some of us to act out the various parts. Unfortunately, I was given the role of Red Riding Hood and had a handkerchief for a headscarf and rosy cheeks plastered on by using a red chalk! From that day, my classmates always teased me and being new and quiet, I was nicknamed a sissy! I only managed to rid myself of this ‘title’ in Standard Four when I took on the class bully in a fist fight!
This class bully was much taller and of a bigger size than most of us and he would pick a fight with anyone at any time. I decided to put a stop to this and decided that the only way to get him out of my back was to fight back. Fist fight was common in boys schools then. Disputes would be settled with a fist fight that eventually would end up as a wrestling match. Usually the weaker boys would be beaten up, have their shirt and pants dirtied or torn, sometimes they would end up with a black eye or two black eyes, a bloodied nose and swollen cauliflower ears. I was lucky to end up with a dirtied shirt and had to answer to my parents as to why it was so.
Fights in school were not tolerated and if we were to be caught, we could be caned by the Supervisor or the Discipline Teacher. Mr. Aw Boon Jin was the Junior Primary Supervisor (as he was called then) and he has a thin cane that would land smack on your open palm. It was a real sting and one would carry the cane mark for at least a day. One has to hide this from one’s parents or else one would get another caning at home!
I was saved by the bell that ended our recess (a short break for pupils to ease themselves and have a bite to eat). Pupils in primary schools usually bring along some packed food from home with a bottle of drink. Most students then would use a tomato sauce bottle that would contain a pint (we were using the British Measuring System then) of drink. I love coffee and this was the drink of the family. Real black coffee from ground fresh coffee beans would go into the brewing of the drink. I suppose that’s how Ipoh White Coffee became so famous today. Most Ipoh folks were great drinkers of coffee. We never had Tupperware then and we make do with containers made of metal that once contained sweets or biscuits. They were of all shapes and sizes and displayed colourful pictures of people or scenery.
Big bullies would demand a share of one’s food or drink. Many pupils would rush to the canteen (also known as the ‘tuckshop’ in ACS Ipoh) to buy some food and a drink. One could easily get a bowl or plate of noodles/rice for ten cents and a drink for five cents. In ACS Ipoh then, we had to line up to exchange our coins for tokens (made of metal) and use these tokens to buy food from the various hawkers. The ‘contractor’ (one who runs the cateen) was the late Mrs. Ng Ah Fook, the wife of a teacher in the school. Mr. Ng Ah Fook later became the Headmaster of the ACS Primary School.
There were various stalls in the canteen. Since recess was short and there were hundreds of us from each session (Lower Primary would have their recess first, followed by Junior Primary and then Lower Secondary and Upper Secondary), the bowls and plates of food would all be dished out and neatly arranged on the counter of each stall and all we had to do was take one and pay with our metal token and go to the side for the soup to be added if it is a soup noodle bowl we took. There were hardly any changes in menu! Day in and day out we ate the same stuff. Next we would queue up for a drink and this was when we had to be very careful not to spill our drinks. If it should spill on someone, a fight may result there and then and we would not get to eat or drink that day. Worse still, we would be hauled up for caning.
To avoid all the hazels, most meek and mild pupils will bring their own food. After all, home cooked food is always the best and you can sit anywhere to eat. There was no rules to say one has to go to the canteen to eat. One could bring any kind of food, too. There was no such thing as ‘halal’ or ‘haram’ food.
Most pupils will also use the interval time to ease themselves. ACS was and still is, notorious for poor toilet facilities. At my time, there was only a toilet way behind next to the Horley Hall (hostel for outstation pupils) and it was so far away that one had to run there and back if one wanted to eat as well during the break. Then, it was so small that not all can use it at once and a long queue would result. Inside was an open system where all the boys would line up on two sides of the building and pee into a drain that runs the length of the building. Sporadically, water would sprinkle from a lead pipe that runs about 4 feet from the floor and if you are unlucky, water might splash onto your shoes or pants while you are peeing! The stench was overwhelming. If you have to do the ‘big one’ you have to wait even longer for your turn and you wouldn’t want to eat after you have finished. The flush system would not work so regularly for each user! So the excreta of the previous user would remain while you add yours and so forth.
Yes, life in the Primary School has lots of interesting events. These are common, I suppose in all schools during the early Fifties. We only had a few teachers and they taught us various subjects. Specialization was not common. Our class teacher would normally teach us the important subjects like English, Mathematics, Geography and History. For Art we would have a different teacher as this subject needed talent on the teacher’s part. During my time, there was this old teacher, Mr. Wong Hean Lin who would remain in his Art Room and we would all move to his room to learn drawing and painting.
Most of the time he would give us a topic for imaginative composition and we spend about two periods producing something on a large piece of art paper. We had to bring our own pencils, water colour, brushes and water containers (usually a small glass bottle [Brands Essence of Chicken bottles were the first choice then]. After each lesson we had to wash our brushes, palettes and containers and this would be the time for some bullies or cheeky characters to flick their brushes still wet with colours on someone’s shirt or pants. Here again a fight would start!
Serious fights might at times occur. If such a fight was scheduled, it would usually be arranged for the fighters to meet after school behind the famous gymnasium of ACS Ipoh. This way out corner of the school was selected because it was secluded and out of the way from the school’s office and Principal’s house. All those with news of the fight would gather and it would be a real show then. Very often, it would only be stopped when one of the fighters plea for mercy! It could be rather bloody at times, being fought with bare fists!
Today we’re featuring the charming ladies from the AIA Sports Club Christmas Eve Party. Yes, don’t they look lovely 😉 Anyone of you out there remember them? We’d like to know their names (and perhaps, a little more about the party too!).
We would like to thank Ed Cheong for this photograph. 🙂
Some of you might remember this bungalow – at No.50, Gopeng Road (also known as Midhurst). The bungalow belonged to J A S Jennings (Editor of the Times of Malaya).
These pictures (below) were sent to us by Jennings’ grandson Nicholas. We were told that this bungalow was built in the late 1920s. After Jennings’ death, it was sold to the Perak State Government in 1937. It used to be the residence of the State Secretary of Perak, and the land behind it was the Istana (Perak Sultan’s Palace).
The driveway leading to the house.
Jennings outside his home.
We thank Nicholas for the pictures and the little details.
The Cubs from NTPS, 1960
We thank SK Ong for the above picture. Perhaps some of you out there are in this picture; looking smart in your Cubs uniform and cap 😉 I remember being part of the Red Crescent Society – it took me a while to learn the RIGHT WAY to tie an arm sling! But learning some basic First Aid was quite fun.
Speaking of school clubs, which club/society did YOU join?
We have here a contribution by one of our readers – UV -ValiantKnight. He would like to share with us his childhood memories, especially from his schooling days at the Primary branch of ACS (in Ulu Kinta). Below is his story, together with a couple of pictures. Happy reading!
S.K. Methodist, Tanjong Rambutan
T.R. Methodist Church
Schooling in Ipoh
Episode 1
Would you believe it if I told you that I started schooling in ACS Ipoh’s branch primary school in Tanjung Rambutan (Ulu Kinta)? Yes, there is such a place as ACS Ipoh’s branch primacy school then in the early 50s. This school is now a full fledge primary school. However, back then, it was only a branch school housed in a church building (TR’s Methodist Church (Chinese) but used by all congregations – Chinese, Tamil and English).
I went to that school because my mother was a nurse (the first Mental Trained Nurse certified by the Registrar of Nursing, England) in Central Mental Hospital, Tanjung Rambutan (now renamed Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta). Yes, my siblings and their school going friends were object of teasing and ridicule when they were dropped at their respective schools in Ipoh by the CMH bus! However, many from this unsavoury place associated with mental disease became famous Malaysians.
I never had the experience of travelling to Ipoh by this bus. I was registered in the ACS Ipoh Branch Primary School and my father who was a temporary teacher there took me to school on his bicycle every morning until he left to join the Home Guards during the height of the Emergency. From that time on, I had to walk about 2 Km from my mother’s nursing quarters to school and I usually take a short cut along the railway track that ran from just behind my house to the front of the school.
It was safe then to let a 6+ walk alone along a railway track then. If this happened today, I would not be here to write about it. I would be joined by a young friend who was the brother of a famous radio announcer later in life.
There were not too many pupils in the school and there were only 3 classes, Primary One, Primary Two and Standard One (that was how classes were graded then, it later became Standard One to Standard Six and now it is Year One to Year Six.
What I remembered about this school most was its horrible toilet! It was a small outhouse away from the main building and a huge jar (I could barely pee into it being rather short then) where all the boys had to urinate into (to be used by vegetable farmers). The stench was horrible and flies were in the hundreds. I refused to go (if possible) and so cultivated the ability to hold on with my bladder full until I reached home each day. One day, I could not and wet myself and that was a day to remember! I think my classmates also cannot forget that day to my peril. However, it taught me a lesson in life.
When I became a teacher and should a pupil ask me for permission to go to the levorotary I would never deny him or her! It also taught me that one cannot be in full control all the time and that nature has its way to let us know that it is in control. A few years later, a friend in class did something worse; he could not hold back ‘the big one’. I was sitting next to him and one could imagine the stench! I helped clean up the chair and floor because I was next to him and also I remembered what happened to me a few years before that day. Of course everyone nicknamed him “Lai See Poh” (a lady that dirtied her pants with excreta) from that day onwards, but he was OK in life despite that name!
I am sure many of you did experience this when in school, either as the one performing these acts or had friends in class doing them. Care to share?
Familiar? For those of you who are stumped, this is the Raja Perempuan School (RPS) – which is along Chung Thye Phin Road (opposite Main Convent Primary School).
We’d like you to have a guess at the date of this picture (we don’t know ourselves!). Maybe if anyone of you know the history of the building, you could share with the rest of us? 🙂
I’m sure the Ipoh-ites out there are grinning at this picture (courtesy of Jeffrey Liew) – especially those who frequently travelled along Club Road (Jalan Panglima Bukit Gantang)!
Remember the Milano Tailor? I wonder where he is now…..since this building is no longer around (so much for ‘development’). Yes 🙁 sadly this is now an empty lot which houses abandoned/wrecked cars.
Anyone care to fill us in with MORE information?
This is the staff of the Anglo-Chinese School (ACS), Ipoh.
Could anyone tell us the year (a rough guess would do too)? And, perhaps if you can remember these teachers – we’d love to hear from you 🙂
I’m sure some of you ACS-alumni out there are already searching your ‘database’!
We thank Joshua Anantham for sending us this photograph.
This was sent to us by Robin Tan. According to Robin, Mr Radcliffe (in white shorts) used to take him sailing when they were not gliding.
Yes! Gliding – as the Kinta Valley was a suitable place, since it was blessed with many hills. Even the climate gave the much needed thermal boost for gliding. Plus, the Ipoh Airport wasn’t so busy then. This was back in the late 50s and early 60s.
Sadly gliding activities in Ipoh slowly died off as the years went by. For those (like me) who have never had the experience, Robin describes it as “…peaceful, serene and quiet way of flying without vibration and noise…” and that “…the only sound you hear is the whistleling of the wind over the wings..”.
Ahh, what bliss! 🙂
Still in the party-mood? Well, these girls are! Looks like they’re all doing the Conga…. 😀
I’m sure some of you recognise the place (judging from the background). The year was 1964 – were you in the Conga line too? Were you at this party?
This was taken at the Ipoh Girl Guides’ Hut (Wisma Pandu Putri), at Greentown – near the Jalan Abdul Jalil football field. The girl guides appear to be dressed in national costumes from around the world, while dancing round the May Pole.
Are you in this picture? Do point yourself out – and maybe tell us more about the costume you were wearing too!
Remember the old fire brigade at Brewster Road? Here we have two pictures of the fire brigade’s compound – showing the girls from the Main Convent.
These girls were part of the Firefighter Cadets Club, which was established in the school in the 1980s.
The fire brigade has moved to another premise (opposite the Perak Stadium), but the old building still remains. Anyone know what’s become of the old building?
Thank you to Puan Zora, a former student and teacher from the Main Convent, who lent us these pictures!
We have here the front page of the Times of Malaya, dated 7 December 1936. Yes, the Times of Malaya was Ipoh’s FIRST NEWSPAPER – which began publication in 1904. Two years after its first publication, the paper welcomed a new Editor; none other than J A S Jennings (picture below).
For the next 30 years or so, Ipoh (and Perak too!) regarded Jennings as their ‘voice’ – Jennings was particularly concerned about the social happenings in his adopted home state of Perak. Sadly, after his passing the paper declined. It was eventually bought up by the Straits Times Press Pte Ltd.
We thank Nicholas Jennings (grandson of J A S Jennings) for sharing these pictures with us.
After ‘reuniting’ those from ACS, Anderson and NTPS Pasir Puteh……we’re now calling out to the “Sons of St Michael’s Institution ” !
Here we have Std. 6 D, all the way from 1969. Come on, Michaelians….don’t be shy. We KNOW some of you out there might have been in this class. Do point yourselves out…and maybe tell us about your fellow classmates too 🙂
This is No.14, Tiger Lane (Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah) – back in 1948. To what we know, the Clemetson family lived here and they were well known to the Iversens (B M Iversen‘s family).
After the family left, the house remained empty. Sadly, now it is almost ‘invisible’ from the main road – with the grass growing wild, and creepers scaling the walls (see our previous posting on this mansion). Does anyone know WHO owns the land now? How come nothing has been done to prevent the house from ‘wasting away’…..or at least keep the lawn in order?
The Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) was the first English school (and first Christian mission school too!) in the Kinta Valley. This school was established by the Methodist Episcopal Mission in 1895. It was said that just five days after his arrival, Rev W E Horley opened ACS in a small attap-roof Malay house rented from Datoh Panglima Kinta Muhammad Yusuff.
Here we have Std. 5C, from 1968. Our donor Mr Sundralingam is somewhere in the picture. What about you? I’m sure we have some former ACS boys out there (especially from this class!). What about the teachers shown here – are they still around?
This is the first Times of Malaya building, which was along Post Office Road. The first issue of Ipoh’s first newspaper was published on 9th March 1904. 2 years later, the newspaper was taken over by J A S Jennings – who remained the paper’s most influential editor for a good 30 years!
In the early 1930s, the Times of Malaya moved to a new building, along Brewster Road (see picture below).
After the war (after 1945), this building was used by the Public Works and the Department of Drainage and Irrigation. What’s become of it now? Can anyone fill us in on the latest?
We thank Nicholas Jennings – the grandson of J A S Jennings – who sent us a copy of these rare pictures.
This picture was sent to us by Ruth Rollit, the daughter of the Danish architect B M Iversen.
Familiar? No? This is what the interior of the Lido Cinema looks like today – as you can see, it’s not longer a cinema. Lido has now been converted into Florex Restaurant.
In this picture, the raised level shown was where the bar used to be. Has much of the interior changed? I noticed that the original floor tiles are still there. What about the rest of the place?
At that time, this $ 600,000 cinema was considered luxurious. It was declared open by His Highness Raja Sir Izzudin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Jalil (the Sultan of Perak), on the eve of Chinese New Year. Designed by B M Iversen, this fully air-conditioned cinema (with its ‘colossal 75-foot tower of jade tiles’), stood proud along Cockman Street – the same area which was once ‘home’ to rubber trees!
This picture was taken on the opening night; after the grand ceremony, the patrons were treated to Darryl F Zanuck’s ‘CinemaScope 55’ production of – you guessed it – The King and I. How many of you out there were at the opening ceremony? How many of you ‘fell in love’ with the movie?
We’d like to thank Ruth Rollit (the daugther of B M Iversen) for sending us this precious photograph.
Now this is one event you really must take your children to. Many of the people you will see practising their skills are the last of the line as nobody is prepared to continue their trade. Consequently it may be the only time that your children will get to see this in real life. It’s a “Must Go” event, so even if you have seen it all before don’t rob the younger generation of their once in a lifetime opportunity.
Don’t forget
27th November until 5th December daily, 11.00am to 6.00pm, at
The Garden Villa, No 5 Gopeng Road
Recognise this? This picture was taken outside the Secondary School Assembly Hall, of the HIJ Convent, Ipoh. We were also told that this was the 1964 Senior Cambridge Class. It was sent to us by Sybil. Thank you for sharing it.
Calling all Convent girls – are you somewhere in this picture? If so, do tell us where you’re standing…and perhaps name some of your friends too. We’d also like to know who the teachers were (seated, front row); not forgetting the Nuns as well!
But as you probably guessed this was Sam Poh back in the 1960’s, not long after the big renovation of the 50’s. No doubt many of you would have been dragged along by your parents to visit and pay respects.
According to legend, the cave was discovered in 1890 by a Mahayana Buddhist monk from China who was passing through Ipoh; he decided to make it his domicile and a place for meditation. He remained there for 20 years until his death.
Until today, nuns and monks who dedicate their lives to Buddha still occupy the Sam Poh Tong. There are 246 steps will leads to an open cave with what used to be an excellent view of Ipoh and its surroundings, but much of this (view) has, in my opinion, been spoilt by development.
If you would like to read more about the temple or see a short video of it please click here
Now here’s a sight for sore eyes! It is 1963 and the boys and girls (boys in drag!) of Pasir Puteh are putting on “Old King Cole”. Which one is you? Do write in if you recognise yourself or anyone else.
And here we have Standard II in 1961. Wah didn’t you all look like little angels then! Ms Wan is the class teacher and next to her is the headmaster Mr. Bhagwan Singh. S K Ong who kindly sent in these photos, and two more from later years, is standing in the second row, second on the right.
So who else can you recognise?
Those were the days: when the traffic in Ipoh was rather scarce, and riding around the town on a bicycle was SAFE! Here we have some youngsters riding past the Lido Cinema. This Iversen building is no longer a cinema now; if I’m not mistaken it’s been turned into Florex Restaurant.
Playing in the cinema at that time (1958) was ‘Rock, Pretty Baby’. This movie starred Sal Mineo, John Saxon Shelley Fabares, Luana Patten and Edward Platt. It was a simple story about a teenager who, despite his father’s objections, formed a rock and roll band with his friends. He later tried his best to obtain bookings.
Did anyone out there watch this movie? Did the movie start a trend among the younger generation – as in starting their own band? Or, perhaps it started a fashion trend?
Once upon a time, at the YMCA in Ipoh…..
….men and women (young and old) danced the night away! Was it a competition, or just another social event? When was this event held at the YMCA? Perhaps, some of you out there are in the picture!
We await your feedback, especially if you were one of these dancers 😉
Wery well known and a beauty from young, when I came across the picture I could not resist putting it up.
Who is she and what can you tell us about her.
With all the recent blogs about beauty contestants and pretty girls I thought we ought to have a look at some!
This photo was very kindly sent in by our good friend Hong. It was taken in our very own Lido Cinema in 1962. They are the final contestants for the Miss Perak competition run in conjunction with Ipoh’s celebrations on being declared a municipality.
They are Miss Kampar, Miss Ipoh, Miss Taiping, Miss Teluk Anson and Miss Kuala Kangsar, but what were their real names? We would love to know.
So guys out there, which one is your Miss Perak?
And girls – from the feminine point of view, what do you think?
Here’s a scene from the old Ipoh Airport. As you can see in the background, there’s an airplane with the words ‘Malayan Airways’ on it. Hence we think this picture was probably taken in the early 1950s – by 1963, the airline was renamed Malaysian Airways Ltd (MAL).
I remember in the late 1980s or early 1990s, there were joyrides for the public at the Ipoh Airport – needless to say, my brother and I never stopped talking about it after our first ‘adventure’ in the air!! Don’t know if they have this service anymore. I wonder what’s become of the Ipoh Airport these days; heard that they’ve started a flying school there (but I may be wrong…).
What were YOUR memories like? Perhaps someone out there could tell us more about the Ipoh Airport…..
Familiar? Yes, this is our very own natural jacuzzi!
I remember visiting this place once – before Lost World of Tambun was built – and my brother and I would relax in the pool while watching the world go by 🙂 There was a very distinct smell of sulphur in the air, but it didn’t seem to matter to the crowd. I also recall a man selling eggs (which were left to cook in the smaller pool, while you soak or swim in the larger pool).
Are the hot springs still there now? Last I heard, the place would open after Lost World closed for the day – which was around 5 or 6pm. If I’m wrong, I stand corrected. If anyone out there knows MORE about this, do tell us. We’d also like to hear of YOUR memories of the hot springs…..
Now here is your chance to enjoy Ipoh’s heritage buildings all in one place at the Garden Villa, No 5 Gopeng Road. Here you will see some really great photos of our famous buildings in this heritage architectural photo exhibition. Come and see buildings as others see them, you may be surprised with what you find.
The exhibition opens on 7 November and runs until 23 November 2010
from 11.00am to 6.00 pm daily.
Do come along and while you are there, cast your mind back to the days when Eu Tong Sen would take refuge in the Villa away from the bustle and noise of Eu Chateau. Alternatively picture it in your mind as occupied by the Japanese or as it was later a kindergarten full of local boys and girls enjoying their pre-school fun. We look forward to seeing you there. You’ll enjoy it!
This arch was set up over the Hugh Low Bridge, in Ipoh, somewhere in 1947. This was before the grand parade – which was held in support of the Kuomintang Party (led by General Chiang Kai Shek).
Notice the three flags at the top of the arch: the Perak Flag, the Kuomintang Flag and the Union Jack. To what we know, this parade was jointly sponsored by the Chinese Assembly Hall members and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce.
How many of you out there remember this arch? Anyone witnessed the parade, or maybe took part in this parade?
Familiar? These were what the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) officers looked like in the 1960s – khaki uniform and rattan-woven shields!
Looks like they were giving a demonstration for the public – the one kneeling in the centre, facing the camera, was probably the Leader of the platoon (from the stripes on the shoulder, he was probably a Corporal).
Was this demonstration in Ipoh? Were you one of those in the crowd? Or, perhaps….were you one of those in the platoon?
We await for your comments…………..
Running this blog and database is a very interesting thing and sometimes the coincidences that take place are nothing short of amazing. The very same day that I said that I had never heard of a kindie in No 5 Gopeng Road, I visited a relation in Pasir Puteh. And there was an album full of faded coloured photos of the very same kindie!
As Felicia knows, this is not the first time that this sort of coincidence has happened. Could someone be watching over us? If they are then let us hope they continue to do so for we need all the help we can get to run this site.
Now, apart from M K Wong, who else went to this kindergarten? Was this taken on sports day? What was the kindie called? Can you recognise anyone? What else can you tell us? Naughty children stories or whatever – we need them all! Do let us know.
Once the premier state of the Federated Malay States, Perak pioneered tin mining, rubber, roads and railways in Malaya. In the early twentieth century, Europeans and Asians venturing into this frontier country bought picture postcards to send home to family, friends and pen pals all over the world. Perak Postcards 1890s-1940s represents the largest such collection ever assembled into one volume, with more than 500 picture postcards contributed by several collectors. Practically all the major Perak districts and towns are featured – Ipoh, Taiping, Kuala Kangsar, Telok Anson and the mining towns of Kinta.
Malcolm Wade, a stalwart of the Malaya Study Guide, has written an authoritative postal history of Perak. Abdur-Razzaq Lubis and Khoo Salma Nasution, authors of the critically acclaimed Kinta Valley, Pioneering Malaysia’s Modern Development (2005) have extensively captioned the images – using contemporary sources, travelogues and memoirs to illustrate these vivid windows to the past.
This book is published by Areca Books; ISBN 978-967-5719-01-1.
The book is priced at RM 120, includes 575 postcards plus a few stationery and real photos.
For more information, do visit www.arecabooks.com or write to arecabooks.gmail.com
This villa was build around 1910, by none other than Eu Tong Sen; Eu used this as an annex to his Chateau (Forest Lodge). We were also told that this Anglo-Malay Bungalow was the home of Japanese senior officers (between 1942-1945), and was where Ipoh residents queued up for rice coupons.
Garden Villa was also once a kindergarten, and a Christian Chapel. Today, after restoration works, it is a venue for exhibitions, talks, seminars, etc. (this was featured on a previous blog post).
Rumour has it that: the store room (in this bungalow) had a trapdoor leading to a secret room – which hid Japanese armaments! Also, this bungalow was once used as a brothel after the war!
Are there any other interesting stories about this place? I’m sure some of you out there have a tale or two to share….. 🙂
Not a very difficult question for you on this bright Monday morning, but of all the grand old buildings in Ipoh that have been torn down, I think this is the one I miss the most.
Fortunately we have this photograph as a memento of what, in my humble opinion, should never have been demolished. But it was – suddenly and without warning – for that is how we do things under Malaysia Boleh. I think it was lost to us in 2002 but I may be wrong. Does anyone know when it was built or have any history about it? More photographs would also be welcome.
Felicia is sick today so some interesting replies would certainly brighten up her day.
This exhibition entitled “Ribbon of Life” will open at Garden Villa, No 5 Gopeng Road at 11.00am on 16th October 2010 and run daily from 11.am to 7.00pm until 26th October 2010, not 10.00 to 6.00 as stated on the flyer.
All exhibits are for sale and all proceeds raised will be donated to the Pink Champions Breast Cancer Welfare Association and the underprivileged through the outreach programme.
For enquiries please contact Ms Betty Caleb at 012 521 8711 or En Harith Idris at 012 521 8956.
I am sure ipohWorld readers will give their support to this great opportunity to pick up a piece of quality art and at the same time help such a worthwhile cause, but don’t dilly-dally on the way or you may miss a great bargain.
Fellow Main Convent Alumni……….recognise this? It is said to be the kitchen. I don’t recognize it……this was WAY before my time 😉
Maybe some of you out there know which part of the Main Convent building this is……do let us know. And do tell us if this building is still there today (perhaps it has been restored / renovated?).
We await for some good news……….
Here we have pictures of a family car, taken in the late 1950s in Kampar. These pictures are from Charlie’s personal collection – yes, this beauty (car shown above) was Charlie’s FAMILY CAR!
This one shows the same car…with the hood down.
Oh, what a treat it would be…….to ride in such a car in this modern age!
What was YOUR family car?
Here’s one for the album!
This picture was given to us by our friend Charlie…..yes, that’s Charlie on his tractor 😉
As children, we played with toy soldiers, match-box cars, teddy bears, dolls, board games, etc. But I do wonder: how many of us had such toys (picture above) when we were little? Certainly Leong Cheok Loong had a mobo bronco, and Ong Wei Mei had a triang jeep.
Care to share your sweet memories with us? Or, perhaps…some of you out there ‘improvised’ cardboards and other stuff for amusement?
This series of four books has just been reprinted and they are now available direct from the author singly or as a set of four. They cover, in fascinating detail, the Special Branch activities during the first and second Malayan/Malaysian Emergencies and in China thereafter.
The first book “Communist Eraser” is a 366 page personal story of the author who served in the Special Branch of the Royal Malaysian Police Force for a third of a century and from where he retired as its Deputy Director of Operations. A full review may be found here. The book costs RM55 plus RM5 post and packing within Malaysia.
This is followed by ‘ Against the One-Eyed Dragon”. Among the insurgents was a central committee member – the highest rank in the communist hierarchy – known only as the “One-Eyed-Dragon”. This is the true story of how Scorpio, leading 12 Special Branch Officers, tracked him down and eliminated him. A full review may be found here. The book (167 pages) costs RM25 plus RM5 post and packing within Malaysia.
Next is “On the Dragon’s Trail”, 259 pages which relate Scorpio’s operations against the Communists after they assassinated the Inspector General of Police in 1974, while being driven to his office in broad daylight. There are detailed descriptions of the planning and execution of all his operations in the jungle, estate areas or the streets and alleyways of a big city, A full review of this book may be found here and it costs RM40 plus RM5 post and packing within Malaysia.
Finally “In the Dragons’ Playground” relates an entirely different but true story. After the second Malaysian Emergency, Scorpio’s duties included organising the briefing and debriefing of visitors to China and when he learned that a Malaysian Trade Mission was to pay an extended visit to China he managed to get himself included in it, suitably disguised as an official in the Ministry of Primary Industries. Before leaving he was asked by his father to trace his relatives in South China and a Commonwealth liaison officer asked him to try and find a ‘mole’ with whom his Embassy in Beijing had lost contact. He succeeded. To read more about the story click here. Again this book of 261 pages costs RM40 plus RM5 post and packing within Malaysia.
The books may be ordered from the author Datuk Dr. Leong Chee Woh, contact 0193124759 or ahwohtoi@yahoo.com. For a full set of books there will be a reduction in postage costs. Payment vide his Maybank account, details being provided when you place the order. For overseas purchasers please enquire about the postage to the above email.
These books are recommended as easy reading, true history of Malaya/Malaysia’s fight against the Communists over more than 30 years. They should be read by young and old. Leong Chee Woh is a great author and he knows the truth for HE IS SCORPIO.
Eu Tong Sen and Chung Thye Phin (two of Ipoh’s many Towkays) once built a weekend retreat, Forest Lodge, at Gopeng Road. It had a large stable – befitting the common interests of these “blood brothers”, which included motorcars, racehorses, and country houses. Later, when Eu Tong Sen was appointed to the Federal Council, Chung Thye Phin sold his half-lot to Eu Tong Sen – thus a much grander accomodation was built.
(Front view)
(Side view)
During the Japanese Occupation, this building served as an army base. Sometime in 1949, the building was taken over by the Perak Islamic Mission Association. ‘Forest Lodge’ then came to be known as Pusat Rawatan Islamar-Ridzuan, which was a medical centre for Muslims.
Although it’s not the ‘Forest Lodge’ anymore, the unique structures (the arches and windows) have remained the same. Also notice the crescent and the star, something not usually found in such heritage buildings.
From what we’ve heard, the Islamic Medical Centre will be moving out from this place. What’s going to happen to it? We hope it won’t be demolished or left to wither…..
While in Falim some time ago, our friend Charlie stumbled upon this curious building (picture above).
Not to be confused with the ‘lions of Hugh Low Street’ – but they DO somehow look similar.
These ‘lions’ have been ‘living’ in Falim since 1906. We wonder what this building was BEFORE it became Syarikat Electrik Kong Ah. Anyone knows?
Perhaps someone out there used to live here? We await your thoughts and comments…..
Yes it is John De Lucy and his twin brother having fun in their garden pool under the supervision of their Amah, but of course this was during the Malayan Emergency and so the ever-present armed guard is also in the picture. As John himself relates in our earlier blog, eventually they had to leave Malaya (in 1952) as the Communist attacks became too strong to ensure these youngsters safety.
This second picture again shows the twins happily posing for their photograph, but in this case the ominous feature is the armoured Ford V8 car that they are sitting on at the entrance to the estate.
Now for our younger readers who enjoy the security and good living in today’s Malaysia I would ask you to consider how different your life would be if the communist threat had been allowed to have its way and turn us into a communist satellite of China, back in the 1950’s. Should you not be too aware of what happened in those times then I would suggest you click here to find out a little more about the Malayan Emergency and those that saved our country from the Communist threat.
For those who wish to know more of the detail of the Emergency thre are over 300 historical entries, the majority with photographs, that may be accessed from our database here. Many of these have come from those who fought in the jungle for the future of our country as a democratic entity.
We thank John De Lucy for sharing these photos with us.
We refer to a previous posting about a traditional Malay-type house in Gopeng (here).
Our good friend Charlie brought to our attention the following NST article, as an update on this Gopeng mystery (see pictures below).
Azim Abdul Aziz, an architect, had decided to restore his grandfather’s 80-year-old house. Since the main road was being widened, the house had to be moved – hence, it was taken apart tile by tile, plank by plank, and moved deeper into the family’s durian orchard.
Azim’s grandfather was a rubber tapper, who built this traditional Malay house; “a post and lintel timber structure with a thatched gable roof….a roof of clay tiles imported from India”. It was rather tedious, but the hard work paid off (see here for pictures of the house’s interior).
Work began in September 2002 and about 2 years later, the house was given a new coat of yellow (like the original). The only change perhaps was the adding of the lanai (a platform, overlooking the orchard), which was built at the back of the house. Azim and his family “intends to use the lanai for outdoor dining and seating” – since it ‘opens’ the area and provides a scenic view of the orchard and a stream.
So, restoration MAY take up a lot of time and money, but the end result is worth it! To Azim and his team – 3 cheers for you, for a job well done!
We received the following email and a number of family photographs recently from a lady named Judy and, as we usually do, would very much like to help with this enquiry which reads:
“I am researching my family history and trying find out as much as possible – of whatever type, good and bad – about my mother’s family. She was born Joan Marjorie Joseph(e) in 1930, in Ipoh, one of 13 children to a family of, I believe, tin miners. Amongst her siblings were Clarence, Clive, Kenny, and Patricia. In 1957 she married James Gardner, a rubber planter who had managed plantations in Ipoh and later at Rasa. the family may have, let us say an ‘interesting and colourful’ history and would be most interested – as I said, good or bad – to learn whatever I can.”The above photo is described by Judy as:
“The Gardner-Joseph wedding photo is, of course, my parents wedding.
You’ll see that my Aunty Pat has been scratched out – my mother’s doing, I’m afraid! I would be particularly interested in identifying the other people shown and where it took place.”
These additional photographs feature Vivian and Joan Joseph (left) and the wedding of brother Kenny to a lady named Helen.
Finally we have a single photo of “Auntie Girlie” as an officer in the Malaysian prison service, in Ipoh in 1967. Her badge of rank is one pip on her shoulder. Recognise her? If so please let us know.
All together we have 9 old photographs of this family and if anyone believes they know anything about them we shall be happy to email more to help with identification. We look forward to your help.
This is Ms Chung Lai Leng – a pretty Ipoh girl, who gave up selling welfare lottery tickets to become an apprentice with a dressmaking firm.
She was photographed by Francis Lee; her picture, along with several other Ipoh beauties, appeared in the 1960s magazine “Ipoh: The Town that Tin Built” (published by the Ipoh Local Council).
We are grateful to Sundra for providing this photograph.
Wonder where she is now…..maybe some of you out there have met her?
You don’t see beauties like these anymore! Houses like these are hard to come by; the few that are left either go through EXTREME renovations, or they just end up being torn down and a modern structure replaces them.
A little patching up here, some painting over there – and there you have it! A nice cosy abode for the family 🙂 . Incidentally, these houses are almost all that remain in Ipoh of the dozens designed and built by the well known architect C H LaBrooy . They stand behind the shops in LaBrooy Road which at one time was lined on both side by houses of similar, LaBrooy, design. Now there are only these three left. We are gratefull to the LaBrooy family , for the assistance they have given us with their family photographs and information about thise old days when they lived at Dulcieville Lane – where Parkson Ipoh Parade is now.
Anyone lived in such a house before? Do share your memories with us….
Noting the response to our previous posting, we’ve decided to put up two more pictures of the said family:
Peranakan or Chinese? We don’t know…maybe someone out there knows….
Here we have a better view of the house. Note also the number plate on the vehicle – PK 3226. That should give you a rough guess as the when the picture was taken.
We await for your comments / feedback 🙂
To what we know, this family used to live at Simpang Pulai, Perak. Surprised? So am I…never knew we had Peranakan families here in Perak! Notice how the women are dressed, compared to the Western suit worn by the man (probably the husband of these two women).
Maybe someone out there knew them? Or, perhaps one of the children in the picture here is still around? Do share your thoughts with us.
Here we have a picture from the 1970s, showing the Tadika Batu Gajah (Batu Gajah Kindergarten).
To what we know, this kindergarten was housed in a wooden shed, within the compound of St Joseph’s Church.
The shed can be seen in the picture (above) on the left; the long, wooden structure on the far left, which is painted yellow. This shed was also once known as St Joseph’s School, somewhere in the mid 1940s. The girls from St Joseph’s School were later moved to Jalan Pusing – the present location of St Bernadette’s Convent!
The picture on the right shows the front of St Joseph’s Church, which was built in the late 1920s. The church is near the Batu Gajah Hospital.
Meet Mr and Mrs Tan – the diligent and creative couple, who produce ‘lion heads’ (and ‘bodies’ too).
We featured Mr and Mrs Tan’s store in a previous blog; we can’t help but feature them again – together with some of their masterpieces (pictures below).
Such an art seems to be fading as time goes by. It’s a pity, since these vibrantly coloured ‘lions’ and ‘dragons’ never fail to entertain us – especially during the Lunar New Year!
We thank Charlie for these pictures.
I’m sure many of you have seen this place (picture below). It’s said to be near Kok Kee Restaurant.
Familiar? Here’s another shot of the mansion, a different angle…
Some of you must be smiling and nodding your heads. What we’d like to know is what’s become of this place? We hope it won’t be torn down or suffer gastly make-overs. Maybe it could be restored, like the Lam Looking Bazaar?
Do share your thoughts with us…..
Those who frequent the Pasar Besar (Main Market) of Ipoh might be familiar with these (picture below)
Yes, these shop houses have stood the test of time; and they’re STILL going strong! The 3rd shop from the left is particularly interesting – the one painted yellow, with the words ‘Market Terrace’ at the top.
As can be seen (picture above, left), it’s a double shop; the shop with the grey shade makes ‘lion heads’ (picture on the right). It’s rather fascinating to know that this trade is still being carried on, even till today!
Has anyone been there? Do share your thoughts; perhaps some of you have met the owners….
The above pictures were taken inside Falim House, which was once the abode of Foo Nyit Tse. Much of the old furniture and trimmings have been preserved – which attracted the production crew of the local drama Sybil. The pictures below were taken at the set.
For Sybil, Falim House was used as the home of the Japanese Officer; the picture on the right shows Sybil being held captive, with a Japanese soldier on guard.
Like Falim House, we hope such heritage buildings in and around Ipoh be preserved / maintained….
How many of you remember them? The cars, I mean…..yes, the MGA and the Austin 7!
Notice the Austin’s number plate – P 236. I wonder how many Austins there were in Perak back in 1959. Same with the MGAs. Anyone had the pleasure of driving an MGA or Austin? The boy in the dark pants seems to have ‘chosen’ his favourite ride……Nothing like a classic car, eh?
This place was said to have a large hall on the top floor. During the war, the hall was a Japanese mah jong den. Later (after the war), it was turned into classrooms for the Sam Choy Primary School – this was during the day time; at night, it was the venue for the Chinese Opera!
We know some of you out there need no introduction to this famous landmark! We’d like to hear from anyone who has MORE information. As in the picture, the ground floor is being fully utilised – but what about the hall?
Remember them? (see picture below)
(These lions can be found on either side of the front porch, of the Falim House)
Yes, these are the two faithful lions who ‘guard’ Falim House; we were also told that these lions were made of cast iron, not stone!
They are painted red, obviously for “good luck”. I wonder if they were specially made for Foo Nyit Tse? I know some houses have a pair of lions, but they’re made of porcelain. Besides lions, were other animals used? Other then Falim House, were there other places with similar ‘guardians’?
My grandma Yim Mun had a penchant for classical things. This was due to a privileged upbringing in her childhood home. As the daughter of a wealthy and respectable man, she had an eye for high quality and lasting items. She always went for good brands.
This was a vintage Singer treadle sewing machine which grandma bought in 1928. She paid RM130 for it, quite a princely sum back in those days.
Based on its serial number Y 3254573, I managed to trace its origin. It was manufactured in Clydebank, Scotland in the year 1925. That makes it almost 85 years old.
Grandma used it to do some light patchwork. Many years later, she gave it to her daughter who was a tailor. After many years of heavy usage, it could no longer function so smoothly.
My aunt simply abandoned it and bought a new electronic machine. It was left to gather dust and stand idle at a corner for many decades. However, being a possessive woman, she does not allow anyone else to touch her mom’s property.
It was not until 1973 after my grandma’s death that my dad decided to overhaul it and bring it back to life. He felt it was a waste to leave it idling around.
First, he traced the details of the machine into a piece of blank paper and marked them accordingly. Next, he took out part by part and sorted them into different categories. Since they were very rusty due to years of neglect, Dad soaked each part in kerosene for some time to remove the rust. Then he painstakingly polished them until they were shiny again. Every nuts and screws were given a touch up.
It was truly a labor of love. He wanted to give it to Mom who really needed the machine to sew some clothes for us.
Every night, after he had finished sharpening scissors, he would labor on this machine. It took him almost two months before he could restore it back into its original glory. Once it was finished, it was as good as new! Today, it could still function so well.
Mom was so thrilled to finally have a sewing machine and we could have some clothes to wear instead of old hand me downs. Especially for me, because as the youngest child, I always got fifth hand clothes!
Beside this sewing machine, grandma also bought a vintage Bush Radio which was manufactured in London around 1940s. This radio was bought in 1945 after my dad opened Nam Foong Coffee Shop at 188 Hugh Low Street. It was actually sold to her by a regular customer.
This customer was a hardcore gambler and he lost heavily at the Race Course. Desperate for some quick money, he took his family’s radio and made an offer to my grandma who could not resist this gem. She wanted to buy it so that the patrons of the coffee shop could have some entertainment. It was a good decision.
While enjoying the smooth and aromatic tau foo fah, the customers were serenaded by music and songs from all over the world. During its prime, we can actually tune in to stations from the USA, Europe, Africa and most parts of Asia. It was on from morning till night. It served us until mid 70s, a total of almost 30 years. Due to heavy usage, it eventually broke down.
I found out that it can still be repair but it has to be done in London where the manufacturer has a department to repair and restore its vintage radios. And they also have a website for buying and selling such vintage gems.
There were many other valuable items which my grandma bought throughout the years. Among them was a big grandfather clock, a vintage typewriter, a gramophone, a charcoal iron and some porcelain wares. My family had sold them off to antique collectors to raise fund to treat my youngest uncle in China. He eventually died from a tumor in his neck at a very young age. Today, only these two items were left to remember my grandma.
Foo Nyit Tse started off as miner, under Foo Choo Choon; he later opened his first mine in 1898. In the 1920s, Foo Nyit Tse (who by then was a well known mining Towkay) built Falim – ‘a self contained housing estate, with a large num of low cost terrace housing and 40 shop houses’. Falim, which means ‘beautiful forests’, is located along Lahat Road; between Ipoh and Menglembu.
Here we have Falim House – Foo Nyit Tse’s mansion, which was built across the road from the shop houses. It was at this very mansion that Towkay Foo entertained the Who’s Who of Ipoh society back then. The picture above is the front view of the mansion; notice that on either side of the porch, there is a red, stone lion.
This picture is a side view of the mansion; on the left of the picture, seems to be what once was a courtyard – perhaps Towkay Foo had open-air parties too?
We thank Leong Yew Kee for providing us with these photos.
China, in the late 19th and early 20th century, was stifled with social upheavals. The Qing Dynasty 清朝时代 was on the verge of collapse. Many rebellions were mounted but were ruthlessly suppressed and brutally put down. It was very dangerous to live in that country during such a turbulent period.
Guangdong广东, a southern province, was a hotbed of anarchy. The people living there used to say “Mountains were high and the emperor was far away山高皇帝远.” Therefore, many young men in that province do not hesitate to rise up and revolt. They just wanted a more peaceful life for themselves and their families.
Against such a volatile backdrop, my paternal grandpa, Yip Kwee Kee叶巨基, was born, circa 1890 in Nam Hoi 南海district in Guangdong. Although diminutive in size, a man of few words and illiterate, like many of his contemporaries, he was drawn to the idea of a Republic.
He was a very skillful bean curd maker and very proud of his trade. Business was good and every cent he earned was donated to this cause. He was a very generous man.
The government arrested many of its opponents and their sponsors. They were executed publicly as a deterrent to others.
He learnt, to his horror, that his name was blacklisted by the government. So, to save his head from being chopped off, literally speaking, he decided to run away to Malaya 马来亚or Nanyang南洋 as it was called then. He also changed his name to Yip Soo 叶苏to avoid being hunted down as he knew the government was hot on his heels.
But something unexpected happened. The village headmaster, who was also a staunch supporter of the same cause and a well to do man, came with his only child, a young girl called Yim Mun严曼, to see him as he was packing to leave.
“I’m too old to run away but please take my daughter with you to Nanyang. You can have her as a wife since I knew you are a hard working man” he told Yip Soo.
Of course Yip Soo felt humbled by this sudden offer and could not turn down the respectable headmaster and the young girl standing in front of him. He gladly accepted this “gift” and promised to take her along to the new land. That was how an illiterate bean curd maker suddenly got himself a wife. A wife that was dropped from the sky, my Dad joked to me.
After a tearful farewell, they boarded a steamer and set sail to a far away foreign land, determined to start life anew.
Grandpa has heard about the tin mines in Perak. Back in his village, many young and able bodied men went to various places such as Gopeng, Kampar, Batu Gajah or Tanjung Tualang to work in the tin mines as coolies. Most of them went to escape poverty but later got themselves even poorer and indebted to some “middle men” or “agents” who had arranged for them to go there. Many spend years to redeem their freedom. This wave of illegal human trafficking was called “Mai Chu Chai卖猪仔 (人口贩卖).”
No, Yip Soo did not intend to work as a mine coolie. He only wanted to sell his bean curds to them. He knew there was a ready market for his products. So, together with his new bride and a few of his brothers who also followed along, they settled down in Gopeng on arrival, circa 1915. They rented a little wooden hut and started making bean curds to sell for a living.
Grandpa and his brothers quickly cut their long braids and threw them away. You could not be able to do that in China. A long braid is a symbol of subordination to the Qing Dynasty and any man found not having one will have his head chopped off at once!
Later, his brothers branched out and started their own families. Not long after this, grandma gave birth to my dad and his two sisters. They made Gopeng their home.
His business grew and he began to prosper. Having a little extra cash in hand, he began to indulge in gambling, his favorite pastime. He could always spend long hours gambling while his wife and children were left at home waiting for his return.
Grandpa always brings home meats and vegetables from the market after he had finished selling the bean curds there. On the way home, he would often dropped by the gambling dens and once he was engrossed with his games, he would totally forgot about the food which became stale at the end of the day when he finally goes home. Many quarrels broke out between him and grandma because of his callousness.
Once, he was caught in an illegal gambling den and together with the rest of the gamblers was taken to the police station. There, they were made to parade around the town with hands cuffed and placards hanging from their necks with the word “Illegal Gambler非法赌徒”. They were booed and jeered at by the locals. To shame you publicly was the way the British authorities punished illegal gamblers.
Grandpa soon earned the nickname “Tofu Soo 豆腐苏” among the miners who were mainly Hakkas 客家人. They simply loved his smooth bean curds which were cheap, nutritious and delicious. He soon became a popular figure in the market and the gambling dens!
Many years later, he decided to have another wife to help out in his growing business. You will need as many pair of hands as possible in this trade. It was almost impossible to do things alone. What with the grinding, cooking and also chopping fire woods!
Unlike her husband who could neither read nor write, not even his own name, grandma was an educated woman. She grew up reading classical literatures and doing embroideries. As a “siew cheh 小姐” or “rich missy”, she was used to being waited upon by maids in her childhood home.
As a “siew cheh” worth her salt, she hardly touches any house work, let alone roll up her sleeves and helps in chopping fire woods! That would be a tall order. Anyway, Grandpa did not expect her to do anything other than sitting down and minding the children. All hard work was beyond her. To him, she was just a “gift” from a rich man.
You can’t really fault her. You see, she has a pair of bound feet. Even though her feet was “released” after just a few years and they eventually grew back, but they were already deformed and she has difficulties walking. It took her many years to learn to walk properly again and it was excruciatingly painful for her to do so.
In those days, you do not have Indonesian maids or helpers. Driven by sheer necessity, she sat down and wrote a letter to her relatives in Guangdong asking them to look out for another wife for grandpa. The candidate must be someone hardworking, willing to slog without a whimper and preferably from a poor family. In a short time, one was found and put on the boat bound for Malaya.
Her name was Ng Mooi吴妹. She was accompanied on the long journey by her male relative. But it turned out to be a nightmare for her. She was sexually violated by him on the boat the entire journey. Once she reached Gopeng, he quickly took the return trip on the same boat back to Guangdong.
When Grandpa found out, he was very furious indeed. There was nothing he could do but to accept her. However, he was unsympathetic to her ordeal and instead gave her the cold treatment. Before long, she began to fall into a deep depression and shut herself in a room all day.
One day, Grandpa was out at the market and Grandma was asleep with the children. Poor Ng Mooi put together a heap of dried coconut shells which were use for cooking and started a fire. Soon the whole house was burnt down. Luckily nobody was killed.
When Grandpa got home and saw the flatten house, he blew his top. It was a rented house, not his own. In a fit of anger, he took her to Tanjung Rambutan and had her committed into the mental hospital. At that time it was ran by the British administration.
Fault was, Grandpa did not visit her at all. A few years later, the hospital sent Grandpa a letter written in English, but Grandma could not read it. So the letter was just put aside and Ng Mooi was forgotten.
By then, Grandpa insisted for another wife and this time he personally went to Guangdong to fetch her here. It was around this time that the family moved from Gopeng to Batu Gajah. There, Grandpa bought a plot of land to build his own house, ready to welcome the new bride, Chan Kwan陈裙, who later bore him another seven children.
At last, with ten children and a hardworking third wife, Grandpa Yip Soo finally got all the help he needed in his bean curd business!
And Grandma Yim Mun can sit down comfortably again!
Note: Yip Soo was seated in the middle. On the right was Yim Mun and on the left was Chan Kwan. There was no photo of Ng Mooi because she was send off to Tanjung Rambutan by grandpa shortly after arriving in Gopeng.
Remember this shop? Here’s a clue: it’s at Market Street…..
If I’m not mistaken, I think the shop is still there – going strong after all these years! They specialized in Kain Pulikat, (the locals might know it as sarong) which was said to be made in India. They also sold Kain Batek (Batik).
Here’s another landmark – our local Indian barber, which still does business at Belfield Street. My late grandfather used to visit him every month or so; I don’t think grandpa went to any other hairdresser in his lifetime!
These two sketches are part of Amiruddin Mohd Daud’s collection – titled ‘Ipoh Old Town’. Amiruddin is a self-taught artist from Ipoh, and also a former student of ACS. Together with his wife, they are quite involved with charity and fund raising activities; 10% of the sale of his drawings will go to MAKNA (Malaysian Cancer Council).
For more information on Amiruddin and his works, you can contact him via email: rat.adventure@yahoo.com
We featured this building in http://www.ipohworld.org/?p=1712 where we showed the original mansion that belonged to Dato Seri Lau Pak Kuan OBE JP and what the owners of the Coliseum Club had done to deface this beautiful building.
In the comments on that blog mashi74 reported that the stylistic roof had been removed and, as you can see from this photo it has been replaced with something far less easy on the eye. But worse! Look what they have done to the stonework! Garish is not a strong enough word for this abomination.
And finally, it appears that have torn the whole inside out and are to renovate with modern (Ugh!) materials.
Have these people no eye for beauty, history and heritage. Maybe they just have no soul!
Hugh Low Street was once a 2-way street, and a very busy one too…even today! This picture was taken from a postcard, dated 1985. At the far end, just before the bridge, there used to be an arch – it’s not there now, wonder when it was taken down?
Also notice that there were many shops (on either side of the street), selling everything; from jewelry, to groceries, to Chinese herbs – there’s even a Bata shoe store! Anyone remember other famous stores? Have any new ones come up lately?
We look forward to hearing from you, so DO tell us more about this part of Hugh Low Street!
Chan Tai 陈黛, the charming girl in this photo, used to live in a small village in the district of Shun Tuck 顺德 in the province of Guangdong, China in the 1920s. This district was renowned for producing silk. Her family owned a small silk worm farm. She helped them to cultivate silk worms and weave the silk thread into cloth.
One day, a professional matchmaker called “mui yan poh 红线人” approached the family with a marriage proposal. A guy in Ipoh, Perak, Malaya, needed a wife and was looking for a girl from a decent family.
In those days, many families in small villages in China dreamed of having their daughters marrying off to faraway lands and lead a better life. At that time, Perak was famous for tin and it was very fashionable to come to this land of plenty.
The prospective groom was a guy called Chow Yee Phooi 周毅錇, from the district of Phun Yee番禺. He has already migrated to Malaya together with his brothers many years before. He was the youngest among the brothers and the only one still single and eligible.
They opened a shop selling fruits in Ipoh. This shop, called Chow Hang Kee 周亨记 , distributed fruits to other fruit sellers in the market nearby. The shop was located between Yik Foong Complex and Lam Looking Bazaar, facing the back portion of the present Pasar Besar Ipoh.
Life was good to him. Flamboyant and carefree, he always frequented gambling dens in his spare time. He was particularly fond of mahjong and “pai kao”, a game of black tiles.
In the past, a girl has no say in her marriage. Everything was decided by her parents. The Chinese called it “Mang Fun Nga Kar 盲婚哑嫁” meaning a “blind and mute marriage”. She has neither meet the groom nor can she voice out her opinion about the match. As a daughter, she just has to follow everything planned for her.
Her parents gave their approval at once and a simple wedding ceremony was conducted in her village, minus the groom. In his place, a cockerel was used in the ceremony although I don’t know why they chose this animal to represent the groom!
After the wedding ceremony, she left her village and boarded a steamer, stopping at Singapore first and then later, Malaya. Next, it was to Ipoh.
Upon her arrival, this photo was taken. The purpose of taking this photo was to send it back to her family in China to show them that she has arrived safely to her new home. There were only two such photos. One she sent back to her family and the other appeared in this blog, which she kept as a keepsake. Later, it was handed down to my mom who was her eldest child. Mom gave this photo to me. Today, this is the most prized item in my collection because it is the oldest and the only photo of my maternal grandmother.
From this photo taken circa 1920s, you can see that she was a very stylish lady, an epitome of an Oriental beauty of her time. She sewn the white samfoo and black knee length skirt herself, using the silk cloth which she had weaved. It was part of her wedding wardrobe, looking prim and proper to face her new husband and his family. Her hair was combed neatly into a bun. She was also wearing a pair of white leather high heeled shoes and carrying a white fur handbag. Such a graceful blend of East and West.
The family stayed in Kampung Kuchai, Ipoh. Needle work was her main forte. She sew baby’s clothes and accessories like gloves, booties, caps and carriers for some extra pocket money although her husband’s income was sufficient to support her. She was a very quiet and gentle person, yet fiercely independent, earning her own keeps.
But alas, her life was tragic! In 1930, she gave birth to my mom. Soon, another daughter followed and the next was also another girl! Three girls in a row and soon her mother –in law began to show her displeasure. No son was produced and that was a bane for the family. Under mental pressure, she conceived again although her health has deteriorated. But by now neither her husband nor her mother-in law show any concern. In their mind, it will be yet another girl. Girls were so unwelcomed in a Chinese family at that time. They preferred boys to carry on their surname and attend to the family altar. This was a typical Chinese mindset at that time. Luckily, it was not like this anymore.
Her parents came from China to Ipoh to visit their daughter. After a brief stay, they went back to China, bringing my mom together with them to lessen their daughter’s burden of looking after the children in her fragile condition. It was 1938 and my mom was only 8years old then. She spent the next four years in Shun Tuck together with her grandparents, helping them to feed the silk worms with mulberry leaves.
Not long after her parents left Ipoh to go back to China, one day, my maternal grandmother experienced a terrible stomach pain at home. She was already in her seventh month of pregnancy. She sent her two young daughters out to search for their father and asked him to come home at once. That day, he was not at the shop. Instead, he was at the mahjong parlor near home. He was an addicted mahjong player and was too engrossed in his game to bother about his pregnant wife at home.
“Go home and don’t bother me! Ask her to apply some medicated oil and get a rest!” he barked at his young daughters as they pestered him to go home quickly to attend to their mother. The mother –in law was nowhere to be found. The two young girls were at a lost as to what to do seeing their pregnant mother in pain. Finally they called their neighbor for help.
It was late at night when my maternal grandfather finally came home. His face was as dark as “Kuan Kung 关公”from losing money at the mahjong parlor. A midwife had just left the house. On the bed were a stillborn baby boy and his dead wife, paled and cold from losing too much blood. His two young daughters were sobbing at a corner, traumatized at seeing their dead mother and baby brother. My maternal grandmother was about 28 then. What a young age to die and in such a tragic way.
To a Chinaman at that time, losing a wife is akin to losing a shirt. I really don’t know how he must have felt at that time but according to my aunts, he looked very cool and calm. After burying his dead wife and stillborn baby, he approached a matchmaker to look for another wife and in a few months time, a new one was found and life was back to normal again, at least for him. My poor mom and her little sisters found themselves with a stepmom but luckily she was not exactly the type from hell. But nevertheless, life was not the same anymore without your own mother.
According to my mom, one night, while she was sleeping in a dimly lit room in her grandparents home in Shun Tuck, she was awoke by an apparition of a lady beside her bed. She opened her eyes and saw that it was her mom. The apparition was sobbing softly and was trying to pull a blanket to cover her young daughter. It was gone in a blink of an eye. At that time, my mom has not learnt about her mom’s death yet because she was far away in China. A month later, a letter from her father in Ipoh reached her, informing her of her mom’s death.
Many years later, my maternal grandfather was blinded by firecrackers being carelessly thrown out from the window of a shop near Foh San Restaurant at Osborne Street. He was just coming out from a mahjong parlor at that time. That incident stopped him from playing mahjong ever again.
In 1980, on his death bed, while breathing his very last, in a very weak voice, he asked his daughters for their forgiveness for neglecting his first wife and depriving them of their mother’s love. His last words were, “I deeply regretted my folly. I still loved her very much. She was a good wife. She is beside me now, waiting for me. Please forgive me and goodbye. I am going to be with her again.”
My mom and her sisters have finally forgiven their father and came to terms with their profound loss.
Who is he? What was his name? Where did he come from? Where did he live?
Well, we don’t even know what’s become of him. This poor beggar used to come by Tom Turnbull’s quarters, when Tom was in Batu Gajah. Sometimes, this old man tried to sell Tom a thing or two. Here is a picture of the old man (donated by Tom); he is seen here holding some cloth, in one hand, and an enamel mug in the other hand.
yes, the citizens of Perak come from all walks of life – Mining Towkays, hawkers, rubber tappers, coolies, etc.
It’s that season again; where all Malaysians young and old, some foreigners too, join in the fun.
To the die-hard fans out there, yes…we’re talking about DURIANS! Here we have a picture of durians being sold along Osborne Street, Ipoh (in the early 1970s). Were there many stalls selling durians in those days? We’d like to hear from you – of your fond memories with the King of Fruits!
All the last rites performed for the dead in the funeral parlors along Hume Street were a fusion of Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism beliefs.
The core belief is that death is universal. When a person dies, the soul will leave its body. But it will not realize immediately that death has occurred upon itself. This detached soul will hover above the body, become very distress to find itself in a new dimension. It will take a week for the deceased to finally realize its departure. And it took about 49 days for the next rebirth to occur.
Therefore, it is paramount to offer guidance in the form of prayers to comfort this disorientated soul and steer it to the path of another rebirth. Hence, a wake will be conducted to chant prayers to pacify the soul and lead it to a safe realm.
After the family had purchased all the necessities, an undertaker washed the corpse with scented water and dusted it with talcum powder. It was then dressed in the silk longevity suit and for a female, “make up” will be applied to its face. All these tasks were done on a hay mat. Once complete, the deceased will be placed into the coffin, with feet facing out towards the door. The coffin will be put on a stand about a feet from the ground.
A small piece of ancient coin is placed between the lips. The face will be covered with a small piece of yellow silk cloth. Another bigger piece of blue silk cloth printed with mantras or Buddhist scriptures will be used to cover the corpse. A paper umbrella is opened up and placed on the coffin. To prevent the body from decaying, dried ice will be pumped into the coffin.
An altar will be set up at the foot of the deceased. Foods were placed in front of the deceased’s large portrait. A large urn to hold joss sticks will be placed in the middle. A pair of big white candles will be placed on either side. The pair of male and female servants made from papers were placed on either side of the coffin. All around the coffin were blue and black cloth banners with words of condolences. Floral wreaths were also displayed around the altar.
Two large white paper lanterns with the deceased’s surname and age written onto it were placed outside at the doorstep of the funeral parlor. For a married woman, both the surname of her husband and herself will be written. The husband’s surname will be written first follow by her own. It is interesting to note that three additional years were added to the actual age of the deceased. One year each for Heaven, Hell and Earth.
Nearby, a separate table will be set up against the wall for the “nam moh lou” to conduct prayers. On the wall, you can see a large scroll with the paintings of three very important figures in Buddhism. They were the Sakyamuni Buddha in the middle representing enlightenment. On one side is the Avalokestivara Boddhisattva (Guanshiyin Pusa) who had vowed to release all sentient beings from sufferings. And on the other side is the Ksitigarbha Boddhisattva (Dizang Pusa) who is in charge of karmic retributions. The prayers to evoke the blessings from the above three for the deceased were chanted accompanied by the clanking of cymbals, blowing of trumpets and beating of gongs.
It is proper for all the children to be at the bedside when a person dies. Sometimes many could not make it in time. For those who could not, they were required to kneel down and crawl towards the coffin. It is a form of asking for forgiveness for not making it. Later, the children and grandchildren would sit on straw mats beside the coffin, burning paper money in a large urn throughout the night.
Those attending the wake are required to light incense and bow to the deceased as a form of respect. They will also place some money called “pak kam” or “white gold” into a donation box to help defray the cost of the wake and funeral. The bereaved family will give two pieces of sweets tied to a red string or a red packet with the words “toh cheh, yau sum” meaning “thank you for your sympathy” to the donor.
Other relatives and friends would help fold some gold and silver paper ingots for the deceased. Some would indulge in a game of cards or mahjong to stay awake during the wake. Normally, a wake lasted for 2 nights from 7pm to 11pm.
All the paper offerings were burned on the second night. This was done after the “nam moh lou”, using an ink brush with some red ink at the tip, activate the paper offerings and chant some prayers. These offerings became valid and they will serve their new master or mistress diligently. Doesn’t this sound like a fairy godmother using a magic wand to turn all things into real?
When the ceremony was finished for that night, everyone will leave. All the lights at the parlors went off and doors slammed shut. The two large white paper lanterns with candles inside still remained at the door, leaving the lights of the candles flickering in the dark. In the dead of the night, stray dogs loitered around and began howling. The ambience is so spooky and eerie, enough to make your hair stand on ends. In moments like this, I will quickly shut my bedroom window and jump into bed, pulling the blanket over my head!!
At the funeral, everyone present got a last glimpse of the deceased and according to their ranks, made a final bow. The deceased favorite possessions and more hell bank notes will be piled into the coffin. Amidst the crying and wailing of the family, all looked away as the coffin were sealed with yellow papers and then carried out onto the hearse by pallbearers. The spouse of the deceased will stay behind and not allowed to follow the procession. The deceased and the spouse are in the same rank. In olden days, a spouse is called “half way spouse”.
It is customary for all the son-in laws, who were the closest “outsiders”, to hoist up together, a long piece of red cloth held by a pole. This act is called “hei chew”. This auspicious act will bring them good luck. Next, they were also given the honor to lead the procession with two friends carrying the two white giant lanterns. The hearse will follow from behind.
The eldest son of the deceased will sit next to the coffin in the hearse. He will hold a large lighted joss stick and a paper tablet bearing the deceased’s name.
With their hands holding to a long piece of white cloth and their heads pressing firmly against the hearse, the rest of the grieving family followed closely from behind, weeping and wailing.
Friends and relatives will follow from behind, many holding umbrellas under the basking sun.
A few meters in front, the bereaved family will stop and turn around to face these friends and relatives. They will have to kneel down and make a deep bow to these “guests” as a gesture of thanks and appreciation for turning up for the wake and funeral. After this, the procession will continue on….
The “nam moh lou” will lead them, chanting prayers and sprinkling small white rectangular papers into the air, bribing the malign spirits along the path to “move aside and make way”. The funeral band played some solemn music as the cortege winds its way slowly along Hume Street…….what a sorrowful last journey on earth!
Perhaps the only consolation for the bereaved family is the belief that this death is not the end of it all. Death and rebirth is a continuous cycle, without a break, until Nirvana is attained. Nirvana means the cessation of birth and suffering. It is Enlightenment.
Part 2 ~ The most extravagant journey in life…..人生最昂贵之旅程
http://www.ipohworld.org/?p=2064
Part 1 ~ Unfolding a Panorama Called Hume Street….伸展“谦街”的一幕
While we’re still on the topic of schools, here’s a picture from 1963 – showing the cast of *Les Sylphides (a ‘white ballet’ or ballet blanc).
Our donor, Sybil de Roquigny, says this ballet was performed in Ipoh. We think the cast could be from Main Convent – but we could be wrong. Does anyone remember where the ballet was performed? Any familiar faces in this picture?
We hope someone out there can shed some light on this. We also wonder what became of the dancers!Here is the back of the photograph – with autographs by the cast of the ballet.
*Les Sylphides is a short, non-narrative ballet which was choreographed by Michel Fokine, with the music of Polish composer Frederic Chopin. The ballet is often described as a ‘romantic reverie’ – with no plot, but instead having the dancers clad in white (depicting a sylph or forest sprite) dancing in the moonlight. Accompanying these sylphs is a poet or a young man, usually dressed in white tights and a black top.
In one of our previous blogs, Katherine Wong shared with us about fund-raising at her alma mater – Main Convent, Ipoh. Today we thought we’d put up a little something about an ACS fun fair.
On the 3rd of August 1957, Anglo Chinese School (ACS), Ipoh, had its first Food and Fun Fair. The event was in aid of school funds, and it was a great success too!
Among the highlights of the day were this ‘happy couple’ (see picture below)
I wonder where Mr Low Kum Whye (the groom) and Mr Choy Yoon Choon (the bride) went on their ‘honeymoon’! Strict as they were, some teachers really knew how to have fun!
To our fans out there (alumni from ACS), do tell us MORE about your FUN-tastic teachers and life as it used to be!
Here’s a picture of a street hawker, taken from an old postcard – as some of our fans out there recall, there were such hawkers….who came around with their ‘treasures’ in coolie baskets. This hawker is said to be selling “chee cheong farn” (as how the postcard spells it).
Besides food and snacks, I do wonder what else these ‘travelling salesmen’ sold. Maybe some of you out there might have bought a thing or two from them. Don’t know if they’re still around – I for sure have yet to see one, especially around Hugh Low or Belfield Street.
Hume Street is also known as “Koon Choy Kai” in Cantonese, meaning “Coffin Street”. Do you know why?
Phun Yue Wui Kun 潘禺会馆 , the tall building at the far right, is one of the busiest funeral parlors along Hume Street. It caters to those who died away from home and also one who died young and unmarried. It is “fully occupied” the whole year. Sometimes two families even “shared” the premise at the same time. So, can you imagine how many people died in a single day?
Above this funeral parlor is a convalescent home, which is a dreadful place to stay. It is a place for the aged and sick to wait for the Grim Reaper. Many families send their old and sick relatives here to live out their last days after which the deceased is carried down stairs for the last rites.
It is very expensive for a Chinese “to die”. Unlike other cultures, this “once in a life time” event called for spending on many expensive items which are “unavoidable”.
On the extreme right are some casket shops. The owners of these casket shops are very aggressive and competitive. With a walkie-talkie in hand in those days, and a mobile phone in modern times, they waited at hospital mortuaries, clamoring for business when they spotted a bereaved family. Some even “combed” the ICU wards to search for potential customers! Each will try to offer their best “deal” or “package”.
Most of them doubled up as priests or “nam moh lou” who will conduct wakes and funerals. It is a skill that took many years to master and is usually handed down from one generation to the next. In those days, a “nam moh lou” is usually a middle aged man but now you can find young and handsome guys, their sons, perhaps. Ever heard of overseas university graduates with degrees in accounting or business management coming back home to take over their father’s trade as “nam moh lou”? I have. It is that lucrative!
Do you know how a casket is chosen? According to the casket shop owner whom my family knew, when somebody dies, the “nam moh lou” together with the kin, will light up a joss stick, chant some prayers and “lead” the dead soul to the casket shop where they will wait for a signal, normally a faint knocking sound coming from the casket which the deceased “fancies”! Throwing 2 small pieces of wood on the floor will confirmed the choice.
In those days, the casket was made in the traditional style, a long rectangular box with 3 humps. It was big and heavy, normally made from teak or pine wood. It is very frightening just to look at them. But today, they are very modern and westernized. Just a rectangular box with gold flower handles and came with a small glass window where one can see the deceased’s face as he or she laid inside. A casket is normally expensive, costing several thousand dollars each.
A bereaved family will always try to indulge on the deceased. A suit made from expensive silk cloth with dragon and flowers motifs were usually bought to dress the deceased. They came in silver, gold or blue color. A cap and a pair of sandals of similar material and color were normally chosen to complete the look for a “grand exit.” The richer and older the deceased, the grander his or her suit will be.
The casket shops also offer to bathe and dress the corpse for a fee. Another spin off trade is to provide “make up” for female corpse. Arch eyebrows, blue eye shadow, pink cheeks, red lipsticks and hair neatly combed into place. Yes, all women like to look beautiful, even in death! After the bathing and make up session was done, a special ancient Chinese coin is placed between the lips of the deceased for him or her to bribe the guards in the hereafter! Yes, they even practice corruption in hell!!
An umbrella made from oiled paper in light brown color is purchased from these shops. It is opened up and placed on top of the coffin to provide “shelter” for the deceased on the way to the hereafter.
For those who chose cremation, rows of marble and porcelain urns were available in these shops to choose from. They came in white for marble while the porcelain ones are normally in maroon, green or yellow. There were intricate designs of dragons, unicorns and flowers on the urns and Chinese characters “sau 寿” meaning “longevity” were crafted on them. For those who chooses burial, they will have to buy a plot of land and it is even more expensive, especially those with good “feng-shui 风水”. Expect to pay between RM50,000 to RM80,000 especially in memorial parks with beautiful landscapes. Normally the owners of these casket shops will act as middle man between the family and the developer of these memorial parks.
These shops also sell mourning clothes. Normally black clothes, sack vests, white hoods over the heads and white waist bands were reserved for the children and daughters –in laws to show that they are the closest and grieved the most. It is blue clothes and white waist band for grandchildren and great grandchildren. The son-in laws wears light color clothes and white waist bands because they are considered “outsiders” since they have no blood relation and did not shared the family surname with the deceased.
There were a few shops specializing in making paper offerings for the deceased. Among the things a dead person needed in the afterlife was a big double storey mansion completed with a pair of male and female servants, a big limousine with a driver and of course everyday items like TV set, fan, mahjong table and chairs, suitcase with clothes, shoes, accessories like watch and jewelries and not forgetting hell bank notes, lots of them! They said if one cannot have luxury on earth, at least one can after death.
In those days, a lorry is often used as a hearse. A large portrait of the deceased is put in front of the vehicle at the center and surrounded by a flower garland. Nowadays, modern vehicles like MPV were used. Two white lanterns with the deceased’s surname and age written were hang on each side of the hearse, ready for the last journey on earth. And in this case, that journey starts from Hume Street!
Don’t you agree it is a rather long and expensive shopping list, one that will surely burn a hole in the pocket?
Final part ~ One journey has ended. Another is about to begin…… 今世毕. 来世始…
http://www.ipohworld.org/?p=2131
Part 1 ~ Unfolding a Panorama Called Hume Street….伸展“谦街”的一幕
Here we have the Chew Family, who used to live at No.5, Dulcieville Lane, Ipoh. This picture was probably taken between 1958-1960.
Back then, Dulcieville Lane used to be a housing area. In the 90s, the area was cleared and is now occupied by Parkson Ipoh Parade.
From what we were told, this family ran the famous Boon Pharmacy – we think Boon Pharmacy was at the Chung Thye Phin building at Belfield Street, but we may be wrong.
Anyone out there who could tell us more, do send us your comments.
In the 1950s, a newly married herbalist rented a room in a shophouse – No.1, Treacher Street, Ipoh – where he sold his ‘cooling tea’ or leong char as the locals knew it.
This man was none other than Ho Kai Cheong; and till today his tea is still popular – “Ho Yan Hor”, as it is called! The picture above shows an advertisement of “Ho Yan Hor”; the van (owned by Ho Kai Cheong himself) was fixed with loud speakers, which promoted the ‘cooling tea’.
Anyone remember the van or the advertisement? I’m sure some of you out there have tried this ‘cooling tea’….
Incidentally, Ho Kai Cheong’s son David Ho went on to major in Pharmacy – this same David Ho founded Hovid Berhad, which now manufactures and markets more than 300 different types of pharmaceutical products.
There is no doubt that some of the 3,631 individuals that visited ipoWorld during the month of June would remember gates such as these with mixed feelings for this was the gateway to a New Village in 1952. Closest to Ipoh there were three of these villages, or concentration camps as some of the old timers used to call them (and maybe still do!). These were at Kampung Simee, Bercham and Simpang Pulai. You may know of more.
As you can see, the village was ringed by two circles of barbed wire to prevent anything being thrown to the communists outside and the gates were manned by regular police (this was before the Home Guard took over these duties). Communal eating was the order of the day and curfews were in force.
Now the point of posting this particular image is to try andd get some first-hand information about growing up in a New Village for our book, “Ipoh My Home Town”.
Can anyone out there help us please? If your memories get published you will get a free copy of the book.
A stone’s throw away from #188 is Hume Street, now known as Jalan Mesjid. Along this short but interesting street, one can find many traditional trades co- existing harmoniously with modern ones.
Let’s start with this building at the junction of Hume Street “ 谦街 ” and Jalan Yang Kalsom. This building once housed the Century Omnibus Station (百年车站). It was there for many decades. Their red coloured rickety buses plied from town to Taman Chempaka, Ampang, Chemor, Tanjung Rambutan and the Race Course along Tambun Road. Back in the 60s and 70s, this was a bustling place, along with some taxis in front.
There were rows of long wooden benches outside. A jukebox in the coffee shop next to the bus station always blasted out English songs which my mom loved although she did not understand a word of English. The most memorable ones were those favorite songs sung by Elvis, Beatles, Bee Gees, Osmond Brothers, Jackson Five, etc.
One night in the early 80s, a big fire gutted the station and a few buses were destroyed. Many people came out to watch the fire and even the FRU were called in to control the swelling crowd. Those staying in the vicinity were worried that the fire might spread because of the electrical wires linking the bus station to the row of shops opposite. Luckily that did not happen and the fire was eventually brought down. A few years later, the bus station closed down and today, this place is taken over by travel agencies and a locksmith.
A few steps away, one can see many shops dealing in various traditional trades like making paper offerings, lorry tarpaulins, sofa covers, curtains, car upholsteries, tailoring, hair dressing and motor workshops.
Just opposite were some funeral parlours with convalescent homes on the upper floors and of course, a few shops selling coffins.
Further down is the iconic Rex Cinema which faces Brewster Road. In its heyday, this cinema was filled to the brim with patrons watching mainly Cantonese movies. You could find stalls selling sugar cane juice, yellow steamed peanuts, kacang putih and even plastic toys outside. Inside the cinema, there were stalls selling light snacks like sweets, chewing gum, sour plums, salted groundnuts, dried red ginger and prawn crackers.
Today, this place is occupied by a furniture shop and a car park. The stone benches in front are not there anymore. Dad and I would sit there to eat “kuaci” or melon seeds, yellow steamed peanuts and “lin toong” or seeds of the lotus plants after a movie.
Across from the cinema you will find some coffee shops, clan associations, mahjong parlors, a pet shop, an optical shop and one that makes car plates and rubber stamps. You will also find the Kinta Small Traders Association here. At the isolated end of this street is the Panglima Kinta Mosque near the Kinta River bank, the oldest in Ipoh.
Unfolding the panoramic Hume Street brought back some fond memories. When I was about 5 or 6, some nights after my eldest siblings were asleep, the owl in me would pester my dad to take me out for walks around the neighborhood. Dad called it “jalan jalan” or “sau kai” in Cantonese.
First, he took me to Jubilee Park for a ride on the musical carousel and the breathtaking giant wheel. After that, we will head straight to Hume Street for a light supper at the “luk luk” stall in front of the shop next to the coffee shop in brown paint. I usually chose a few sticks of fish balls and squid and dipped them into the boiling water. Next, I would apply some red colored sweet sauce or “tim cheong” on them before eating. Hmm, yummy, yummy!
After that, it was time to go home when we had had enough.
Many shops along Hume Street were already closed by then, so was the bus station. We quickened our steps as the place was dark and quiet. If we were out too late, Mom would scold us because she believed some malicious spirits were lurking at the corners along this street and these would make children fall sick!
Ah, if only I could turn back the clock and walk down this path again with dad holding my hands, just one more time……
http://www.ipohworld.org/?p=2131
Part 2 ~ The most extravagant journey in life…..人生最昂贵之旅程
http://www.ipohworld.org/?p=2064
Note : Special thanks to Aaron Ong who kindly took these photos and shared them with us here.
This postcard is somewhat a continuation from our previous post about the Kinta River.
The picture here shows the entrance of the British Residency; the date was rougly in the 1920s. I doubt the building is still there (if it is, it’s probably in ruins)…but does anyone know where it was? It is said to by somewhere along the Kinta River, but WHERE along the river is what we’d like to know…
Dad has only a primary education. Without a stable job, it is difficult to feed a large family. We have already pawned whatever that can be pawned. We were close to living in poverty.
Finally, Grandma let out the front portion of #188 to a couple who turned it into a mahjong parlor. Many whores, massage ladies, bargirls, pimps, hawkers, taxi drivers and housewives came in for several rounds. It became a very noisy place, sometimes extending into the wee small hours. Many times fights broke out and the police were called in to break them up. What was once a home to us suddenly became a vice den filled with cigarette smoke and vulgar languages. Sometimes we could not even hear our own voice with all the noises around us.
We kept to ourselves, spending our time mostly upstairs but it was already filled to the brim with tenants. There is hardly any space left for us to study in. This was the last straw for Dad. In a fit, he kicked all the mahjong players out and took back the shop for us to study in peace.
In his early days, Dad was trained in a mechanical work shop in Batu Gajah before the Japanese invasion interrupted his apprenticeship.
He quickly got hold of some motor parts and assembled them into something you see in these pictures. I really do not know what to call it. There is no name for it. We simply called it “the motor”. It was this device that gave our family hopes again. More importantly, it put food on our table and saw all of us through school.
You see, with this device, Dad started another business. He cycled to all the tailor shops, hair salons and garment factories in Ipoh town, offering to sharpen their scissors. In the beginning, business was quite scarce. Nobody would trust him with their cutting tools. After all, he was just a new kid on the block in this trade.
There were some established ones in town. There is one at Cockman Street, next to the shop that sells joss sticks and paper offerings. Others operated along back alleys in the old town area, doing their business long before my Dad appeared in the picture.
However, with patience and skill, he soon won them over. Before long, they discovered that the sharpness lasts longer compared to those done by others. Moreover, Dad charged the same like the rest, RM1 for a pair. Within 2 years, he managed to build a base of regular customers.
He even painted his own signboard and put it in front of the shop every morning before he started work. I remembered it was a big scissors with a light blue background. The blades were painted in silver while the handles were in black. It was just a picture, without words.
Dad used sharpening stones or whetstones to sharpen the scissors. Some came in the shape of a small circular wheel which was fixed to the motor. Others were simply blocks of rough or smooth stones.
They were used separately or in combination, depending on the size, length and quality of the scissors. Normally the bigger, longer and superior blades were sharpened using the motor while the smaller, shorter and inferior ones were done by hand only, to prevent them from breaking.
Yes, the blades can break under intense pressure! I have seen this before and in the end, Dad has to compensate his customer with a new pair of scissors.
To sharpen a pair of scissors, Dad unscrewed the bolt and nut to separate the two blades. Dipping the scissors and sharpening stone into a pail of water to make them wet, he would slide the beveled edge on one side of each blade against the stone. He has to slide the entire length of the blade many times before the scissors is sharp enough to be oiled and screwed back.
Sometimes it took 2 or 3 hours to sharpen one and sometimes, in less than half an hour, depending on the scissors. He also sharpened kitchen knives and all kinds of cutting tools.
It was hard work. It was a one man show. With so many scissors to be sharpen and everyone wanted it done quickly, Dad has to work from morning till night, standing on his feet. He could not get the work done sitting down because, to slide the blade, he needed to use force.
Therefore, his feet would get swollen by the end of the day. His hands numbed and his back pained by the many hours of bending over the work table. Sometimes he accidentally cut his fingers and bled. With a bandaged hand, he continued with the work because he has datelines to meet and many mouths to feed.
Many customers told Dad he was the best scissors sharpener in town. They wanted him to sharpen their scissors in the quickest possible time. Of course Dad could not meet their demands because he has so many scissors waiting for him to sharpen. It is piling up by the day.
“If you wanted it to be sharpen quickly, then please go to other scissors sharpener. Here, you have to wait longer as you can see the pile of scissors and I am doing the work alone!” he could AFFORD TO SCOLD his customers. Many were fearful of him but they loved his skill.
In the end, they meekly gave in and left their cutting tools with Dad. Many bought extra scissors to use while waiting for Dad to sharpen theirs. They preferred to wait for several days rather than go elsewhere. They knew they left their tools in good hands. Throughout all the years, no customers complained about Dad’s work, except that he was rather fierce when pressured!
When I was in Std 6, some foreign tourists past by Dad’s work place which was at the back portion of the shop. They were fascinated to see such a trade done in a traditional manner and decided to video and photograph him as he goes about doing his work.
Many people in the neighborhood called Dad “Scissors Sharpener Uncle” and Mom “Scissors Sharpener Aunty”. When I took taxis in front of Rex Cinema, many taxi drivers who knew Mom and Dad even called me “Scissors Sharpener Daughter”!! LOL.
Dad toiled on until all his children finished school and were able to stand on their own. By then he was old and haggard, having slogged most of his life. As a result of working too hard, it put a toll on his health. His heart became weak, his hands stiff with arthritis and his legs from rheumatism.
Dad retired in 1996 after 25 years in this business. He spent the remaining years nursing his health and staying home resting after working hard most of his life.
This article is a tribute to Dad, a very determined man who believed in nothing and no one, except his own pair of hands and who overcame all odds that life threw into his path, without any help from anyone. I am very proud of him.
I am still keeping this motor with me as a remembrance of Dad who was once a very skillful scissors sharpener in Ipoh. It is a waste that his hand painted signboard became rusty after 25 years and he threw it away when he finally called it a day. But he gave me a pair of scissors and a few whetstones to keep as well.
Recently the subject of Perak’s vehicle registrations cropped up and as we have a great photo that demonstrates the situation perfectly I thought it was worth putting up to dispell the entirely untrue tale that Perak has the ‘A’ because we had the first cars in Malaya. Absolute rubbish!.
Here we have two vehicles side by side in Ipoh in 1945. On the left is PK9567, a small bus or possibly a taxi that survived the Japanese occupation. On the right is definitely a bus newly registered as A306. But why the difference when both vehicles were registered in Perak?
Well as I explained the other day The British Military Administration restarted the system in 1945 with ‘A’ for Perak, ‘B’ for Selangor etc to prevent confusion between Singapore and Selangor, Perak and Penang etc. Previously Perak was PK and Penang PG.
The first registration, ‘A 1′, went to C H LaBrooy, the Ipoh architect. I wonder how much that cost him? Does anyone know who had ‘PK 1’?
Yes ladies and gentlemen the exterior restoration of the Lam Looking building is complete, and it really is looking good. But before you feast your eyes on the wonderful building please allow me to show you what it looked like about 60 plus years ago when still in operation.
Well there you are, with the Celestial Hotel, Cabaret and Restaurant upstairs and the bazaar on the ground floor, this was a really happening place through the 30’s and 40’s. Even the Japanese partook of the delights of the upper floors and turned part of it into a high stakes gambling casino.
Later as the clientele diminished the hotel was turned into a cinema, The Movieland Theatre, specialising in Korean and Cantonese Opera movies. But soon that also went to the wall and after the fire we all thought the old girl was finished. How wrong we were and may I present a GREAT LOOKING LAM LOOKING, photo courtesy of Peter Wang Shaoming.
Ruth Iversen, daughter of the original architect, Berthel Michael Iversen must be delighted, and so are we for at last a major building in Ipoh has actually completed its restoration. Now we await completion of the Old Post Office. Let us hope the trend catches on.
But one final thought. “I wonder what they are going to use the building for?”
This is a special request for those who asked for pictures of the Kinta River. The picture above is taken from a 1905 postcard – showing the British residency along the river. The British Resident at that time was E W Birch (the eldest son of J W W Birch), who served from 1904 – 1910.
Here we have some Michaelians having fun. This picture was taken in 1955, and this part of the Kinta River was in Tambun – which was quite a famous haunt for those who wanted to cool off on a hot day!
Notice that back then, trees and shrubs were a common sight; giving any passerby a serene feeling. Even the water was clean, minus the odour and the coffee-colour it has now!
Do you have such memories of the once beautiful river?
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Above is the first draft cover of a new book that will be published as soon as we can fill the blank pages with your reminiscences of growing up in Ipoh. Text will be in the English language.
ipohWorld will take on the task of collating, editing and dealing with the publishing and printing aspects, but the contents must come from you, as I grew up in UK. Now of course we do have some excellent articles on this blog already but much more is needed if we are to be able to produce the quality book we seek.
We need much more about your schooldays, going to the movies (or storytellers street), Jubilee Park, the hawkers, the sounds they made (tock tock, ting ting etc), where they congregated (Convent rear entrance and Theatre Street for example), the food they sold (and more. Let us not forget the ice cream potong man and his gambling game, or the Milo man on his bicycle, the roti man and the Indian milk seller. Then of course there is home life, your parents, your neighbour’s profession, street games, rickshaws, trishaws, marketing with mum, local day trips, happy or sad times, festivals etc etc. Since I have lived in Ipoh I have heard so many stories and it is time you wrote them down for following generations.
But please understand that the work must come from YOU. All races, creeds are welcome to take part as long as you spent some time in Ipoh and have a story to tell.
Every contributor who has a story published will be presented with a personal copy. WE look forward to your support.
Please send all articles and high resolution (600dpi is perfect) scanned photographs to us at info@ipohworld.org and don’t worry about your spelling or grammar, we can soon sort those out. But don’t forget, no contributions means no book! Articles may be between 500 and 1750 words and more than one article reflecting different aspects of your young life are welcome.
And please understand that regard to content and selection of stories, the Editor’s decision is FINAL.
Dad, as I kept a lonely vigil beside your hospital bed
Stroking your soft white hair, caressing your fatigued face
Holding your wrinkled hands, never wanting to let you go
I could hear your pale lips murmuring my name softly
My heart bled to see your body so weak and frail
Tears rolling down as I watched you slowly fading away
And memories of us together just came rushing back
When I was just a boisterous little girl of five or six
You took me to ride on the carousel at Jubilee Park
And you cheered me on as I got onto the giant wheel
We went for white man movies together all over town
I ate peanuts on your laps in front of Rex Cinema
Rain or shine you took me to school on your old bicycle
You taught me how to read, write, draw and color
At times you and Mom ate little so that I can eat more
You toiled from day till night without a whimper
Your feet swollen from many hours of standing
Your hands numbed from working without a rest
And back ached from bending over the work table
It was like this all the years until I grew up
By then it put a severe toll on your health
When I finally blossomed into a pretty young lady
We fought over my choices of boyfriends and suitors
Even the best in my eyes is not good enough for you
They were given the boot and shown the door
At last you gave your blessing but very reluctantly
However your heart melted when you held my babies
I saw you embracing them so tenderly, so lovingly
Every morning I brew your favorite thick Chinese tea
I loved the smell of your cheroot and green color hair gel
I watched you put on your white hat and dark glasses
Humming softly your favorite tunes in the bathroom
But roaring in a thunderous voice whenever you speaks
You are a very strict disciplinarian with a heart of gold
Many people feared and avoided you but I knew better
Our endless trips to the hospital together all the years
I am exhausted from arguing with the doctors and nurses
Whether I should let you know about the prostate cancer
They said nothing can be done to stop the metastasis
That you are actually just buying time in this world
I really wanted to spare you from the painful truth
In the end I chose not to tell you, please do forgive me
When Mom suddenly left us without a word years ago
We comforted each other in those sad and lonely days
You only trusted me, and no one else, to take care of you
It is a privilege I valued and cherished very much
On this Father’s Day, I wanted to let you know again
That I am very grateful and proud to be your daughter
I loved you with all my heart and I still missed you badly
Note: Dad in his vintage dark glasses. Can you spot his white cowboy hat? He was flanked by my two kids whom he adored. Later, Dad passed on from pneumonia when the cancer metastasized to his lung. He was 87.
Happy Father’s Day to all the guys who played a part in bringing us into the world, then slogged to bring us up and finally released us to spread our wings!
Here is a picture taken from Christine Wu Ramsey’s “Days Gone By: Growing Up in Penang“. The picture is from her family album; and the book contains many such high quality photographs from both Ipoh and Penang. These alone make the book a great buy. Ramsey is the great granddaughter of Towkay Leong Fee – who owned the famous Tambun mines in Perak.
In the picture is Leong Eng Khean, the first son of Leong Fee, together with his first wife Lim Sin Kiaw. They are taking their regular afternoon joyride around Ipoh ride in their 1906 Wolseley. The date is around 1910.
Back in the early 1900s, the family would move between Ipoh and Penang as mood or circumstances dictated as Leong Fee had grand mansions in both places. When in Ipoh they would live in the Tambun Road home from where they would set out for the afternoon drive.
Leong Eng Khean’s second wife, Chow Yoon Soo, lived mainly in Ipoh with her family, just around the bend – where Belfield Street met Clayton Road (behind the FMS bar), but would also move to Penang from time to time. Then, their Clayton Road home was in a cul-de-sac, and they had a good view of the Ipoh Padang; during the Japanese Occupation, they could see people lined up at the padang – greeting the Japanese with a bow, as well as several atrocities carried out there.
Today, the area where the family house used to be is probably either under the widened road or the car park behind Perak ‘Hock Khean Kong Hoey’ building.
Last weekend (11th to the 13th of June), was a weekend of remembrance. It is dedicated to those who fought in the 2 World Wars, the Japanese Occupation, and the Malayan Emergency – both the survivors and those who gave up their lives for the sake of ours.
This annual event started with the ceremony at the Cenotaph on 11th June. This was a multi-racial ceremony where all faiths were represented.
The many wreaths are placed below the plaque which bares the names of the fallen. The next day, 12th June, began early at Batu Gajah – at God’s Little Acre.
After the service at the Church of the Holy Trinity, a solemn wreath-laying ceremony takes place. This ceremony, at God’s Little Acre, takes place on the 2nd Saturday of June every year (since 1980). The picture shows the British High Commissioner laying his wreath of traditional poppies.
After God’s Little Acre, the ‘journey’ continues to the Gurkha Cemetery in Tambun Road where more than 100 Gurkhas are laid to rest.
Finally, on Sunday (13th June), was the memorial service at the Khalsa Dewan (see picture below).
This ceremony pays particular homage to those Sikhs who lost their lives in the Battle of Kampar.
We thank Tony Tamblyn who, (during the Malayan Emergency) served in the Royal Airforce here) for the pictures.
To those who fought selflessly for us – we are eternally grateful.
…the Sun Cinema was still in one piece!
This picture we have here is from around 1985, a little after the Sun Cinema closed its doors to the public. It was located at the corner of Brewster Road and Hale Street (behind the building was the Kinta River). Incidentally, sketches of this cinema were done by our very own cartoonist Lat (in ‘Town Boy’).
Built in 1917 as the Oriental Cinema, by Leong Eng Khean (the son of Towkay Leong Fee), it was leased in 1920s to Run Run Shaw (of the Shaw Brothers). Shaw renamed it the Sun Cinema. Meanwhile, the Oriental Cinema rented the Harima Hall (1910-1917).
Sun was managed by Ho Ah Loke and in November 1929 showed ‘The Rainbow Man’ – the 1st of the “talkies” (movies with sound). ‘The Rainbow Man’ used a travelling movie company; after its success, Ho Ah Loke installed his own equipment. By the 1930s, Sun was deemed the most modern “talkie” theatre in Malaya!
Sadly, it closed down in 1983 – only to be replaced by a car park…..
Sometimes life can be cruel.
It was late 1969. Dad has a younger brother staying with us at #188. He was a carpenter at a furniture shop in Ipoh. A young man of just 23, he was healthy and full of life vitality. Everyone liked him. He was steady with a pretty girl next door and they dreamed of a happy life together. In fact, they were busy planning for their big day.
One night, looking into a mirror while combing his hair and getting ready for a date with his sweet heart, he saw a small lump on his neck, the size of a 5 cent coin.
Thinking it was an insect bite, he just applied some cream onto it and left it to heal by itself. But it did not, instead it got bigger by the day. Before long, it ballooned to the size of an adult’s fist. It was a malign tumor.
Dad was very worried for him. Being the eldest brother, he felt it was his duty to send him for treatments and was prepared to bear the costs. Treatments were sought for him in Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur at private and government hospitals but to no avail.
In Singapore, doctors there advised Dad to send his brother for treatments in Canton, China. Overseas treatments are expensive but Dad did not mind paying to save a young life.
At first, he got better and stayed on for a year there for further treatments. But the tumor recurred and in the end, he passed on, after several unsuccessful operations. A wedding it was not to be but a funeral instead for this unlucky young man.
A few months later, paternal grandpa, a heavy smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer. Again, as the eldest son, Dad did what is necessary for him but grandpa also lost the battle. The old man was given a proper last rite and burial. By then, Dad was almost broke to the bones.
Before he can even recover, along came a notice from the Ipoh municipality. Three conditions must be met before business license can be renewed again.
Firstly, operators of all eateries must tile the walls of their shops to 6 feet high. As the bucket system will be phased out in a few months time, all toilets must be converted to the flush system. Lastly, the whole shop must be repainted with white paint.
Dad simply cannot afford it anymore. Most of his savings were spent to treat his loved ones.
He went to see the shop owner, hoping to get some help. The shop owner stressed that he only let out an empty shop and will not bear any renovations done to it. It was clearly stated in the tenancy agreement and he was unmoved by Dad’s predicament. To add salt to injury, the rental was raise too. It has been a long time since the last raise, he pointed out.
As fate would have it, even the faithful stone grinder failed him too. After 25 years of heavy usage, the handle, made from hard wood, broke down. In fact, the whole thing, from wear and tear, is out of shape. It is time to order a new one from China. This will also cost a lot, especially the transportation’s fee.
Dad was at his wit’s end. No license. No tools. Rental has gone up.
Finally, he threw in the towel. The curtain came down on Nam Foong Coffee Shop in 1971, after 26 years of operation.
Our carefree childhood days abruptly came to an end when Dad lost his livelihood. What followed were the bleakest days of our lives. There were 8 hungry mouths to feed. We lived from hand to mouth for the next 2 or 3 years.
We did not celebrate Chinese New Year simply because we cannot afford to. It was just like any normal day for us.
No reunion dinner. No new clothes.
I still remembered how on the night of New Year’s Eve in 1971, Dad went out to buy 2 packets of fish ball noodles and asked Mom to divide it out among the children. Each of us would get a small portion it hardly filled up our hungry stomachs. That night, we all went to sleep early.
We could hear the fireworks outside welcoming the New Year and the children in the neighborhood running up and down merrily, playing firecrackers after their reunion dinner.
Her eyes red, Mom told us softly, “Go to sleep. Once you are asleep, you will forget you are hungry.”
I still remembered these words till this day.
Back in the 1970s, many people held their wedding banquets in Perak Ku Kong Chow Association at Jalan Yang Kalsom. Mom went there to work as a cleaner after the dinner has ended, to earn a few dollars. She would bring home some left- over food for us.
Succulent prawns, crispy fried chickens and tasty mushrooms which some people cannot take in anymore, we gulped these down hungrily. Sometimes, we could find some toothpicks and used tissue papers inside the gravy.
Despite the hardships, Dad held the family together and reminded us to study hard. He said, no matter what, we still have to go to school and learn. He believed, with a pair of strong hands, we will not be hungry again.
Note:
My late uncle was standing 3rd from left at the back row.
The couple in the middle, back row, were my parents while my grandpa was seated in the middle, front row.
The original photo has been framed up and hung on the wall.
Back in the 1950s, cinemas were a popular (probably the only) source of entertainment – television sets were not common and not everyone had a radio either! Hence, the cinema-experience was a real treat – especially for the little ones!
We received an interesting e-mail from Ignatius Chiew, regarding the ‘soft’ opening of Ipoh’s Cathay Cinema.
From the picture, we see the Lucky Patron (patron No. 500 000) receiving her double pass (for 1 month) as she arrives at the booking office. According to Ignatius, Cathay opened its doors to the public on 30th January 1957 – the eve of Chinese New Year – which was considered an auspicious day for business. Incidentally, Ignatius’ father was then the (first) manager of Cathay cinema.
Does anyone know WHEN exactly the half million patron mark was reached? We would like to know the date, and probably any other extra bit that you may know…..maybe someone might even know WHO the pretty lady in the picture is!
Nephew of FMS fame was not only the well loved barman of the FMS, but he was friend and confidente of literally thousands of people from all over the globe who dropped in the FMS for a ‘quick one’ over his sixty years behind that famous old bar. Sadly he passed away this week and will never serve us a beer or one of his delightful meals again. An icon of Ipoh and part of the city’s history, he will be sorely missed when the FMS reopens its doors next year.
We pass ipohWorld’s condolences to his family.
My paternal grandpa’s name is Yip Soo. He was a very skillful bean curd maker from Guangdong, China. He was the man behind the famous tau foo far at Nam Foong Coffee Shop.
This picture was taken in 1966 in his house in Batu Gajah on his 70th birthday celebration. He was flanked by his two wives (the eldest partly hidden by my brothers) as my mom helped me to serve him tea. I was only 2 at that time.
For this auspicious occasion, Grandpa received from his children, a set of suit, a pair of shoes and a cap, all made from expensive silk material in the traditional style. These items are called ‘sau 寿’which sounds like longevity in Cantonese. To give him ‘sau 寿’means to give him longevity, so it makes sense! All these items were kept away to be used when he died. But you won’t find this practice anymore.
Being the youngest among his brood of grandchildren, I was the apple of his eye. He used to shower plenty of hugs and kisses on me. I still remember how he loved to carry me around on his lean shoulder or put me on his lap. He liked to bring me over to the provision shop and let me choose whatever sweets or biscuits that I fancied.
During school holidays, all the grandchildren staying in Ipoh would visit Grandpa. Paternal grandma would charter an old taxi, a Mercedes, to ferry us to Batu Gajah. We would be packed like sardines into the taxi, all ten of us with grandma in tow! Poor rickety taxi!
Grandpa welcomed us and treated us like VIPs. He would spoil us rotten. He was a good chef and would cook up a few delicious dishes to serve us. He also liked to give us money to buy snacks at the provision shop opposite his house. We would spend like there is no tomorrow! Ice creams, lollipops, prawn crackers……
These are the memories I can remember him by. I was only 6 when he passed away in 1970 from lung cancer as he was a heavy smoker. I still remember the grand funeral ceremony and there were about 20 stocky pallbearers carrying his big and heavy coffin. He was buried with much fanfare on top of a hill in Batu Gajah. The plot of land is big and so is his cemetery. Big things for a small man !!!
“Oh No!” I can hear you say, “Not the clock tower AGAIN!”, but please be patient because this postcard sent to us as a scan was bought here in Ipoh in 1955 and there is something quite different about it.
“Different! What is different?”
Well, out of the many similar pictures we have seen from the inauguration in 1909 to today, we have never seen the wooden building at the bottom left of the picture. So please enlighten us by telling us what it was and when it was there.
We know that with so many readers with great memories of Ipoh, somebody will be able to tell us.
This is a front view of No.188, Hugh Low Street – which used to be Ipohgal’s home. The picture was taken by Aaron Ong, who was inspired by Ipohgal’s description of her colourful childhood. The design of this house deserves a special mention – particularly the 2 lions on the roof (see picture below)
Like Ipohgal has mentioned, there are 2 lions on either side of a globe (in the centre). Were the lions part of a certain trademark? Or perhaps a unique ‘signature’ of a famous person? I do wonder if there are anymore of such designs on other buildings around Ipoh – maybe it was part of a series of buildings built by a particular architect! (for instance, the shop houses that Yau Tet Shin built all have a similar design).
We thank Aaron for the pictures, and also Ipohgal for sharing her fond memories with us.
Designed by A B Hubback, who also designed the Ipoh Railway Station, this work-of-art was completed in 1916. The east end of the building was used as the Post and Telegraphs Office in 1928. This building is still used today – be it for concerts, wedding banquets, official functions, etc. It’s also had some restoration work done over the years. At present, its neighbour the (former) Post Office is going through a much needed ‘make-over’.
We do hope this splendid work-of-art lives on for many more years……
Bush Radio Marble Table Wooden Chairs
Besides being a home to my family, 188 Hugh Low Street was also once a coffee shop.
In 1945, an English man who was working and staying in Batu Gajah, retired and planned to return to England for good. He has a collection of marble tables and wooden chairs in his rented house. Unable to bring them along, he gave them away to the villagers nearby.
Dad got some tables and chairs and hired a small lorry to transport them to his newly rented shop in Ipoh. He bought a Bush Radio from a second hand dealer a few years later. Two hanging fans and fluorescent lamps were added to complete the ‘old world charm’ look. And voila, Nam Foong Coffee Shop “南风茶室” was born!
Nam Foong is famous for its tau foo far, served with essence of almond in a small porcelain bowl. They are served either warm or chilled. It was sold at 5 cents a bowl in the 40s and 30 cents during the 60s.
It was hard work to make tau foo far. First, soya beans were soaked before being placed in between 2 round stone slabs to grind them. It is then cooked in a big wok using slow fire. Once it is boiled, it is filtered and poured into wooden tubs. Roasted lime stone powder is added to give it the right texture. Finally, they were scooped into hundreds of porcelain bowls.
Dad could take the easy way out by cooking gula Melaka or rock sugar to go with tau foo far, like what you are getting nowadays. But he will have none of this. To him, tau foo far is best eaten with essence of almond and nothing can convince him to think otherwise!
To produce the aromatic and sweet essence of almond call for skill. They were steamed and pounded to extract the essence which if done incorrectly, will give a bitter taste instead.
In those days, everything was done by hands. No machine is use, unlike now. The work was done by my parents and paternal grandma from night till dawn when everyone was sound asleep.
And do you know that the outcome is not the same every day? Dad was very strict with the end result. He will not settle for anything less. If he was satisfied with the texture, he will sell them. Otherwise, he would just pour them away and for that day, he will sell the normal stuff like coffee or toasted bread only.
The best soya beans came from Indonesia and Vietnam. Different batch of beans from the same source yield different results. The secret lay in choosing the right beans and using the right amount of each ingredient. It was a skill he learned from paternal grandpa who is very skillful in making soya bean products.
Soon words spread around about the smooth and aromatic tau foo far . Before long, it sold very well and on a good day, almost 200 bowls were sold. Patrons would park their cars near the shop to have a taste of this delicious dessert because back then, Dad would not allow take away in plastic bags. He insisted the tau foo far to be served in porcelain bowls to bring out the best in taste, aroma and texture.
A myriad of customers came in for this dessert. My elder brother’s headmaster, who is a Christian brother at Sam Tet School, occasionally cycled over for a few bowls in the hot afternoon. He came in his white robes and all!
Then there is the old blind masseur who roamed the town offering his service. When he called it a night, he would drop in for a bowl or two. Whenever I saw him coming, I would quickly ran and squatted under tables or hid behind doors because the sight of him wearing big dark glasses with bells in his hands simply petrified me. I was about 5 or 6 then.
The policemen from the police station opposite would come for the tau foo far too. Some of them would ask Dad, “Eh, towkay, apa benda ini hah…….sungguh sedap?”
Dad would reply, “ Ini tau foo far !”
“Apa….oh….tau foo farrrrrrrrr…..” and everyone would laugh.
Business was stable and the family could make a decent living.
However, some 25 years later, one day, Dad received a notice from the Ipoh municipality which changed our lives completely……
Note: The photos above showed a marble table, some wooden chairs and the old radio from Nam Foong Coffee Shop. Except for the radio which was broken down, the rest are still in use till today. During its prime, we can listen to stations all over the world, just imagine that!
This is an 80s picture of the Majlis Perbandaran Ipoh (MBI) swimming pool. The pool is near the Perak Stadium; also part of the sports complex which has a velodrome, hockey stadium and an indoor stadium (Stadium Indera Mulia). The pool is opened to the general public, and it has also been a venue for various swimming competitions.
There used to be a cozy pool-side restaurant too. Last I checked, the restaurant was still there – it becomes really crowded during Ramadan. The pool itself has been renovated time and again. I think the last major job was done before the SEA Games in 1998 (if I’m wrong, I stand corrected).
Anyone know when the pool was built? Or perhaps there was something else in the area before the pool came about…..
This is one of the many mansions which belonged to one of Ipoh’s rich towkays. I’m sure some of you recognise it! The picture below shows what has become of the place in recent times….
….a club! Notice the changes, especially the windows and balcony. Anyone know WHEN the mansion was turned into a club?
I’m sure many of you out there recognize this place!
Today, it’s mainly a stop for the inter-city buses – since Medan Gopeng now handles the inter-state services. But the place is still BUSY!
Such buses (as in the picture) are still around today, along with the new air-conditioned buses too! The roundabout has had a make-over of sorts: with a peculiar arrangement of labu sayong and flowering plants. Those trees on the top left corner have made way for a petrol station.
Has anything else changed?
…she may have been no more than 20 years old when she left her family (back in the Fujian or Kwungtung Province) to work overseas as a “combination of cleaner, cook, seamstress, nurse and general factotum”.
In Ipoh, these Black and White sisters “had their own temple where men were not allowed”. This picture we have here is said to be at Jalan Bendahara, Ipoh. Of course NOW, Jalan Bendahara has changed a lot!
We do wonder what has become of the Amah and the child she looked after…..
“To have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”
After the Japanese left Malaya in 1945, Dad had wanted to resume with his apprenticeship at the village workshop in Batu Gajah but found it was burnt down. The owner and his entire family were killed by the Japanese soldiers.
He was already 25. So the next step would be to move to Ipoh to start a new life. With RM300 in his pocket, he rented a place and started a coffee shop with his mother and sisters. That was how Nam Foong Coffee Shop at 188 Hugh Low Street began.
As time went by, business began to pick up and he needed an extra pair of hands. It was also time he needed a companion too. So he was looking for two persons rolled in one.
At the same time, Mom was hoping to escape from childhood poverty and a nagging stepmother. She was a young girl of 15 staying in Kampung Kuchai.
Through a match maker, photos were exchanged and a meeting arranged for them. And it turned out to be love at first sight for them both. Months later, they were engaged.
During their courtship they like to stroll along Hugh Low Bridge, People’s Park and Birch Bridge in the evenings. Sometimes they would go to cinema halls to watch a movie or two and to Jubilee Park for amusement. They often took a ride around town in a rickshaw because Dad could not afford to buy a car.
Mom and Dad eventually got married on November 22 1950 immediately after she reached the age of 20. It was a modest wedding attended by family and friends from both sides. A wedding luncheon was held at the Nam Hoi Wui Khun (Nam Hoi Association) along Clare Street.
Like any couples, they had their fair share of quarrels and fights but nothing could rock their strong and solid union. Despite everything, they stayed glued together to weather out all the hardships and obstacles that came their way in raising a large family.
In April 2000, Mom was diagnosed with end stage kidney failure. Dad was very devastated. He just broke down and cried. It was almost like his whole world collapsed on him. Knowing her end was very near, he helped me to take loving and tender care of her although he was already 80 and frail.
Mom succumbed to a heart attack on 24 November 2000 at home with Dad and me by her side. It was only 2 days after their 50th golden wedding anniversary which they could not celebrate due to her illness. Dad was beyond consolation. He had lost a partner of 50 years and the greatest love of his life. A loss so profound he could not recover from, even after many years.
When he passed on later, after 7 lonely years, their ashes were finally placed side by side at the Paradise Memorial Park in Tanjung Rambutan.
* HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY 母亲节快乐 http://www.ipohworld.org/?p=1585
* At the doorstep of hell….well,almost. http://www.ipohworld.org/?p=1489
A TRIBUTE TO MOM 献给天下间的母亲
Dearest Mom, how can I ever forget
the simple joy of nestling in your loving arms
and suckling contently at your milky breasts
that gave me the nourishments of life.
Dearest Mom, how can I ever describe
your kind smile that I saw through my tears
as I took a fall and you whispered to my ears
that it is sometimes alright to take a tumble in life.
Dearest Mom, how can I ever thank you enough
for the wisdom that you taught me as I grew up
and the love you gave me so unconditionally
which is the sweetest nectar I have tasted in life.
The lovely lady in this photo is my beloved late mom, Madam Chow Chiew Sai. This photo was taken in 1945 for match making purpose. It was taken at an unknown studio in Ipoh, most probably near Kg Kuchai where she stayed during her younger days. In those days, match making was the norm upon reaching marriageable age.
In this photo she sported the “abalone” hairstyle made famous by the popular mainland Chinese songstress, Zhou Xuen周璇. Mom was a big fan, always humming her songs as she goes about doing her chores. For this photo session, she also sewed herself a set of samfoo to complete the pretty look. Needless to say, she won my dad’s heart straight away!
From cradle to grave, Mom never had it easy. Her own mother died when she was only six and being the eldest child, she had to take care of her siblings and doing all the house work even though she is still a child herself. And in those days there were no electricity or tap water, much less gas stove! So she has to draw water from the well and chop fire woods as a child.
After marriage, she had to face abusive in- laws and in old age debilitating illness.But Mom is a very resilient and gentle person. She has never throw a tantrum nor even rise her voice. Despite the many hardships, she and Dad managed to give my siblings and me a decent childhood and for that we are forever indebted and grateful to them both.
This coming Sunday is Mother’s Day. Even though she is no longer with me but she is always in my heart and in my mind. And I like to take this opportunity to thank her and also to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day and may she rest in eternal peace.
Of course, I also like to wish all the wonderful moms in the world a HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY. Mothers are our guardian angels. As the Jewish proverb puts it aptly “God cannot be everywhere, therefore he created mothers.”
My name is Mohammed Salleh, age 39, married with three children. I am one of the many hawkers in town selling ‘chendol’ for the past 22 years. You can find me daily at the Magistrate Court compound in the morning; around Railway Station at one o’clock; and at Hale Street (opposite Town Padang) from 3 pm. I finish work at about 5pm.
He used to be one of the many hawkers who served locals (and probably foreigners too!) back in the 70s. Anyone tried his famous ‘chendol’?
Somewhere in the late 1960s, this was part of a low-cost housing scheme in Sungai Rokam (off Gopeng Road), in Ipoh. These houses were constructed mainly of timber, following the traditional Malay-styled home. There were about 410 units of such houses which covered over 100 acres of land. The houses were raised on timber columns, resting on concrete bases, and had tie beams which also served as floor joints.
Are they still around today? Or have they been replaced by modern brick houses / flats?
Recognise this bar? Don’t know if it was as popular as the FMS; but it must have had many patrons – judging by their well-stocked bar (see picture below)
The bar was at Station Hotel. Wonder, did it have a catchy name? Some of you out there might know more………..
If you are eager to know about early Ipoh and Perak then this is a must-buy for you.
“A Grandfather Story” telling of the life of Leong Sin Nam is written by his grandson Dr Leong Oon Keong. In it you will find not only the life story of one of Ipoh’s most famous pioneers and philanthropists, but also stories of the early tin miners and coolies, Perak’s support to Dr Sun Yat Sen’s revolution in China and the early Chinese migrants and how they helped their motherland during the two Sino-Japanese wars.
Included in the book are exclusive photographs taken from a souvenir book produced by Leong Sin Nam in the 1930s of which only one copy survived the Japanese Occupation.
Dual language, English and Chinese, A4 size and 65 pages in all, perfect bound with the photographs on quality glossy paper, and selling at only RM15, this is the best value heritage book you will ever be offered.
The book may be obtained direct from Dr Leong’s clinic at Leong Oon Keong Chest & Medical Clinic Sdn. Bhd. 178 – 180 Jalan Pasir Puteh, 31650 Ipoh, Perak. Tel: 605-2556302 Fax: 605-2432145, or by email to okleong@tm.net.my.
All proceeds will be donated to YNLeong Education Trust.
In 1929 my dad was just a young lad of 9, staying in the little tin mining town of Batu Gajah. According to him, cinemas and televisions were unheard of then. Chinese operas (called tuk tuk chiang in Cantonese) were popular instead, especially during festivals, mostly held near the Kuan Ti Temple ground, near the Kinta River that flows along some small towns in Perak.But opera is heavy stuff, too boring for a kid of 9.
He preferred circus. Watching the trapeze swinging from bar to bar, the clowns with their funny antics and animals like elephants or tigers performing stunts kept him mesmerized. These circuses travel from town to town, performing to large crowds of young and old in huge tents.
So when he heard that a circus is coming to town, he was very excited and determined not to be left out. Having gathered a few equally enthusiastic boys, they cycled from their village to town to watch the circus.
The problem is, none have enough money in their pockets to buy a ticket each. But this does not deter them from having a jolly good time, because boys will always be boys!
Upon reaching the circus ground, dad began to hatch a devilish plan and whispered it into their ears. All understood and nodded approvingly. Halfway into the performance, these mischievous boys sprang into action.
One of them gathered some pebbles from the ground in his fist and creeping quietly from behind, threw them at the old fat guard sitting near the entrance of the tent. He was rudely awoken from his little nap.
Infuriated, the poor fellow gave chase and while the entrance was left unmanned, the rest of the boys would make a quick dash into the tent and assimilate into the crowd. The boy who threw pebbles would run off and disappear into the bushes, leaving the poor guard panting and swearing.
The same tactic is used the next night and the next. All the boys took turns to throw pebbles at the poor fellow while the rest ran inside and watched the circus without having to pay!
Some 70 years later as dad puts his little grandchildren on his lap and watches the circus together on TV, he would recall his juvenile folly and burst into a toothless laughter, tears streaming down his wrinkled cheeks.
Note: Sorry, I do not have a photo for this post. As a little boy from a poor family, dad could not afford to buy a ticket, let alone own a camera to capture what he saw at the circus.
The former Out Patient department of the Ipoh General Hospital. We think this picture was probably taken in the late 80s (if we’re wrong, let us know!). At present, this building has been given a more modern ‘make-over’.
Also notice in the background – far right, the Municipal building (Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh).
With reference to one of our previous posts, and a special request by Zul, we’ve put up the plaque – which acts as a ‘memorial’ for the brave elephant….
This signboard was erected by the (then) British Government after the accident – around 1894.
No, we’re not talking about the Daniel Day-Lewis movie.
We think this ‘Red-Man’ was placed at the Ipoh Railway Station – and may possibly be the LAST of its kind!
Anyone ‘met’ the ‘Red-Man’ before?
As I was growing up, dad used to tell me about the Japanese atrocities. In his twilight years, while I was taking care of him, he told them to me all over again.
When the Japanese came to Malaya in December 1941, dad was just a young man of 21, staying in Kampung Merantin, Batu Gajah, Perak. He was an apprentice in a workshop but war changed everything.
The British had retreated and the locals were left to defend themselves against the aggressors. The men folk kept vigil at home while the women hid in the nearby jungle to escape from being rape by the soldiers.
One night, the Japanese came to his village and those nearby. Using loud hailers, they commanded all the young men in the villages to come out or else risk being shot at. These young men were then round up and marched to a field in nearby Changkat. They were made to stay there until dawn.
Early the next morning, they are told that some of them will be chosen and sent to help build the Burma Siam Railway at the Burmese border.
A Japanese soldier sat at the desk, handing out pieces of white papers to the young men. In these papers were written the word ‘Go’ while some were just blank. They were given out alternatively. Those who receive the paper with the word ‘Go’ were made to queue in a row ready to be on their way. Those who received the blank papers were to be sent back to their respective villages.
When it came to his turn to come forward to collect his paper, dad became very anxious and worried about his fate. He hesitated and paused for a moment. In a flash, a Japanese soldier was pointing his rifle at dad and the guy behind was barking furiously at him to hasten up. He even pushed dad violently forward.
Confused, dad quickly stepped aside and said,” If you are so impatient, why not you go first?”
Without a word, this guy just shoved dad aside and surged forward to collect his paper and his face turned pale. He got the paper with the word ‘Go’ which was actually meant for dad. And as for dad, he got the blank paper which was meant for that impatient guy.
Many of his friends went and as far as he knew, none came back. Some died from starvation or disease while many were tortured to death. Dad managed to earn another 66 years of life, succumbing to a bout of pneumonia at the age of 87 on 24th April 2007.
This piece is specially dedicated to my beloved dad,Yip Hee, may he rest in peace in Nirvana.
This art-deco styled cinema was designed by B M Iversen and built in the late 1940s. It was said to be a popular Chinese movie cinema, which later went on to show English, Malay, Hindi and Tamil movies in the 80s. The theatre finally closed in 1998. The elegent building now stands alone at Chamberlain Road.
This picture, of one of Iversen’s beauties, was taken in the 1970s – when the theatre was still in use.
In the month of June 2010, the Warriors’ Association, Kinta , Perak is organising a number of events in remembrance of those heroes who fell in defence of freedom and democracy. In chronological order they are:
Friday 11th June, 8:45 to 10:15am, Remembrance Service at the Cenotaph, Ipoh (opposite the railway station).
Saturday 12th June, 10:30am, Memorial Service for the Gurkhas that fell during the Malayan Emergency, at their cemetery in the 2nd Royal Rangers Regiment Camp, Kem Syed Putra, Tambun Road, Ipoh.
Saturday 12th June, 7:30pm, Troops Night Programme at the Royal Perak Golf Club, Ipoh.
Sunday 13th June, 9:00 to 11:00am, Remembrance service for those who gave their lives in the Battle of Kampar against the invading Japanese in WW2, at Khalsa Diwan Malaysia, Jalan Tun Abdul Razak, Ipoh.
Those who are interested in attending these functions may get further information from:
+6012 235 2557 (R. T. Pillay), email: rtpmani@streamyx.com
+6012 555 5585 (R. T. Pillay), email: prproject.kt@gmail.com
+605 527 6636 (Home)
Website: http://www.tpillay.com
IpohWorld Admin note: Please do not forget that the Malaysian Palm Oil Association, MPOA, will also be running their annual Commemorative Ceremony at God’s Little Acre, Batu Gajah on Saturday 12th June 2010 at 7:30am. This cemetery is the resting place of many of the expatriates who lost their lives during the Malayan Emergency (1948 to 1960). For those who also wish to honour the Gurkhas, there is plenty of time to attend both ceremonies. Details may be obtained from MPOA at +605 254 9582.
See you there!
This place was featured in the film ‘Anna and the King’. The 183-metre veranda is good place “to spend a lazy afternoon” with friends, over tea (or beer, depends on your preference!). Also a popular wedding venue once; I’m sure you know where this place is…….
The location was good; at the heart of town, with neighbouring banks, theatres, commercial buildings and within easy communication. Back in the 70s, the room rates were quite affordable – $55 for a Twin-sharing De Luxe room! The air-conditioned rooms even had TV sets installed!
Besides the luxuries it offered, there was also a restaurant and dining room which served both Chinese and European food. I remember it as ‘Rondezvous’ and it was on the ground floor of the hotel. Last I checked, the restaurant was gone – anyone know what it’s called now?
Andrew Lin, a new supporter of ipohWorld recently submitted an article for inclusion on the blog. However it is really too long to put here and so we have entered on the main database and have only included the following as an introduction. If you would care to read all the article and comment here after you have read it, please click on D R Seenivasagam here. Incidentally we desperately need a better photograph of DR if anyone has one we could use.
I N M E M O R I A M
IN EVERLOVING MEMORY OF THE LATE D.R. SEENIVASAGAM. PASSED AWAY 15TH MARCH 1969. DEEPLY MISSED BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN.
The Man Who Fought For Justice
Last Monday, 15th March 2010 was the forty first anniversary of the passing of D.R.Seenivasagam, or DR as he was affectionately known, a great and illustrious son of Ipoh. Sadly, the day passed by without any mention of the event in the obituary pages of our local newspapers.
To old-timers of Ipoh, Darma Raja Seenivasagam needs no introduction at all. He was the President of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), one of the earliest political parties formed in pre-independent Malaya. Under his leadership, the PPP captured control of the Ipoh Town Council, the forerunner to the Ipoh Municipal Council and later the Ipoh City Council, in 1958 and provided efficient local government for the people of Ipoh. DR’s charisma and extraordinary ability to articulate the aspirations of the masses endeared him to all who came in contact with him – from the “towkay” to the coolie. It is a well known fact that his most loyal supporters were the downtrodden of society namely the hawkers, petty traders, trishaw peddlers, labourers and others of the working class like the now-forgotten dulang washers. These people remained faithful to DR to the end.
Unfortunately, those born after 1969 had grown up with little or no knowledge of the man who as the opposition Member of Parliament for Ipoh was a constant thorn in the side of the then ruling Alliance government. DR was also an outstanding criminal lawyer in the country. On several occasions, his brilliance and skill in the legal profession spared many on the wrong side of the law from the gallows.
As a mark of remembrance for this towering personality, I, a humble retired senior citizen from Kuala Lumpur and a one-time resident here, invite you, good readers, to join me in a trip down memory lane and together reminisce our impressions and thoughts of DR – the man who fought for justice. Please share your insights with me so that the memory of this beloved leader who had done so much for Ipoh and its citizens will be perpetuated for our future generations. This commentary is my own personal recollections and may contain inaccuracies of fact due to the passage of time, for which I sincerely apologize. Feel free to correct any discrepancies, where necessary. Some of the road names mentioned have since been changed and may be unfamiliar to some of us.
The article continues here
This cinema was built in the 1930s, adjacent to a Christian graveyard – rumour has it that if you took off your shoes inside, you might not find them again when the lights come on! The picture shown here was taken in 1971, after the cinema was renovated.
I’m sure most of you know this Brewster Road cinema! Wonder what’s become of it now? After the fire in 2007, it seems to have just ‘stood still’……..
Here’s a section of Ipoh Old Town, said to be taken from the top of the state mosque’s minaret. In the background (left) is the Ipoh Padang and a row of giant common ru. Further back, are the limestone hills – something Ipoh has always been noted for!
This was what the area used to look like, back in the early 1970s. Of course now, things have changed a bit – for better or worse, depends on personal opinion I suppose. But, from what we’ve discovered lately……the Birch Clock Tower has been painted pink!
Has anything else been ‘altered’ dramatically in this area?
This all-marble fountain was built in memory of E W Birch, Perak’s British Resident from 1905-1910. It was at the south end of Belfield street – sadly, now another fountain has replaced this beauty!
We were once told by a senior resident of Ipoh, that during the Japanese Occupation the four corners of the fountain were ‘decorated’ with severed heads!
Also, later in 1957, the Town Council had a sign put up at the base – to prevent people from drying their laundry/chillies/and other such food stuff by the fountain!
Anybody out there have ‘other’ such memories of this fountain? I also wonder what’s become of the original marble fountain…….
The Qing Ming Festival, the Clear Bright Festival, Ancestors Day or Tomb Sweeping Day is a traditional Chinese festival which falls on the first day of the fifth solar term. It denotes a time for people to go outside and enjoy the greenery of springtime and tend to the graves of departed ones. This year it falls on 5 April – tomorrow.
Consequently we thought we should feature Ipoh’s most unusual grave, tucked in between MGS and a used car saleroom in Jalan Chamberlain Hulu, right in the middle of the city. But don’t worry for this has no bodies buried there nor spirits to wander in the dead of night for this is the Guandong Grave as the inscripion shows.
It reads “Worshipping altar of the Guandong grave” and was placed there to allow all the Chinese immigrants in Ipoh to pray to their ancestors as they could not do so at the graves in their home villages. The second inscription below (gold on grey) gives the history as being built during the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1878 to 1908). Consequently, when this grave was built there was no Ipoh New Town and it would have been among the padi fields and pig farms. Unfortunately the actual date is in a classical Chinese form that we have not yet been able to translate. The inscription also records that the grave was restored by the Perak Guangdong Association on 18 August 2003.
This final picture shows the inscription on the small altar to the right (just visible on picture one). This is the symbolic grave of the God of the Earth for those who wish to pray to him. No doubt all the mining coolies needed his help!
This is a real piece of Ipoh’s heritage as it has probably been there since 1895 or before!
This famous Ipoh landmark opened in 1962. Designed by Booty Edwards & Partners, the place offered each trader equal space for his/her shoplot.
The Yau Tet Shin bazaar was known to the locals as Pasar Bulat (Round / Circular Market); it offered everything from suitcases and travelling bags, to Pomelo and Groundnut stalls, and it also had 3 Chinese Restaurants – one of which was featured in our previous blog post.
40 years later (in 2002) this landmark was ‘flattened’ and now turned into a car park. I remember 2 stalls there which I once visited – a Chinese tailor, and a bag stall where I bought my first school bag.
I’m sure some of you out there visited the bazaar, before it ‘vanished’……
This restaurant was said to be famous for Chinese Delicacies and Tanjong Tualang Fresh Water Prawns. Probably one the few air-conditioned restaurants at that time (1970s), it was located at the Yau Tet Shin Market & Shopping Centre; along Cowan Street in Ipoh.
Sadly, the Yau Tet Shin Market is not there anymore (now turned into a car park). Maybe someone out there has been to this restaurant?
The above photo was given to us by Lennie Brookes. According to Lennie, this is a photo of (her best friend) Norazian Tahir‘s children at a school play. Norazian had married a Police Inspector from Ipoh. If anyone knows Norazian or her children please let us know.
Anyone out there remember being in a school play? I’m sure some of us have vivid memories – I know the Michaelians had school plays every year!
The picture, taken in 1964 by an official photographer shows the then Sultan of Perak, Sultan Idris Shah II (1963-1984), when he visited Fort Tapong. He is in discussion with members of the Police Field Force who were billeted there and conducted anti communist patrols in the area.
This fort, the last to be built (in 1959/1960) for the Malayan Emergency, was sited in North Perak and this reflected the withdrawal of the majority of communist terrorists into Thailand, at that time, and making occasional sorties over the border into Malaya.
Jungle forts like Tapong acted as bases from which infantry and Police Field Force (PFF) patrols could operate. There were a number in operation in mid1955, with more under construction, and by the end of 1957 there were nine completed and fully functional. Fort Tapong was the tenth and last to be built. Every bit of material, apart from timber, needed to build the airstrips and the living quarters, and to make them secure had to be flown in by helicopter, as did the plant such as bulldozers, diggers and earthmovers when they were available, but in the case of Tapong, everything was done by hand, courtesy of the Royal Engineers and the PFF.
Some of you may wonder why the fort was still operating as the Malayan Emergency was declared over in 1960. Well officially it may have been, but as many of the old-timers know it was far from over in Perak and continued to be a problem for almost another 20 years.
A E Walker, the Manager of Elphil Estate (Sungai Siput, Perak), was shot in his office by Communist insurgents on 16th June 1948. Walker’s murder and the murder of two other planters led to the start of the Malayan Emergency – which lasted 12 years; 1948-1960.
Here we have a rare photograph of the interior of the Manager’s bungalow. This picture was taken after Walker’s death, with who we believe is the new Estate Manager and his family. This picture is part of Arthur Waters’ collection; Arthur Waters was a former policeman who served during the Malayan Emergency. He now lives a quiet life in Sungai Lembing, near Kuantan.
Flooding in Kuala Kangsar had been a problem since 1926, when the royal palace (Istana Sri Sayong) was almost swept away! The picture we have here is from 1967; as you can see, almost half of the Cathay cinema is underwater.
By the looks of things, the men on the boat were probably hoping to catch ‘The Sound of Music’ that day…..
Othman Sabrin kindly sent in this photo for publication. Thank you Sir!
He said:
“This is a picture of Persatuan Kedet Bersatu Malaysia from Anderson School, Ipoh in 1975. I studied at the school from 1973 until 1975. Our School Principal was Mr Lam Kok Hon (sitting in the centre with the moustache).”
Now Old Andersonians, a challenge for you, can you name any of the others in the picture? So far on this blog SMI have led the field by providing us with lots of names and dates. Now is the time for Anderson to catch up!
Incidentally, we are always delighted to receive photographs for publication, either in hard copy or if possible as 600dpi scans. Hard copies will be returned promptly if required.
The Ipoh Airport started out as a private airfield in the 1930s. It was only in 1947 that the first commercial flight was introduced. Later, in the 1980s, the airport runway was extended.
Here we have a photograph of a family at the Ipoh Airport, taken in 1978. In the background (top, left) is the airport’s control tower. Recently, there were plans to further extend the runway as well as other ideas for a make-over. Anyone out there know what’s the latest news on this?
…..one should take time to cool off – like these children from Kampung Gajah! Here they are, without a care in the world, having fun the waters of the Kinta River. To what we know, this picture was taken around the year 1965. Anyone want to share with us your fond memories from those days?
This postcard shows the Victoria Bridge, which is the oldest railway bridge in Malaysia. The bridge was officially opened on the 21st of March 1900 by Sultan Idris Murshidul’adzam Shah of Perak and FMS High Commissioner Sir Frank Swettenham.
Jubilee Park was once Ipoh’s foremost entertainment centre. Built by the Danish architect BM Iversen, some of the attractions within this 4-acre park were the Grand Theatre, the Chinese Concert Hall and the Jubilee Cabaret. Interestingly, it was originally called the ‘Ipoh Amusement Park’, but later the owners (the Shaw Brothers of course!) renamed it ‘Jubilee Park’ in 1935 – in honour of King George V’s Silver Jubilee.
Sadly, the Jubilee Park of today is but a shell of its former self. I do wonder what has become of it…
A wander around Kampung Kuchai in the heart of Ipoh certainly gives the photographer something to concentrate on. We have featured the area before with the old house, the Beetle and the MG Magnette, but nothing as artistic as this (literally) heap of junk.
Here we have a real piece of artistry! How the owner managed to get all of that stuff piled on the roof of the van to actually stay there, I just don’t know.
Obviously proud of his work the artist has left his name and telephone number and entitled the work “Ah Fatt’s Car”. Perhaps he is waiting for one of the London galleries to call him to an art exhibition. After all this is far more interesting and colourful than much of the so-called art they display.
….when ‘Alvarez Kelly’ was being shown in Ruby Theatre. (Yes, on the far right is the cinema hall which was part of the Lau Ek Ching building, along Anderson Road.)
William Holden played a ‘suave Mexican cattleman’ named Alvarez Kelly who unwillingly found himself caught in a Civil War. Well, to those of you who saw the movie – you know what happened next!
Facing the camera is the Federal Hotel and Restaurant. From what Google told us, the hotel is STILL there! Somewhere behind this hotel is another cinema – Cathay. Incidentally, Cathay was showing ‘One of Our Spies is Missing’ – a movie from the famed ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E’ series.
I wonder how many Solo and Kuryakin fans saw the movie!!
The Home Guard was part of a defence strategy during the Malayan Emergency. Their role was a ‘static local defence’, and ‘manning of checkpoints’ to cut of supplies to CTs, particularly in the area of the New Villages. The Home Guard were said to release the police and military for counter-terrorist ops.
Here we have two women from the Kinta Valley Home Guard, taken on the 2nd of March 1953 (the one on the right is holding a Bren gun). These were trained at a camp in Ipoh and were specifically for guarding the tin mines in Perak. They were all Chinese and founded by Towkay Lau Pak Kuan, as President of the Perak Chinese Tin Mining Association, with permission from General Templar, the British High Commissioner. Formed in 1952, some 4000 members were recruited, trained and armed by the government. In 1954 it is recorded that 323 different mines were defended by this “Chinese Home Guard”. They were operational until the end of the Emergency.
(If I were a CT, I’d know better than to get in their way!)
I’ve heard of the “Hell’s Angels” and other such motorcycle enthusiasts in America, but this one was quite a surprise – The Perak Lambretta Club!
We don’t know WHERE these ‘fans’ lined up for a pose but we think the date was 1960. To what we know, the club was founded by (naturally) a motorcycle enthusiast William Pillay (the adopted son of Sybil and Dr A C Kathigasu). Incidentally, William was also a member of the Automobile Association of Malaya.
If anyone out there knows more about this photograph or about the club, do leave us a comment.
If any of you were a biker, do entertain us with tales from your ‘wild-days’…..
Over the past few days there have been several comments about our last post that featured the FMS Bar and so while in Old Town searching for the MG logo (previous post) I took the opportunity to take the above photo to demonstrate what is being done to the pillars. As you can see they are being put back to original.
Coincidentally there is an article in todays New Straits Times that seems to confirm the rumour that the building will be returned fully to its original status, i.e. a hotel as well as restaurant and bar. See http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/22fma/Article/index_html
Yes, just a few metres from the Beetle lies this grand old vehicle. If you don’t recognise it then have a look at this:
It is of course an MG and it is in that graveyard for old vehicles, right in the centre of Ipoh, called Kg Kuchai. This is is one of the last undeveloped areas of Ipoh and was featured in the City’s Structural Plan but was left alone during the one of the General Elections in the late 80’s or early 90’s. Politics presumably ruled as Kg Kuchai is home to many motor repair shops, coach builders, carpenters, welders and home to one of the City’s last remaining traditional Lorry Transport Companies.
Start at the house by the river (previous blog) and follow the path towards the town. You can’t miss finding this and lots of other interesting wrecks. However we have no idea of the owners of these things and can take no responsibility if your visit is wasted or has problems of any sort. Watch out for the many dogs!
As you can see from the above the Gopeng Museum is currently holding a one month Clock Exhibition until 16 March 2010. There are more than 185 old (antique!) clocks on display.
Almost all the pieces have been lent by local people. Some are shown here.
The normal exhibition remains on show which also includes many old clocks.
Do get along there, it is very interesting and worth the visit. But please remember to leave a donation in their box to pay some of the costs of bringing this show to you FOC.
Nobody could tell us about an earlier Ipoh band – The Red Crane, but this might be easier. Known as “Unit 6-2” they are from left to right, Richard, Aziz, Yahaya and Richard. The date is around 1966 and they are all from SMI. Richard on the left is probably Leong Kai Loong, but who are the others and where are they now?
From the same source came this second picture. We believe it is Form 5 Arts 1965 and that the same Leong Kai Loong is second from the left in the back row. But who else is there? One thing unusual is there is no La Sallian brother pictured. Why would that be?
With no comments on the Beetle and still on holiday I could not resist showing you this great old photo of the Post and Telegraphs Office, Grik.
A wooden building on stilts with verandah and black and white chick blinds, this is real Malaya and just what I remember from my first visit to the country in 1960. What a shame we have replaced such romance and beauty with concrete and bricks and at the same time torn down such buildings in an attempt to erase the memories of what was.
This is real history and we should all be proud of it while still moving forward with tasteful development although I doubt that some people actually understand what tasteful means!
This photograph was taken by an Ipoh resident, Richard, Leong, in the early 1960’s not long after it had been erected by the Perak Turf Club as a gift to the town. At the key junction of Hugh Low Street, Gopeng Road, Tambun Road and Brewster Road it welcomed travellers to Ipoh from all directions.
I was looking at the fountain recently and I wonder why the water flow and spouts etc are so different from this picture. To me, although the structure is the same, the beauty of the water has completely disappeared when compared to the above. What could have happened? Are the pumps worn out or was there a deliberate change for one reason or another?
One more question comes from a small boy who, as they pass the fountain in their car, very often says “When will the Uncle switch on the water mummy?”. Now that is a good question as switching on and off seems quite a random affair. Does anyone know the answers to these?
Incidentally, the Turf Club also diverted some of its funds to help beautify the city by constructing the Japanese Garden with a solar-powered clock, along Tambun Road.
This very attractive picture was taken in a studio in Ipoh in 1966. She was just two years old and definitely enjoying posing for the camera.
We dedicate this to all the children who today are anxiously waiting for the onset of Chinese New Year and their Angpows. May they get many and spend their money wisely.
Gong Xi Fa Cai
Sports Day at St Bernadette’s Convent, Batu Gajah, was quite eventful in 1954 – the Teachers had their own little race. This picture was taken at the school’s new grounds (Jalan Pusing); the school was previously sharing its premises with the St Joseph’s Catholic Church.
Far in the background are some curious spectators, probably wondering how these teachers would be able to race in those lovely dresses!!
In 1956/57 there was a great deal of student unrest relating to the communist insurgents and the forthcoming Merdeka. Surprisingly, this even spread to laid back old Ipoh. The situation was described by one of the Special Branch officers at the time as “a compelling problem of student subversion developing in the middle schools in Perak, particularly Ipoh”.
The picture shows District Special Branch Officer ASP Peter G. E. Coster taking action against one of the defiant, pro-communist students of Ave Maria Convent Chinese Middle School during a students demonstration at the school. Several girls were taken into custody that day by the uniformed police and Special Branch. This particular young lady does not seem in the least concerned that she is being carted away by such a strong police team. Indeed she walks proudly with head held high.
We wonder where she is now?
“In 1948 an appalling upheaval took place in Malaya……I was told by the Manager of Kamunting Estate when I made my routine visit that the Manager of Elphill Estate had been shot.” Thus, according to Dr Tweedie, was the start of the Malayan Emergency.
Here we have a picture from that era (somewhere between 1948 – 1960), showing a pair of twins engrossed in their toys. Notice their sand-bagged nursery and a Special Constable stationed outside. Such memories (of life during the Emergency) may not be pleasant ones for some of us, but if anyone out there has some stories for us we’d like to hear from you!
This model of a full size elephant and handlers stands in the entrance to a building in Perak. Legend has it that one day he ran amok into the jungle and when he was finally caught he had a silvery substance smeared all over his left front leg. When his handlers had quietened him down enough to clean him up they found the substance was tin. The then Regent (there was no Sultan at the time) then gave all mining rights in the area to the owner of the elephant. True or not, it is a lovely story and is said to have started the tin boom and, later, wars between two Chinese miner clans, Hai San and Ghee Hin.
Now for the history buffs out there, where is the building, who owned the elephant and what was the date? No prizes given other than your knowledge of your local history being proudly displayed to the world.
Answers on Wednesday if you have not got them right by then.
It is some time since ipohWorld’s world took a virtual trip to Sitiawan, home of the Foochows and so that is where we go today – to the building of Gray Jackson & Co Ltd opened in 1920. For the building enthusiasts here is what the top of the building looks like.
Now I have no doubt that the eminent partners of Gray Jackson would have played snooker, gambled and drunk coffee, but I fear that would have turned in their graves when those awful signs appeared on the front of their plain but tasteful architecture.
I have never quite understood why our shop signs need to be so large and garish, but it seems to be essential in most of South East Asia except certain heritage streets in Singapore where they are banned. How nice it is to walk those streets with informative, but tasteful signs while taking in the pleasant surroundings that our forefathers created for us, rather than those hideous appendages.
Incidentally these photos were taken some time back and the building may have even disappeared by now, but you may recognise some members of the Perak Heritage Society in front of the building.
Does anyone in Sitiawan know what Gray Jackson and Co Ltd did?
Local artist Khor Seow Hooi is presenting an exhibition of his paintings of Old Ipoh Town in the Syuen Hotel, first floor, from today 24 January 2010 until 31 january from 10am to 7.30pm daily, including Sunday. Above is one example of his detailed work in ink and watercolour on paper.
He has captured many of our heritage buildings with his brush and as the demolition of our heritage city continues unabated these pictures will become priceless mementoes of how we used to be.
Here is a second example of the treat that is in store for you when you make your way along to the Syuen. Don’t miss it!
This information is taken from the latest post on the Ipoh Echo blog at http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/2010/01/22/state-government-to-keep-the-dredge/.
This striking decision was made public by Dato’ Hamidah Osman the Senior State Executive Councilor for Tourism via an Echo reporter on on Wednesday 20 January during an interview in Taiping to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the Taiping Peace Initiative.
It is reported that she said “Yes, we are going to keep the dredge” . She apparently continued ” …..Besides preserving the dredge we must also ensure that it is safe and will last for the long term. ……”
She made no mention of how much budget has been set aside, but no doubt it will be several million if this is to be a genuine preservation and long term solution.
Please read the full report via the above link.
Perak has plenty of heritage buildings, many of which seem to be ignored by their owners or the government. But here is a wonderful heritage building for although not more than 100 years old it has just been restored by the National Heritage Department. Many will not believe that this building is a mosque for it is square, double-storey and without minarets. It may be the only one of its kind in Malaysia.
Kuala Dal mosque was built in 1936 by the village craftsman to an age old tradition and the upper storey was used for prayers while downstairs was a general purpose meeting room where apart from meetings, religous lessons were given to both adults and children and in the fasting month, the village would break fast there. The construction was funded by the 30th Sultan of Perak, Sultan Iskandar Shah who had seen the villagers praying in a dilapidated madrasah. It is very similar to the old palace, Istana Kenangan at Kuala Kangsar, woven bamboo in a diamond pattern as the photograph below shows. Sultan Iskandar Shah also built the new palace, Istana Iskandariah, in Kuala Kangsar.
It is painted in the colours of Perak, black, yellow and white. Local suggestions include the idea that it is going to be turned into a museum or gallery to add to the attractions of the area, but that may just be hearsay for today there is a notice advertising an Umrah meeting which indicates it may still be used for religous purposes, in addition to the second village mosque built in 1976. Today it is locked tightly shut. However it is a fact that back in the 1950’s and 60’s many Westerners travelling on the old road to/from Penang would stop here for a photo session. Let us hope that after such a splendid restoration, good use will be made of the building and encourage tourists to once again stop for that memorable picture to take home.
In the entrance to the same building as the wash hand basin below hangs this electric light fitting. As electricity did not properly come to Ipoh until 1930, courtesy of the Perak River Hydro-Electric Power Company Ltd, it can only be around 75 years old – the art deco period – and that ties in very well with the style of the fitting. So we are in no doubt that the owners of this building were “early adopters” back in the 1930’s and quickly took advantage of the ability to provide proper lighting to illuminate their leisure.
Incidentally, the first electricity available in Ipoh was in 1923 by arrangement with the Pengkalan Tin Company, Batu Gajah.
What a nice surprise I had yesterday when I dropped in to Panglima Lane to see the latest state of that fast disappearing site of Ipoh’s heritage. There was a wonderful sight, a Malay couple dressed in their stunning white silk wedding attire being photographed. The scene was without doubt worthy of the above secondary title “Beauty’Midst the Bricks”.
Now I did not ask them why they had chosen that particular spot, only if I could put this photo on my blog. But thinking back why shouldn’t they pick one of Ipoh’s most historic places to record their special day? But wouldn’t it be nice if the place had been kept up as a heritage site rather than a dilapidated shadow of its past glories. Sadly of course it is rare for anything in Ipoh ito be kept up despite heritage groups, activists and the government’s Heritage Act, for nobody seems to care about anything other than making a profit. What a sad place Ipoh will be if we continue this way.
This photograph was taken in Sitiawan, Perak – with the words ” Lian Jun Foo, ‘Suckling Pig’ ” written on the back.
We think the car, behind the boy, is an Austin. Any antique-car lover out there could help us confirm this.
As for the boy, he seems pretty confident with his pose – not to mention his unique hair-style! We’d like to hear from anyone who probably had such a hair style back in the 1940s. (maybe send us pictures too?)
This very delightful house has combined two very distict styles, that to my eye actually compliment each other, into one structure and as such seems to me to be quite unusual. Clearly a family heritage building, it stands not far back from the main road, close to Beruas, Perak and on the day the photograph was taken, seemed to be empty. Obviously there is a lot of Malay tradition in the wood carvings and decoration, fast disappearing in many other places, as can be seen here:
But what about the concrete pillars? It is rare to see such decoration forming part of a Kampung House.
One thing I cannot imagine is why would anyone wish to leave such a house empty for it stands in a nice piece of land with trees and flowers and with no pollution, life could be idyllic. I do hope the owner was only out at the market and has not given up this piece pf paradise for a double storey link house in the city!
If anyone knows any of the history of this building we would be delighted to hear from you.
As we start the new year of 2010 (can I really be that old?), it is traditional to greet each other with best wishes for the year ahead and we at ipohWorld are no different, so “May you all have health, wealth and happiness for the coming year”.
However looking at the above picture and remembering just how peaceful this solitary Lenggong house was when we walked along the shady track that ran past it, I would like to add a second greeting to the world “May you all have a peaceful 2010”. Now I know that my one voice wishing for peace will not make even the tiniest dent in the bombings, shootings and every other sort of violence that takes place somewhere every few seconds, but if we all said it then there might be a hope of at least reducing some of the mayhem in the world. So I shall say it again. “May you all have a peaceful 2010”.
We look forward to hearing from each one of you in the year ahead.
With a little prompting from Ignatius Chiew, we’ve decided to publish this class photograph from one of Ipoh’s famous boys’ school – St Michael’s Institution.
Again, we are not too familiar with the year or the people. But from what we know, seated in the front (from left to right) are:
the late Mr. Julianose (2nd from left), the late Mr. Lee Guan Meng, Bro. Vincent, Bro Pius (Director), the late Mr. Lim Kean Hooi (3rd from right), and Mrs. Ooi Eu Chong (extreme right).
Anyone remember the rest (teachers and/or students)? We would be pleased to hear from you. Nothing like reminiscing about ones school days!
Traditional trades are fast disappearing and although the cobbler is perhaps not in the same heritage league as the tinsmith, the silversmith, the blacksmith, the chick blind maker, the sign carver and the like, he has been an important part of local life ever since we wore shoes, which for many in the Kinta Valley was not actually more than 70 or so years ago.
Nonetheless this old gentleman from Teluk Intan has obviously been in this one shop for a lifetime and although it has nothing to do with Christmas, the picture gives me that same feeling as some of the old drawings from the classic Charles Dickens books like “A Christmas Carol” and the ghosts of years past. For surely among all the clutter in the shop there must be some ghosts of the past in the form of discarded shoes, forgotten bags and more.
So with this picture in mind, we at ipohworld.org would like to wish you all the happiest of holidays over the Christmas season and all the very best for 2010. We shall be taking a short break from writing from today, but will be back with you next week. However, don’t stop writing to us for we shall still be reading your comments every day.
Yes the Bumper issue No 88 hit the newstands and free outlets today. The biggest paper they have produced so far it is full of local interest: from making a movie in Papan, Christmas cheer, plagiarism, outdoor pursuits, community news and much more.
But one article relating to heritage that caught our attention was about the old tin dredge and its future. The dredge is sinking and as every day passes it further deteriorates. To get it back to a level suitable for tourism will cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of RM. Should this money be spent? Who should pay? What should be done?
Why not read the article yourselves either at page 4 of Isue 88 or at http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/category/commentary/thinking-aloud/ and let us, or the Echo know your views. But at the same time don’t forget to read the other 19 pages, they are full of local interest. It is your community newspaper so enjoy it.
The dredge leaning over at an angle approaching 20 degrees
Not only did our owner of the missing house care for the building itself, but just look at these photographs. He carefully saved everything that was there and after restoring his old home, he faithfully replaced the contents. That’s dedication, but more importantly it is “Pride in One’s Heritage”.
Family photographs on the wall, books and ornaments neatly blending with period furniture and a modern (ish) desk lamp.
What a great place to come home to after a week of pressure in Kuala Lumpur!
As you can see from the picture there is a set of traditional steps leading to the front of a Kampung House that is not there! Then at the back is a small building, clearly the kitchen of the missing house. So what happened? Well do you see the yellow house behind the trees? That is the house that used to fill the space between steps and kitchen. Today it looks like this.
Yes, the whole house, lock, stock and barrel was taken to pieces, each piece numbered, recorded and where necessary carefully restored and then rebuilt further away from the road. It cost a small fortune to do this, but the owner, an architect and descendant of the original owner thought that at whatever cost his family home was worth saving. What a great example to set to our people who own similar homes that are simply left to rot. They wouldn’t need to go this far, but with some TLC (tender, loving care) they could keep their ancestors homes together, couldn’t they? Many would make perfect country retreats from our bustling, polluted cities, either for the family or as homestays. Think about it!
Mystery solved!
Some internal pictures of the house will be posted tomorrow.
Above each of the windows inside the Old Teluk Anson Courthouse there are plaster mouldings which alternate around the building. One like this and ……….
………one like this. Please excuse the cobwebs, spiders have no respect for the law!
Another interesting feature is the rainwater system, installed in 1949 which runs INSIDE the building!
The remainder of the inside of the building was not worth a photograph and so to finish this tour as, all too often, we have all seen rubbish on a floor before, here is a full-face shot of the front portion above that awful sign.
Lip Po left China, with a Catholic priest, and came to Malaya at the age of 5 in 1877. Having completed his education, he later went into mining. He however lost his mine in Falim and then ventured into selling cold drinks on the street. With that, he saved up some money and bought a 10-acre plot of land – which became Po Garden.
Po Garden, with its many fruit trees and flowers, eventually became the first organisation to have worked with Interflora. Here is a picture of Mr Lip Po with his first car, probably in the 1920s. Next to him in the car is one of his sons – all his 5 sons studied at St Michaels Institution; hence, Lip Po was one of the major donors for the 1939 extension done in the school.
I’m sure some of you out there remember Po Garden, located just beside the Main Convent. During my Primary years at the Main Convent, I would sometimes walk along Po Garden Lane (between the nursery and the Convent) and admire those shady trees. Now that the nursery has moved, the land which once stretched from Brewster Road all the way back towards Syuen Hotel has been (sadly) abandoned.
The company Po Garden still exists in the Cameron Highlands.
This old photograph shows the first courthouse in Teluk Anson (Teluk Intan), built in the late 1870’s or very early 1880’s. It also doubled up on a Sunday as the Anglican Church for there was not one available in the district. However, the hard wooden benches suitable for a court house were just too uncomfortable as church pews and that certainly did not encourage the God-fearing parishioners to attend the Sunday service, for they were more used to the comfortable and relaxing pews of Old England.
Consequently the Society for the Propogation of the Gospel set about raising funds for a proper church and in 1910 the first Anglican church of Teluk Anson was completed – we are sure with comfortable pews!
The courthouse then continued solely in its primary role until the new courthouse was built in 1983. The Sultan of Perak opened the new building in April 1986, some 100 years after the original one was built.
This second photograph shows the building recently. Despite the offensive looking sign, it is not actually in use and apart from the odd cheap sale that takes place there it is effectively abandoned and fast deteriorating. Now we are well aware that this and the Old Police Station carry the stigma of being “British built”, but how can the council and residents of Teluk Intan let buildings like them just rot away, rather than turn them into something useful for the people, education, or even a museum. Have they no pride in their heritage?
This photo was taken in 2006 on a visit Teluk Intan originally called Teluk Mak Intan, after a well-to-do Mandailing woman who is believed to have been in trading across the Straits of Malacca, although some will say she was actually a pirate. It shows the old Balai Polis or Police Station which being unused was in a state of serious disrepair. What we don’t know is whether it is still there as we have not been that way lately. Please let us know.
Teluk Intan was of course renamed by the British under the administration of the third British Resident Hugh Low (1877 to 1889), as Teluk Anson, in honour of General Anson who drew the first plans of the town and secondly, as he said, Telok Ma’ Hitam (as the British called Teluk Mak Intan ) was too long! It was the Sultan of Perak in 1982 that changed the name back, but dropped the ‘Mak’.
Hugh Low was also responsible for the Police Staion when he proposed “The Customs House, the Court House, landing jetty and Chief Police Station should be put there at once. I will send the plan and write on the subject to Singapore as soon as I can…”. Consequently the area around the Polce Station would have been the original town, rather than where most of it is today.
What a shame no one has found a use for this old building, or have they?
Here we have a ‘friendly’ bus – ferrying the children around and also joining them on school trips. This picture was taken from the Main Convent Centenary Magazine. Judging by the number plate (AA 5084) and from the wordings in the magazine, we think this picture was probably taken around the year 1957.
Anyone out there been on such a bus before? Do let us know – especially if you were a ‘product’ of Main Convent, Ipoh!
This is the S.M. Noor Recreation Park, in Batu Gajah, Perak. This picture was taken from a 1985 Calendar.
From what we’ve found out, this place used to be one of the concert venues for local rock bands like Search, Wings, Lefthanded, May, Headwind, and so on. (The other venues around Ipoh being the Indera Mulia Stadium and Medan Gopeng). These crowd pulling concerts were at the badminton hall (not seen in the picture). Sadly, the place has now been abandoned and the only ‘visitors’ seem to be the over grown grass.
We would like to hear from any of the ‘Mat Rockers’ out there, who were once part of the concert crowd. Do share with us your memories: the ‘big’ hair, the black leather pants, etc. Ah, the 1980s……!
A member of 2nd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment recorded a night out in the jungle thus:
“Leeches that sucked the blood and covered the body were so prevalent one eventually ignored them, it was not unusual to find 50 or more in all parts of the body.
Vicious red ants, scorpions and ticks big enough to put a pull through, through a .303 although apart from green harmless tree snakes I saw only two, a Cobra in a base hut at Kuala Kangsar where every one left by the same door and windows at the same time and a python that crawled over Private Jack Tolliday in the night when he was asleep in the jungle mud hole, he thought he had dreamed it but in the morning I confirmed that it actually happened.”
The photograph (and I did not count the leeches) actually came from a soldier in the 3rd Battalion of the same regiment in 1958. Clearly the leeches enjoyed Australian blood!
This is Ipoh’s Cathay Theatre which still stands to day, but no longer as a cinema having been overtaken by Metroplexes and the like. It was once a beautiful single-screen theatre, built in Cockman Street in late 1956 and opened on August 31, 1957 with the movie, ‘The King and I’, telling the fictitious romantic story of Anna Leonowens and the King of Siam. At that time the 3rd Class seats (front rows downstairs) cost 60cents per ticket, while 2nd Class further back cost around $1.20. 1st Class upstairs (mainly for Europeans or VIPs) cost $2.
However, this picture above is a little strange for there is still waste ground opposite the theatre, but the posters are all torn, yet it must still have been a working theatre as it is advertising Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in the Paramount Picture “Pardners” which dates it as not long after the opening in 1957/58. Does anyone have any ideas as to when the buildings opposite were built?
Well he would be in danger if he was to try and take the same photograph today as he was standing in the centre of the Birch Bridge in Brewster Road, but of course in 1952 life was different in Ipoh, Brewster Road took two-way traffic and as you can see the road is almost empty. Compare that to today if you will.
But as you can see, despite the fact that the photograph has suffered with age, there were so many trees, big trees not some miniatures, overtrimmed, dusty and dry that we are so used to today. Also, some of today’s buildings have not yet been built and the Odeon Theatre stands out in the distance.
Incidentally, the Odeon Theatre in Ipoh seated 850 on its main floor and in the balcony and was built in the 1930’s. Triangular in shape it is adjacent to St Michael’s Cemetery and like the Rex Theatre, Ipoh, rumours of ghostly happenings, spooks and terrifying visions abound. One popular rumour was that if you ever took off your shoes inside, you would never find them when the light came on – even if nobody had sat in front, behind or next to you.
The theatre closed in 1986 and several nightclubs have tried to make a success of it but either because of bad ‘feng shui’ or the ghosts, they have all failed. Today it stands as a marker of failure and ready for demolition unless some serious entrepreneur is prepared to try and change the building’s luck.
This photograph was taken around the 14th of January 1953 by Himalaya Photo Studio, of No.117, Brewster Road, Ipoh.
On the back of the photograph are Chinese characters which roughly translate to “Yuen Seng to Qing Er, with fond memories”. We guess that this was probably taken after a dance competition – note the trophies and the dress code. But we could be wrong though. Anyone with further information, do let us know.
This is a picture of Mr Ng Boo Bee. He came to Malaya as a penniless coolie to try his luck in the mining industry. And he became a well known miner and businessman in Perak, mainly Taiping.
This photograph was one of literally hundreds that the famous German photographer took around 1900. August Kaulfuss was born and educated in Rohnstock, Silesia. He served in the German Navy for a couple of years then worked in the photographic studio of Otto van Bosch in Frankfurt. He arrived in Penang in 1883 and soon established a photographic firm at 9 Farquhar Street.
He travelled widely, mostly on foot, across almost all of the Malay Peninsula, from Province Wellesley in the north to Johore in the south as there were almost no roads or railways. Many of his photographs were made into picture postcards, a range of which are on the ipohWorld main site’s database. It is believed he returned to Germany before the First World War.
This photo shows a crocodile that was shot in the Kinta River which runs through Ipoh Town. The hunter was an European (referring to the hunter’s attire ) who helped the villagers to put an end to this crocodile’s menace. And the villagers were so excited to see the dead gigantic croc. We will be happy to hear from you, if you have information regarding this picture.
This picture shows one of the worst floods that ever happened in Ipoh. It was in 1926 and the picture was taken at the corner of Belfield Street and Station Road.
The precautions against such a disaster was taken earlier than this date. Around 1914-1921, the Ipoh Flood Mitigation Scheme had been carried out to protect the town from the then regular flooding. The aims of the scheme were to eliminate the sharp bends in the Kinta’s course through Ipoh Town; to divert waters of Sungei Choh into Sungei Pinji, instead of flowing directly into the Kinta above Ipoh. But the scheme wasn’t good enough to prevent the flood from continually trying to destroy Ipoh.
Thankfully further more effective measures were taken and we no longer suffer the curse of Ipoh Town.
Remember the days when those Jacobs biscuits came in tins? Not forgetting those enamel bowls/mugs/tiffin-carriers too.
We are sure some of you out there might have fond memories and maybe even (still) own these enamel ware or Jacobs biscuit tins.
This picture was taken as we were walking to the cave where the skeleton of Perak Man was found. It is a short walk from the Lenggong museum, but very “Kampong” and definitely at peace with nature.
The Kapok tree is very special and in the Maya culture, of the pre-Columbian America (2000BC) it was considered to be a sacred symbol. Closer to home, I grew up sleeping on Kapok stuffed pillows and mattresses and had a Kapok stuffed teddy bear. And that was a long time ago and so to me at least seeing the tree provided happy memories and clearly defined the tree as heritage to me.
This photograph taken in 1920 shows little sign of the famous Teluk Anson (now Teluk Intan) tower actually leaning, but if you go there yourself I can assure you it leans!
Manufactured from bricks and wood and standing at 25.5 metres tall, its Pagoda-style construction gives the tower an appearance of having 8 different levels (like Pisa). However, the building is actually divided only into 3 storeys each 16½ feet high, connected by 110 stairs. Above the third storey stands the water tank (for it was actually a water tower for the surrounding population) 16 feet deep and with a surface area of 680 square feet. All 8 levels have a 6 feet wide balcony and a decorative 2 feet high marble wall surrounding the main structure. Roofing tiles complete the picture. One amusing fact, taken from the very limited history available is that the side balconies were designed “to ensure the safety of the tower’s caretaker from rainstorm”. There is still a regular caretaker of the tower today and one of his duties is to wind the old clock that was originally ordered from London and still keeps good time while chiming every 15 minutes. Again the records claim “the hourly ringing of the Tower’s clock could be heard up to 8 miles away, but now the chimes could be heard as far as one to half a mile in radius due to the modernization of buildings and all means of transportations”. Today I doubt that it can be heard much further than the town center.
Over the years the tower has been a Japanese observation post and a Boy Scout Headquarters amongst other roles, but in 1997 the council decided that the tower should remain a landmark for the town’s tourism and constructed the new town square around it. Not long ago it was subjected to careful internal restoration.
Next time you are going to Pangkor, Lumut or even Penang (if you are coming from the South), why not take that detour off the highway at Bidor and enjoy Malaysia’s own leaning tower and while in Bidor, just stop at Pun Chun, the first large Chinese restaurant on the right past the traffic lights and enjoy the best duck noodle soup in the country. They have been serving it for more than 3 generations and you will love it.
This is a picture of a three-lane, 1960s mining Palong constructed at Kampong Gajah, Perak. As can be seen this is a major structure all made from timber which was generally cut from the mining land before the actual mining started, as almost all of the land would have been originally covered by trees which had to be removed. A three-lane Palong was quite small as many of them went up to 12 lanes or later even 16.
The Palong is of course associated with open-cast mining and in this period meant the use of manhandled, high pressure, monitors cutting the tin bearing ore from the land and washing it towards the gravel pump, for pumping up to the Palong. However, spare a thought for the men who built this structure, for once the monitors had cleared all the tin from the area they were working, the Palong had to be dismantled, moved and reassembled at the next mining area for there was a limit as to how far the gravel pump could be away from the monitors.
This mode of mining was eventually replaced by the use of excavators, tipper trucks and automatic monitors known as Dry-Excavating Opencast Mining, there being two great advantages to this, the Palong did not have to be moved and the automatic monitors could work for 24 hours, thus increasing the yield of tin ore.
This photograph, courtesy of Peter Smith, an Australian miner who was employed in Kampong Gajah in the 1960s, was taken with a 16mm camera – two pictures on one 35mm transparency (slide) frame. It is amazing that so many years later it still prints out so clearly.
The Kampong house pictured is on the bank of the Kinta River in the Batu Gajah area and shows a typical Perak scene at that time. Unfortunately these old Malay houses continue to disappear as the occupants give up their idyllic and traditional abodes and opt for the ubiquitous link house in some crowded suburb. It is no wonder they all “Balik Kampong” at every possible opportunity.
Putting up great old photos is always a pleasure and this one is no exception! Taken in Ipoh and probably dating around the 1930s this is a lesson in fashions of the times.
Just look at the styles of clothing old and new, east and west that are included in this group. Front left is a dear old man, not just traditionally dressed but also sporting a very special beard, while on the far right there is a very ‘Western’ lounge suit and what looks like a blazer and flannels (trousers). In the centre of course there is the bride and groom, he in his dark ‘Western’ suit and she in her finest Chinese headress and white gown. They are flanked by the Maid of Honour and Bridesmaid in knee length dresses. What a galaxy of styles!
Taken by a local photographer, outside of what was probably his parents’ grand house, this was an occasion to remember, but does anyone remember for we would dearly love to know who this Ipoh couple were.
You might wonder why these three men are pushing their boat up the Perak River towards Kuala Sepetang, originally known as Port Weld, the site of the first railway in Malaya that connected the port to Taiping Station (the then capital of Perak), rather than doing the obvious thing of riding in it. But the title of this post (with apologies to the composer) may have given you the answer, but if not then a glance at the next picture surely will.
Yes they are bringing in their daily harvest of cockles, for Kuala Sepetang is famous for supplying fresh, machine washed Perak cockles across the Malayan Peninsula and has been for many years. Now there’s a bit of heritage that many people are not aware of, even those who regularly enjoy the little crustaceans.
Kuala Sepetang, as Port Weld once used to export, not cockles, but tin and that was the rhyme and reason why the railway was built in 1884 using Ceylonese labour. But that lucrative business has of course disappeared, nonetheless, Kual Sepetang is still a busy little fishing port and besides the cockles which mostly leave by lorry, is a great place for traditional seafood dishes.
Why not drop in on the friendly folk there and have a restful day off. You know you deserve it! By the way, the prawns are excellent as well and that is personal experience talking.
At one time Ipoh sported two Birch Memorials, the clock tower in memory of J W W Birch and this beautiful marble fountain in Belfield Street to honour his son E W Birch. These memorials always seem to cause confusion as today only the clock tower remains and more than one tourism site has misled its readers in the past by talking about the “Birch Fountain”, over a picture of the clock tower.
So this post is intended to set the matter straight. The clock tower was erected in 1909 in memory of J W W Birch, the first British Resident of Perak under the Pangkor Treaty of 1874. He was assassinated by the Malays in 1875 and the moving force for the erection of the towere was his son E W Birch who was the 8th British Resident from 1904 to 1910. It is still with us today although as an earlier post shows the area in which it stands is not always treated well.
The photograph above shows the Birch Fountain. This all-marble fountain at the southern end of Belfield Street, was erected by the Ipoh Chinese business community, in honour of E W Birch (later, Sir Ernest Woodford Birch KCMG CMG) who (unlike his father) was a popular administrator that worked closely with the local people, particularly Yau Tet Shin, the original developer of Ipoh New Town.
Sadly, in the name of development, it was demolished by the local council and was replaced by a new fountain of a much lesser qualty and style. That is Ipoh’s loss.
This magnificent house, now demolished, was once owned by Charles Alma Baker. This house, originally with a thatched or atap roof, was probably built in 1890 or 1900. Charles Alma Baker was suryevor, miner and planter from New Zealand who came to Batu Gajah during in late 1890s. William Kellie Smith helped him, in his survey work for Kinta Land Office and in road making in South Perak. Moreover, he joined venture with William Kellie Smith to clean 360 hectars of forest in Perak. He was considered as one of the pioneers who contributed to the developments of Batu Gajah.
Alma Baker was born in Otago, New Zealand and came to Perak in 1890. Initially, he was contracted to do survey works for the Perak government before the contract was terminated in 1897 after the accuracy of his surveys forced an inquiry into his activities. His most lucrative mining concession at Gunung Lanno financed his involvement in rubber plantations.
This is a picture of Ipoh’s famous Eurasian lady, Sybil Kathigasu who was awarded the George Medal by King George VI. Her story under the Japanese Occupation is a harrowing one, yet one of bravery strength and determination. Her story and that of her family can be found at here.
The shooting team was in 1959 at Ipoh. Mr. Richard Clarke, from 11th Independent Field Squadron Royal Engineers is the second from the left front row. Mr. Richard Clarke has told us more about this photo and his time in Malaya during the Emergency. His story can be found here.
This Photograph of Station Road, Ipoh is a classic with so many rickshaws busy in the street. It is 1906 and this is the very centre of Perak’s commercial operations.
It was here that companies like Chung Thye Pin Built his status building which was first Dr Connolly’s Medical Hall, then Oldfield’s and subsequently Georgetown Dispensary,
The Straits Trading Company the very centre of the Tin trade were here as well, as were, The Chartered Bank (The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China), The Mercantile Bank, Whiteaway and Laidlaw, the leading department store in Ipoh, Charles Grenier & Co Ltd, who originally imported British Made ‘Centaur’ pedal cycles. They also ran a small press as ‘Printers Stationers and Publishers’ with its head office here, with branches in Kuala Lumpur and Seremban, The Station Hotel, (as the railway station at that time was a single storey wood and atap building with no accommodation facilities.)
This indeed was THE place to have your head office.
This is Taiping resident – Lee Eng Kew, better known locally as Ah Kew, freelance writer and field historian who explores temples and grave yards to archive epitaphs, trace lineage and record oral history. For over ten years, this man in the street has carried out extensive research on the illustrious history of Taiping, a town of many firsts in Perak, Malaysia – focusing on the Chinese immigration and contributions to the town and state.
Not content with that, in 2004 he made a video about his hobby in which he was the narrator Lee Eng Kew, assisted by Producer Khoo Eng Yow, Director of Photography, Lim Chun Piao and Lam Yek Wah, Sound, Lee Wei Ching & Sylvia Lim and Editor, Khoo Eng Yow.
Such was its success it was selected for Jonio International Film Festival, Italy, the IV International Audiovisual Festival, Azerbaijan and the 2nd Golden Apricot Film Festival.
Search Google – “Ah Kew the digger”, to find out more.
The news of killings of J.B.D Edwards and two Malay SCs was stated in Strait Times, adding more numbers of killings in Sungei Siput. The planters and armed forces personnels became the main targets for bandits to achieve their goal. The paper cutting was given by Mr. Bill Ashby, UK.
The picture of Humber Pulman was taken in Taiping during 1950s. It was a Standard Vanguard for Officers of the Command, who used having arrived by helicopter to travel around the area. Besides that, several armoured Scout Cars also used to escort the Humber Pulman during the visits.
Such a beauty! Dont you agree? Please drop by if you know about this car, registration 27BC24.
This photograph of what is said to be Captain Speedy’s Bungalow was taken when the building was under restoration a few years ago. Does anyone know what it is used for now, assuming the renovation is finished?
Captain Speedy was born in Meerut, India, in 1836 and named Tristam Charles Swayer Speedy. He was appointed as the Superintendent of Police of Penang in 1871 before becoming the Perak Chief of Police in 1873, the year when he was tasked with quelling the war between two Chinese Triads who were fighting over who had the rights over the tin mines.
A c1875 picture of the bungalow may be found here.
This photograph dates from the end of the war / January 1946 and was taken by a member of 656 squadron stationed at Ipoh aerodrome. It is of course the Perak Turf Club racecourse which was also used at that time as an extra landing place for the squadron’s Auster aircraft due to congestion on and damage to the aerodrome after the war.
As a green lung in our city it is pleasing to see that it is still with us.
The Turf Club in Ipoh has a long history, having started out in 1903 as the Ipoh Gymkana Club. However, By Kinta`s standards, the Ipoh Race Course was founded rather late. The Gopeng Gymkhana Club being founded in the late 1880`s and the Kinta Gymkhana Club at Batu Gajah in 1890.
Today both Gopeng and Kinta Clubs have long-since stopped racing and Ipoh reigns supreme in Perak horse racing circles.
Some time ago Jeya mentioned that it is still possible to visit a bucket dredge some 10Km from Batu Gajah on the Tanjung Tualang Road. This is dredge number TT5 and it is open to visitors for a small entrance fee. You may walk on the dredge to get a feel for its massive size (4,500 tonnes weight) and talk to the man behind the project Steven Ng who seems to spend most of his life there.
This dredge, a museum piece, the last in Perak and one of only 3 left in Malaysia was built in 1938 by W F Payne & Sons and worked the mining pools in the Kinta vally for 44 years. It stopped working in 1983 when the price of tin dropped to a level where it was no longer an economic proposition. Today it sits in a man-made pond at Desa Perlombongan along the Tanjong Tualong Road and is well signposted.
Unfortunately the machinery no longer runs, but if you want to get an idea about how the dredge worked, click here and you will find the 11 different operations that took place on a dredge of this sort.
This little wooden hut, still standing a few metres off the Changkat Batu Gajah Road is the last in a row of similar huts where the married police officers lived during the Malayan Emergency. No fences, gatehouses or special security, just open to anyone who walked by. Very different to the homes of the miners, planters and others for whom they were responsible for guarding.
This particular hut was the home of Police Lieutenant Tom Turnbull, his wife and three young children from 1954 to 1957. Two of the children were born in the Batu Gajah hospital. At the time he held the appointment of Group Commander Area Security Unit, Batu Gajah, Perak. Tom has been very helpful with providing photographs and articles for ipohWorld and we are very grateful to him. His story can be found at http://www.ipohworld.org/search8/result.asp?strid=2949.
This postcard dates from around 1935 and shows the Hugh Low Bridge as most people still call it today. At one time when Hugh Low, as a British Colonial, was out of fashion it was known as the Kinta Bridge, but the name never really caught on. Anyway, those who cross the bridge regularly will know that the council have now erected a temporary Bailey Bridge alongside it in preparation to rebuild a “better looking” bridge at a cost of, we believe RM50 million of taxpayers money. I do hope that figure is wrong because as far as we know the existing bridge is still sound and has years of life left in it.
Historically, the Hugh Low Bridge was first completed as a wooden bridge in 1890 and opened for wheeled traffic to Gopeng. The wooden bridge was replaced with an iron bridge when Yau Tet Shin’s New Town was built in 1907. The iron bridge was then widened in 1930 to take the ever increasing traffic, mostly non motorised.
Now the heritage buff will mourn the loss of this historic bridge, but should we all not be mourning the decision to spend so much in these difficult times. Let us hope that the rumour is wrong and the new bridge will cost a fraction of the figure being bandied about.
But anyway, feast your eyes on this old picture which shows the Bridge and God of Prosperity Temple and the People’s Park as it used to be. Memories are made of this!
This genuine Kinta Town Board notice from 1956 or thereabouts is nothing less than bizarre. What on earth did one do with sticks and stones? However 5 cents for a bath and free toilets sounds like a pretty good deal. If you have any suggestions about the sticks and stones, please keep them to yourself. We really do not want to share them! Nonethe less, please feel free to comment on the unusual notice. We always welcome your input.
The 11th Independent Field Squadron Royal Engineers was building a bridge in a kampung, in 1958, as one of their Malayan Emergency operations in Taiping. The villagers were looking on curiously, wondering what was going on.
Nothing has changed in 50 years – Malaysians still love to watch what is happening, particularly road traffic accidents of which we have far too many.
The picture shows an old , open cast, tin mine in Taiping during 1958. We are wondering what had happened to this mine. Can you help us ?
The scene is of course very typical of an abandoned mine with the mine itself now full of water and the sheds falling down. However the Palong still stands proud against the skyline.
Most people remember 1948 as the start of the Emergency, but this envelope from Ipoh’s Station Hotel reminds us about something else. We were under British Colonial Rule; The British Military Administration was not long gone (and we were still using their stamps); and we were celebrating the Silver Wedding of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. No doubt there would have been grand celebrations on the Padang. Does anyone have any photographs or memories of that day?
This grand old picture dates from 1894 when a bull elephant gallantly refused to move off the rail tracks, close to Teluk Anson (now Teluk Intan) in defence of his herd against what he saw as an intruder into his domain. Unfortunately the train, which had previously killed a calf elephant in the same place, was doing some 80 kilometres per hour and the driver could not stop in time. The two therefore met head on.
The net result was one dead elephant, three coaches derailed and two dead railway workers who died from their injuries sometime later. A number of businesspeople and other passengers were also injured.
This event is marked by a signboard at the spot of the collision, erected by the British Government.
Although this meeting in Beijing is not directly related to Perak, it is a fact that it was Perak in particular that continued to suffer from the communists for several years after the Malayan Emergency was declared over.
As there has been much press about Chin Peng recently, I thought a picture of him might be appropriate.
Two memorial boards can be seen at the entrance of Elphil Estate and Sungai Siput Estate (which was formerly known as Phin Soon Estate) with the details of the tragic murders on 16 June 1948. A good intention.
But it’s so sad to see the board at the Elphil Estate. The name of the planter, Mr. A.E Walker was mispelled as A.E Walter. It seems that the person who was in charge of putting up the board, didn’t care much about the history which led to the Malayan Emergency.With this major error, definitely will mislead the readers in future about what actual had happened especially the person who was murdered.
Something we want bring to your attention. The following is an extract from a notice posted by the MPOA.
….the Malaysian Palm Oil Association – Perak have decided to construct a monument and gallery at Sungei Siput Estate.
The cost of construction is estimated to be in the region of RM$100,000.00. The little Acre Sub Committee hopes to raise sufficient funds from voluntary donations from their members, other well-wishers and Corporations, so that the monument and the gallery can be built in good time to enable participants and supporters of their next Commemorative Ceremony can make arrangements to visit the ‘Historical Site’.
The main purposes of the Memorial project are :
Donations should be forwarded direct to –
The MPOA – Perak Secretary, Mrs Tan Seow Peng, 7 Jalan Hussein (P.O Box 424), 30750 Ipoh, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia.
If we go to God’s Little Acre, Batu Gajah, definitely we won’t miss out to see a tall monument called ‘Centre Point’. The ‘Centre Point’ was erected in 17th June 1989 by the Perak Planters’ Association and other well wishers, to honour the planters, the miners, the Malayan Police Force, the Commonwealth Forces and the general public who gave their lives during the Malayan Emergency, 1948-1960. It was first used at the 10th Remembrance Day Ceremony. Every year, it becomes the main venue on which the wreath-laying ceremony is focussed.
This picture shows three “young at heart” Europeans enjoying the slide into the top pool of three that made up the Taiping Club’s swimming pool in the 1950s. It is still there but sadly overgrown and in a serious state of disrepair. Of course the club now has a new pool.
A user of the pool in 1959, Isobel Hatherley, recalls:
“This afternoon we went to the Taiping Swimming Club – very different from Ipoh. It is quite a drive up the hill through the jungle to a delightful waterfall that feeds the baths. It is much more primitive than Ipoh, with rather murky looking water, but it is really cold and refreshing, whereas at Ipoh the water is usually tepid. I had decided to give up swimming when we left Ipoh, but there were so few people up there I couldn’t resist it.”
Does anyone out there have more memories of this unique recreational facility?
More information about the pool may be found on our database.
Click on picture to enlarge
With the God’s Little Acre Remembrance ceremony taking place last month in Batu Gajah a number of people have asked who was actually buried there that died in the Emergency. This is posted for those who are unable to actually visit the beautiful cemetery.
High on an abrupt limestone cliff near Ipoh, a whole series of rock paintings drawn with haematite paint were discovered in 1959 and are estimated to be between 5,000 to 12,000 years old!
They were discovered by an Englishman, one Lieutenant R L Rawlings, who was serving with the 2nd Battalion, 6th Queen Elizabeth’s Own Gurkha Rifles as part of the Commonwealth Armed Forces’ presence in Malaya for the Malayan Emergency. It was one of the most important historic discoveries in the country, in our opinion second only to the Perak Man.
Access to the paintings is not easy as there is no indication from the main road that they even exist; then the path is overgrown; the one signboard at the foot of the cliffs is rusting away; and the concrete steps, erected by the Museums Department are overgrown and slippery. However for the dedicated enthusiast access is just possible with care.
The paintings are situated on a wide ledge at the top of a steep slope, about 30 plus metres above the floor of Lembah Kinta on a smooth limestone cliff. Some 6 metres or more above the ledge, there are a number of illustrations of wildlife, people and abstract designs. Some are quite small while some of the animals are more than one metre long. We believe they are the first and only ancient rock paintings known in Malaysia. As ones eyes grew accustomed to the glare, it is obvious that the sunlight is fading the artwork while water has completely eroded some parts of the sketches.
In November 1959, J.M Matthews, an author in an issue of Malaya in History – Magazine of the Malayan Historical Society, wrote this description of the discovery: “The paintings are monochrome – indistinct. In some groups, the paint is dark purple, in others, dull red. Some of the figures are obviously men, rather crudely drawn. Some of the animals are easily identified, others are rather vague and imagination is needed for their representation”.
However we were still able to recognize most of the paintings; there are wild boars and a dugong, a tapir and deer. The latter are fascinating appearing as pregnant does, one with a small infant drawn inside its swollen frame. At one time, we are told, this gallery of paintings stretched for more than a hundred feet, but over the last 50 years most of it has disappeared.
However, there are still enough paintings to prove that long before the history of the Malay Peninsula was written, there were primitive men living in Lembah Kinta, who illustrated the environment surrounding them.
So why have they not been properly protected and controlled so that both Malaysians and Tourists can enjoy our unique piece of history? Clearly, only the appropriate government department could answer that!
This advertisement shows the first Times of Malaya Building in Ipoh, where it was adjacent to the Birch Memorial Clock Tower.
The Times of Malaya: Planters and Miners Gazette was started by J I Philips in 1903, with a mission to further the mining, planting, and mercantile interest of the Federated Malay States (FMS) and the Straits Settlements.Registered as The Times of Malaya Press, it was a Limited Company with F Douglas Osborne, a prominent tin miner, A M Gibb, a lawyer and partner of the legal firm of Gibbs and Hope, and R Young as the Directors. Its first publication was released on March 9, 1904. This was an eight-page daily independent newspaper to which citizens actively contributed their views on the development of Ipoh, and “the impatient gave vent to their feelings in its columns.”
The first issue of contention the paper raised was for Ipoh to again have its own Sanitation Board. The newspaper’s many efforts were rewarded when the Kinta Sanitary Board was split into the Kinta (North) Sanitary Board in Ipoh, and the Kinta (South) Sanitary Board in Batu Gajah.
Two years later, J A S Jennings from Singapore, its most influential editor took over and Dr R M Connolly, District Surgeon around this time, retired from government service to take temporary charge of the newspaper and put it on a firm footing. Jennings remained editor for some 30 years and became a leading champion of Ipoh, particularly in its bid to become the state capital of Perak. Eventually he bought up all the shares of the Times of Malaya Press Ltd. and became the sole proprietor.
The most pressing and regular issue that the paper raised at the time was the transfer of the state capital from Taiping to Ipoh. Though Ipoh was progressing quicker and was more economically relevant than Taiping, the Colonial Government never got around to doing it, despite, in respose to public pressure, promising to do so. However, it took the Japanese invaders no time at all to do what the British Government failed to achieve. One directive from them and Ipoh became the Perak capital overnight.
In the early 1930s The Times of Malaya moved into a handsome new building in Brewster Road. This was a three-storey Art Deco building bearing a crest with the initials TOM for Times of Malaya., but towards the end, the paper evolved into a ‘one-man show’. The death of Jennings in 1936, marked the rapid decline of the paper which was bought by the Straits Times Press Pte Ltd in November of that year (who also bought the Pinang Gazette in April 1936). Subsequently it merged with the Straits Echo in 1938, and was known as the Straits Echo and The Times of Malaya.
Does anyone out there have an old copy of this paper?
“Perseverance is the key to success”. This is the motto that drives the poor dulang washer on the performance of her work. It is obvious to the meanest intellect that a dulang washer does not live a life of ease and luxury. She earns barely enough to feed herself and her family and her life is a hard one. Yet, she persists in her work because she hopes that one day she might succeed.
A dulang washer has neither tin-mines nor labourers to work for her. She obtains tin-ore from the rivers where anyone can help themselves to the alluvial tin-ore, though of course she has to obtain a licence first before she can begin to extract any alluvial tin from any river.
Very early in the morning, she busies herself around her shabby hut. She prepares a scanty meal for her still sleeping children and, having eaten a hurried breakfast of hot Chinese tea and some home-made cakes, she walks to work. Her husband has also gone to work for he works as a rubber tapper and has to be up early too. On her shoulders she carries a pole with a basket containing a big bowl of rice, a large bottle of weak Chinese tea and some vegetables on one side. Hanging on the other end, is a big, smooth-surfaced wooden dish called a “dulang”, a wide-brimmed hat made of rattan and an old wooden bucket, which is bound up tightly with rattan to prevent leakage. Around her neck she wears a faded red scarf. On her feet, she wears a pair of dirty old sandals which have been mended over and over again.
When she has walked a little distance away from her home, the sun rises and beats down upon her. Because she is afraid that the hot rays will tan her or give her sun-stroke, she hurriedly ties the scarf over her head and then places the wide-brimmed hat carefully over it. By the time she reaches the river, the sun is already shining very brightly and would have given her sun-stroke had it not been for the protection of the scarf and the hat. Thanks to the long sleeves she wears, her arms are not exposed to the sun.
She finds a cool place on the bank of the river and sits down to rest before starting work. A drink of the weak Chinese tea refreshes her. She would have made it stronger if she could have afforded to buy more Chinese tea leaves.
Taking the bucket and dulang, she walks to the edge of the river. There, she rolls up her trousers high above her knees and wades to the middle of it. She bends down and scoops up some tin-bearing soil from the river bed into the dulang. She holds the dulang a little below the level of the water and rotates it. The swirling water carries away the light soft soil and the heavy grains of tin-ore settle at the bottom of the dulang. She then empties the grains of tin-ore into the bucket. It takes much washing to obtain a handful of tin-ore and the poor woman’s work is tiring and tedious.
By noon, her bucket is only a quarter filled. She leaves her work and wades back to the bank for some lunch. On dry land, she inspects her legs and sees several leeches hanging on to them and sucking her blood. She is so immune to this sight that she calmly plucks them off and throws them away. She washes and dries her legs and then applies some Chinese ointment to the bites. She sits in a shady place and begins her hurried lunch. After working so long in the water, she enjoys the meal though the rice and vegetables are cold. She leaves some for the evening because she will not get home until about seven o’clock in the evening.
There is no rest after lunch for she returns to work immediately. Regardless of the passing time she works on. Even the beautiful reflection of the setting sun and the purple clouds in the water does not distract her. Only when darkness falls, does she return to the bank, eat the remaining food and pack to leave. She rolls down her trousers again and starts to walk wearily home.
She trudges to the town and sells her tin-ore to a tin-smelter. He weighs her tin-ore and calculates the amount of money that must be paid to her. Meanwhile, she helps herself to a warm cup of tea from the man’s tea-pot and rests her weary bones on a wicker chair. The man gives her the money and reluctantly she leaves the comfortable chair to start on the journey home.
When she returns to her simple and shabby abode, she again does not have the liberty to rest for she now has to prepare dinner for the family, with the help of her eldest daughter. The younger children wait impatiently for their dinner and while the tired dulang washer is preparing the long-awaited dinner, her youngest child watches, a seraphic look of innocence on his pale and wan face.
After dinner, she sends her children to sleep and then has the usual talk about their future with her husband. They both add some of the money they earn to their hidden ‘store’ which they sometimes count happily.
So, after a hard day’s work, she lies down on her wooden bed and stays awake for some time, thinking how wonderful it would be to be rich. But, exhaustion soon puts her to sleep.
This is a typical day for a poor dulang washer. Though her work is difficult and tiring, she never thinks about giving up her only means of income to take up some work that is beyond her knowledge.
Miss Yvonne Chew,
Lower Six Arts 1952
St. Michael’s Institution
The story above is extracted from The Michaelian 1952, an annual magazine by St. Michael’s Institution Ipoh.
In my last post I featured the Sitiawan Settlement Museum within the Kampong Koh Memorial Garden. Now, you may not know about this aspect of Sitiawan, which actually has an unusual past that is rarely spoken about. Have you ever wondered why – or did you not know – that Sitiawan has the Foochows?
Foochow (Fuzhou) is the capital of Fujian province in China and you may be surprised to learn that on 9th September 1903 (known locally as “double nine day”, an auspicious day for local Foochows), 303 Christian immigrants from there landed at a jetty in the Sitiawan River, with 60 more arriving one week later. These were recruits of a scheme run by three Methodist missionaries (known as The Pioneers). More surprising was the fact that these missionaries were contracted by the British administration, led by Federated Malay States (FMS) High Commissioner Sir John Anderson GCMG KCB, to bring in up to 100,000 recruits to grow padi. This was how the British planned to feed the hundreds of coolies working in the Perak tin mines. The Foochows were to be given land to live and grow the rice in the fields around the river. However the scheme failed at once because no more volunteers actually followed the first 363 on their journey to Perak.
The 363 men, women and children were eventually given individual family lots of land of 3 acres (in Foochow they were promised 6 acres) within the government allocated missionary land, but true to tradition, the plots were not ready and there were only seven longhouses available, some 3 to 4 miles away from the jetty, through thick jungle. This, their first settlement, called Kampong Sitiawan, was still (just) standing on our last visit. (see photograph).
Nonetheless, while living in crowded conditions, at more than 50 to a house, for the next six months, these settlers started work, cutting their plots out of the jungle and building their new homes. Thanks to the missionaries and their colleagues it was in 1904 that a church, a school and an orphanage were built, all business being conducted in the Foochow dialect.
However, the British never did their homework well enough, for with only three acres of non-fertile land, the rice harvest was far from abundant and the programme suffered its second failure, leaving the settlers with no livelihood. Consequently 57 ran away to the tin mines in Kinta Valley (less than 80Km away) and the remainder struggled on. Fortunately, for the suffering settlers, this was the beginning of the period of rubber plantations in Malaysia and the remaining families transferred their attentions to this new crop with great success.
Jumping ahead about 100 years, if you talk to any born and bred Christian Chinese in Sitiawan today, they are probably descendants of those original 363 immigrants, for there are many of them. This has given them a tradition of their own, which in turn has given them a focus on their past that many Malaysian groups would be jealous of. This has also kept the families together and in Kampung Koh they have established a memorial garden dedicated to the original settlers and the Pioneers that brought them here. Within this garden there is the 1927 Settlement Church with its Private Museum (by appointment only) depicting the history of the settlers and their descendants. A senior citizens’ centre, a children’s nursery and a multi-purpose hall complete the complex. This is a great achievement for today’s small group of some 300 parishioners and shows just what can be done for heritage if the will is there. Behind the church is an unusual cemetery serving both Christians and non-Christians where one of the Pioneers, Reverend Ling Ching Mi, is buried.
Finally, if this short account has interested you, then you may like to know that a descendant of those settlers has published an excellent book. It is the first available publication that tells the story in detail of the Foochow immigrants and their descendants. It is called, aptly enough, “The Foochows of Sitiawan” (ISBN 983-41824-0-6) and retails at RM49.00. I shall feature the book in my next post.
by Sir George Maxwell, KBE, CMG.
When Sir George first travelled from Taiping to Batu Gajah by gharry, sampan and pony in 1891 most of the Kinta Valley was under primeval forest. Sir George who retired as Chief Secretary to the FMS Government in 1926, celebrated his eightieth birthday in 1952, but like all men great or not so great, it was eventually time for him to pass on – but not before he left us this memory:
“…the general transport system of Kinta at that time. Everything brought into the district travelled from Teluk Anson in large houseboats poled up the river by Chinese or foreign Malays, and all the tin ore and other produce went down river. Kota Bahru was the lowest landing station..The first metalled road in the district ran from Kota Bahru to Gopeng, which was then by far the most important mining centre. Batu Gajah was the next landing station. Then came Pengkalan Pegu, which served Lahat and Menglembu. Finally there was Ipoh, where all navigation ended.
Above it, there was a shallow stream of pure mountain water ………
Much of the tin ore from the mines and the provisions for the miners was carried by elephants: and every day half a dozen or more of them were standing outside the shop houses in Ipoh, Sungei Raia and Gopeng.”
On the second Saturday in June, every year a truly multi-racial, multi ethnic and multi- religious group gather at Changkat Batu Gajah to join in remembering all those that were killed in the Malayan Emergency from 1948 to 1960. This is a unique occasion attended by people of all ages from as far afield as Australia, Fiji, India, New Zealand and UK, as well as those closer to home from Penang, Kuala Lumpur and beyond.
The simple ceremony begins at 7.30 am on 13 June 2009 in the Holy Trinity Church, on the site where there has been a church since 1891, but the main event is the laying of wreaths at the central point of the old Christian cemetery, known world-wide as “God’s Little Acre”, where 116 Planters, Police Officers, Miners and Civilians, killed in the Emergency are buried. The ceremony however remembers all those killed by the Communists whatever race, creed or religion and wherever they may lay.
Here a ceremonial guard is mounted by the Royal Malaysian Police, while their buglers sound “The Last Post. After a short set of speeches, Ghurka Pipers from Brunei play “The Lament” while long-retired and serving Police Officers and Military Men from home and overseas, together with Planters, Miners and the descendants of those killed in the conflict, lay wreaths to pay their respect to the fallen heroes. The wreath laying is usually led by the representative of the Chief Police Officer, Perak, Chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Association, High Commissioners and other dignitaries.
Behind this simple and meaningful ceremony is the hard-working Committee of the Malaysian Palm Oil Association (Perak) who stage the ceremony every year. Should you need more information, they can be contacted at 05 254 9582.
We hope to see you there!
Does anyone know anything about this club please. The badge is small (4cm diameter) and self adhesive. It is made from metal.
British Police Lieutenants Street and Allmond were posted to Kuala Selangor within days of their first arrival in Malaya. They reached that town without incident and spent the night there. The following morning they were issued with weapons and were informed that they were to be stationed at one of the local Rubber Estates.
A land Rover and escort of four Special Constables arrived from the estate, which was to be their destination and they were sent on their way. All went well until shortly after the vehicle had turned onto the gravel road leading into the estate when the vehicle was ambushed by a skilfully-led group of Chinese and Tamil terrorists. There was no escape.
Allmond and the driver of the Land Rover together with one or more of the escort were killed during the first burst of gunfire. Street, who had been sitting alongside Allmond, was uninjured but covered in blood from his dead companion, leapt out of the vehicle and made a dash for cover. As he did so a bullet shattered his left kneecap and he collapsed on the road. The shooting eventually stopped and the terrorists emerged from concealment and began stripping the dead of their weapons. At this stage Street realised that he was the only survivor and that his only chance for survival was to play dead. Hardly daring to breathe he shut his eyes and hoped for the best.
Street’s predicament was compounded by the fact that he had fallen face down and could not therefore see what was happening. Having been in the country for less than a week he spoke not a single word of Malay, Chinese, or Tamil and had no idea of what the terrorists were talking about as they went about their business of stripping the dead. A group of them then approached, talking among themselves as they did so, and one, putting his foot under Street’s body, turned him over so that he was facing upwards.
Obviously deciding that his shirt was too bloodstained to warrant removal, one of the terrorists proceeded to cut off his buttons and badges of rank whilst administering the odd kick or two. A considerable amount of discussion was going on between the terrorists and, although he could not understand what they were saying, Street guessed that they entertained some doubt as to whether he was dead. Terrified at the prospect of what would follow if they decided that he was alive’ he breathed a silent prayer and concentrated on proving that, if not exactly dead, he was very close to being so.
He heard the sound of a match being struck and a few seconds later felt an excruciating pain as one of the terrorists stubbed a lighted cigarette on the bridge of his nose. Somehow or other he managed not to flinch or cry out with pain. This seemed to convince the terrorists that he was beyond recovery and he was picked up and deposited with the bodies of Allmond and four dead Special Constables on the back of the Land-Rover which the terrorists set on fire before departing.
Street managed to extricate himself from the bodies on the vehicle and fell onto the road unable to move because if his shattered kneecap.
About three hours later a police party, which had been sent out from Kuala Selangor to investigate why his group had not reported at their destination, found him. He was subsequently taken to Bangsa Hospital in Kuala Lumpur where, after a number of unsuccessful attempts to repair his knee, doctors finally had to amputate his lower left leg.
Such was the life for the more than 500 British Police Officers that served in the Police Force during the Malayan Emergency, many of them not as lucky as Police Lieutenant Street.
No doubt you have heard of dairy farms, vegetable farms and the like, but what about “Gambling Farms”?
The term Gambling Farms (so-called because they were run by representatives of syndicates termed farmers) seems to have originated from the Federated Malay States (FMS), for although gambling was prohibited in other British territories, in the FMS, “farmers” were given exclusive rights to set up gambling houses in return for a payment to the government.
By law, only Chinese were allowed onto the premises of these gambling farms. The British justified the legalizing of gambling by claiming that the Chinese were hardened gamblers (a claim which was later refuted by the ‘Protector of Chinese’ – how could he?) and that if they did not do so the Chinese would gamble in their mining kongsis anyway. The licensed gambling farms, which enticed coolies by hiring prostitutes as bankers, staging shows and offering sumptuous delicacies, brought in more than $3 million in revenue to the FMS government every year. However it was said that the moral tone of the Chinese community was deteriorating because of the Farms and in 1905, an Anti-Gambling Petition was sent by the rich and influential Towkays of the Chinese community to the High Commissioner. Not much was done to improve the situation however (after all the government were making big bucks) and it was only in 1913 that the ‘Common Gaming Houses Enactment’ took effect, outlawing most forms of gambling in the FMS.
At the start of the 20th century, the above title certainly belonged to Foo Choo Choon. Prior to him the mantle of the Richest Man in the FMS changed hands several times between the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, from the renowned Capitan China, Chung Keng Kwee, to the entrepreneur Loke Yew. But within the 1st decade of the 20th century, Foo Choo Choon had overtaken Loke Yew in terms of wealth. Foo Choo Choon came to Malaysia as a 13 year-old Chinese immigrant in 1873 and worked for Chung Keng Kwee in his Lahat mining concession. The bulk of his initial wealth was amassed in 1897; from his extraordinarily rich mine in Tronoh which became the richest mine in Kinta at the time. Foo Choo Choon then formed a syndicate and proceeded to obtain further mining concessions, turning himself into a mining magnate. At the turn of the century he sold his Tronoh mine to British interests who floated the mine, and made Foo Choo Choon the first Chinese director of a British listed company. After the sale of a second concession, he went on an acquisition trail that was to turn him into the Tin King of Malaya. In 1905, Tronoh Mines Ltd, of which Foo was the majority shareholder, and Foo’s own mines, topped the list of most productive mines in Perak, prompting the Ballarat Courier to refer to him as “the richest Chinaman in the world”.
The above is a summary of one of many heritage articles written by Dr Ho Tak Ming and published in the Ipoh Echo. If you don’t get the Ipoh Echo you are losing out on your heritage facts. Of course you will also be missing out on the Echo’s ‘from the shoulder’ articles.
POLICE LIEUTENANT M R LIVINGSTONE
KILLED IN AMBUSH IN TEMENGGOR
25 DECEMBER, 1950
At approx 10.00 a.m. on the 25th December, 1950, a party of seven police constables of the Police Frontier Force under the command of Police Lieutenant. M R Livingstone proceeded from Kampong Temenggor to the Temenggor Tin Mine in the Grik area of Perak to investigate a report that the mine had been destroyed by fire.
About 1½ miles from the tin mine the police party was ambushed by an armed gang of bandits estimated at fifty to seventy strong. During the subsequent engagement Livingstone was shot in the head and killed instantaneously. Two police constables were also killed and the remaining four others wounded. A follow-up party of Police and Royal Marines were unable to locate and recover the body of Livingstone until 27th December, 1950.
The funeral of Livingstone took place at a jungle patch near Kampong Temenggor one and a half day’s walk from Grik at 5.15 p.m. on 27th December, 1950. The funeral service was conducted by ASP P J D. Guest of District Police, Grik. The Form of the Service had been sent to ASP Guest, by wireless, by the Church of England padre of the Royal Marines.
The simple but impressive service was attended by members of the Police and the Royal Marines stationed in the vicinity for operations. A salute was fired at the graveside by a Royal Marines guard of honour.
Livingstone had served with the Police Force for only three and a half months but during that short time he had won for himself the respect and confidence of his subordinates and superiors alike. His devotion to duty was of a high order and would have assured him a very successful career in the Police Service.
With the aid of the Military Authorities, the remains of the late Police Lieutenant Livingstone were recovered from his jungle grave and re-interred in the Christian cemetery in Taiping on 8th December, 1954.
The recommittal ceremony was conducted by the Rev. Lewis, Chaplain to the Forces and Vicar of All Saints Church, Taiping. Present were OCPD Taiping and Mrs. Turner, Police Lieutenant J W Wells and a contingent of rank and file. Wreaths were laid by the OCPD on behalf of the Perak Contingent, Federation of Malaya Police, and by Mr. Wells on behalf of Mrs Livingstone, the mother of the deceased, now Mrs E Wharton of Upton, Wirral, Cheshire.
These Malayan Railway railcars designed by the Brtish and named the Wickham Armoured Railcar, were used during the Malayan Emergency 1948-1960 to carry bullion and other valuables to protect them from the Communist terrorists (CTs). Subsequently they were used as Public Works Department Inspection Trolleys. One example is on show at the Royal Malaysian Police Museum in Kuala Lumpur. It’s a place well worth a visit.
In 1920, Wong Jee Seong (Wong), an immigrant from China, was employed as a bank clerk in Ipoh, earning the princely sum of $28 per month. In those days this was a handsome wage as a full bag of rice only cost 12 cents. A regular attendee at St Michael’s Church in Brewster Road, Ipoh, Wong, his mother, wife (Choong Kee Chin)and family lived happily at 241 Brewster Road in a nice house, rented from the Church. A stable family, well thought of in the community, the house was often full of friends, one of whom was the then Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of Perak, Dato’ Panglima Bukit Gantang, a frequent visitor. It was a risk free, stable and comfortable life.
But the tranquility was soon shattered by a friend’s proposal that Wong should enter a partnership with Lee Ah Weng and others to engage in tin mining rather than continuing with his humdrum life with the bank. The proposer ‘guaranteed’ a certain fortune from an unworked hill mine in Selibin, adjacent to the River Parit, near Ipoh. The mine was later named Beatrice after the daughter of the British mining engineer they employed. Wong took the bait and immediately left the secure employment of the bank and invested his meagre savings in the partnership known as the Tong Ying Kongsi. It was a great gamble for a family man.
Initially the profits failed to meet the expectations of the group, but nonetheless there was enough tin to make mining worthwhile and so they persevered. In July 1923 however the gamble paid off in a very big way, for the mine, bored into a limestone hill, had hit what was known as a pipe – a tubular vein of ore running into the hill and close to the surface. This pipe was around 20 feet in diameter and around 850 feet long, producing almost 100% pure tin ore worth a veritable fortune as was the by-product of white arsenic they sold to Australia. It was the jealous European miners who it is said coined the expression, “As rich as the Beatrice Mine” which thereafter, in Ipoh, indicated nothing less than fabulous wealth.
The workers extracted the ore in as large a chunks as they could manage. It was then transported, unwashed, to the Wong home in Brewster Road where Wong’s brother and family lived in a hut in the grounds. Here it was broken up into smaller, manageable, pieces and loaded into canvas bags, which were then sewn up. Again, no washing was required as the ore was so pure. Once a load of bags were ready, they were sold to the Eastern Smelters Company in Belfield Street, where, next door, there was a tin buyers shop who bought the small yields of tin that the part-time ‘dulang washers’ the wives and daughters of Ipoh men, managed to wrench from the Kinta River.
With such a vast quantity of almost pure ore, the partnership became extremely rich and soon Wong joined the band of prosperous ‘Tin Towkays’ of Ipoh. Of course, in the style of the day, such prosperity had to be demonstrated by material wealth and so one of Wong’s first purchases was a Cadillac motor car, believed to be the first Cadillac in Ipoh. Racehorses followed and soon Wong was a member of the newly formed Perak Turf Club (19261) and the proud owner of four racehorses. Of these four, only one name has been recorded for posterity – ‘Soldier Boy’ – which won four consecutive races, quite a feat all those years ago.
Legend has it that the Sultan of Perak, also a racehorse owner wanted to buy ‘Soldier Boy’, but the horse was not for sale. At that time Wong was a leading member of the Club as an original guarantor for setting it up, one of the first members and a successful owner. Our former bank clerk had arrived in style. At the time, the first Chairman of the Club was F Douglas Osbourne, also a prominent name in tin mining circles.
Other demonstrations of wealth soon followed with Wong and wife departing on long holidays to England and Europe in the late 1920’s and early 30’s. Trips to the Chinese homeland followed and life continued to be good for the Wongs and their growing offspring. However, despite their ever increasing wealth, the family never moved from 241 Brewster Road to their own house while Wong was alive. It is true that he tried to buy the old property from the church many times but the house (like ‘Soldier Boy’) was not for sale. A stones throw from the Church, the family were just ‘too comfortable’ in the old house and as regular church-goers it was all too convenient to pop along to the church ‘almost next door’.
But, as they say, ‘all good things come to an end’, for one day in the late 1930’s the mining manger reported a disaster – the lode had petered out. The partnership could not believe such a thing and insisted that the mine should continue. Money started to be lost, but they would not give in, instructing their manager to continue to search the hill in which the original lode had been, but still there was no tin and losses started to build up to a level where racehorses had to be sold and other economies made. But Wong was convinced that tin was there if only it could be located and judging the line on which the lode had run he ordered the River Parit to be dammed and diverted so that they might mine the river bed. No tine was found and the fortune continued to diminish. A second diversion of the river followed with more losses and Wong and family were back to where they had started in 1920 with no car or trappings of wealth. In some ways fortunate for them the Japanese invasion of Malaya in 1941 brought this saga to an end and the family continued to live in their home in Belfield Street until Wong passed on. At that time they moved to a new, smaller home and the story of the Beatrice Lode Mine was complete.
1 Horse racing in Perak actually first started in Taiping in 1886. Taiping being the oldest town in the country, It was then known as the Taiping Turf Club. In 1926, the Perak Turf Club was formed in Ipoh at the site on which it still stands.
Postscript. The details of this tale were kindly provided by the grandson of Wong Jee Seong, Antony Teh, a retired school teacher from St Michael’s Institution.
“A good storyteller never lets the facts get in the way.” Dave Allen, Comedian.
Before the Japanese invasion in 1941, there was plenty of entertainment for Ipoh people although many could not afford it as the world recession had hit the price of tin and rubber badly and Ipoh, relying on these products for survival had suffered more than many other places.
Then, during the Japanese occupation, entertainment was severely curtailed and what was available only consisted of Japanese propaganda films. Consequently in 1945 after the Japanese had been defeated and left these shores, Ipoh’s ability to provide evening entertainment was almost non-existent for all but the privileged few who still had money to spend.
Two local men however saw this vacuum as a space to be filled and although their names are not known they have gone down in history as the men from Storyteller’s Street, not a street in itself, but a piece of open land between Panglima Street and the river, directly across from Han Chin Pet Soo building at 3 Treacher Street in Old Town.
These two entertainers worked every evening and are well remembered by several of today’s residents of Ipoh as being the only place to go for entertainment after a hard day’s work Their equipment was basic but effective and consisted of a table holding a small oil lamp, a packet of Joss sticks and a Joss stick holder. One of them also managed to provide some benches as public seating but for the other the order of the day was bring your own stools or squat on the ground.
From the public’s point of view, the first decision was which of the two entertainers to support, for they were quite different in their approach, one telling stories and legends of old China or reading from fictional novels while the other would read from the daily newspaper (Nanyang Siang Pau) as most people could not afford or did not wish to buy one. Many of these of course could not read anyway.
Finally, decision made, a position close to the chosen orator was taken up by the prospective audience and when he judged there were enough people to make it worth his while he would collect a fee from all adults present (children were free if they squatted on the ground and kept quiet) and light a Joss stick from the oil lamp. Once the stick was burning brightly he would begin his tale, story or newspaper report, which would continue until the Joss stick burnt out. Then it was time to pay again or leave and make room for others.
Started in 1945, this practice continued into the early 1950’s (some say as late as 1955), but as life improved in Ipoh, tin and rubber production picked up again and movie distributors and cinema owners like Shaw Brothers got their businesses going again after the war, the storytellers audiences dwindled to a level where it was no longer a worthwhile venture. At that stage one of the two men, famous for his clear voice and pronunciation, was employed as a broadcaster on the advertising loudspeaker vans that became so popular in Ipoh in the 1950’s.
Do you have any Ipoh stories to share please?
In response to a request herewith our version of the history of ACS Ipoh. If you believe we have made any mistakes please let us know.
“The Anglo-Chinese Boys School Ipoh was the first English school, as well as the first Christian mission school, in Kinta. It was established by the Methodist Episcopal Mission in 1895, ten years after the founding of the Methodist Mission in Singapore. The first attempt to found the school in Ipoh was in November 1894 when Rev TW Stagg was sent by the Methodist Episcopal Mission in Singapore to Ipoh to make the appropriate arrangements. The school was to be opened on the 1st day of 1895 and pupils were to be charged $3 per month. The fee was not affordable for the local people and the school closed down in June that year.
The task of re-starting and, in reality, founding the school was then given to the Reverend W.E. Horley, a young Englishman who had arrived in Ipoh on 31st July 1895. He played an influential role in the educational and spiritual development of the youth in this country.
Just 5 days after his arrival, on 5th August 1895, Rev. Horley opened the Anglo-Chinese School in a small attap-roofed Malay house rented from Datoh Panglima Kinta in Ipoh at Changkat. The land was adjoining the Police barracks, just behind the first Land Office. This was later demolished to provide space for a new mosque. It was Mr. W. Cowan, who came from Taiping, to take over the duties of Chinese Protectorate from Mr. Barnes, who encouraged Horley to go ahead with the plan. Hence, the lower part of the Datoh’s house was enclosed to become the schoolroom.
It is said that Sir George Maxwell, who in one of his letters described the new school house as being “painted a rich blue with yellow shutters” and legend has it that this is reason why blue and gold were chosen as the School`s colours in the 1920s.
Initially, four boys turned up- two Malays and two Chinese; one of them was Che Wan, who became Datoh Panglima Kinta. Another of the first students, Khong Tak Nam, became one of the first two students to pass the Senior Cambridge Examination in 1902, and went to England to study medicine at St. John’s College, Cambridge.
Very quickly the enrolment increased to 60 boys and in 1895, Horley’s application of a four acres land for school and church purposes, was granted by Kinta District Officer, Mr. R.D. Hewett. The land was situated at Lahat Road. Money was donated by the local European, Chinese and Tamil communities, to support the construction of the school.
The first building of the Anglo-Chinese School, a double-storey timber structure with a central tower, was completed at Lahat Road, in May 1896, it was known as Horley Hall. It remains standing today (2007) and houses the school museum. This, the oldest Methodist building in Peninsula Malaysia, doubled as a school from Mondays to Fridays and a church on Sundays. The school numbers increased rapidly, with another timber building being erected in 1898, which became the Primary school.
As the school’s enrolment grew to 200, facilities were erected for boarders. The first batch of boarders moved in in 1901. In the same year the first Cambridge Class was started by Mr. S.H. Wood. 2 years later, towkays Foo Choo Choon and Loke Yew donated the Commercial School (now used as classrooms) to the school. Incidentally a large part of the expansion and upgrades to the school were funded through the generosity of Ipoh’s local wealthy tin miners while the government only contributed a token sum.
The number of students continued to increase and by the time there were 250, 60 coming from Batu Gajah by train. Other buildings followed in 1904, 1914 and 1918.
The main building, a landmark, Edwardian-style, building, standing parallel to Lahat Road, with its prominent quoining, was erected and opened in 1914. It cost a total of $93 000 and was designed by Mr. C.H. Le Brooy. Rev. Horley obtained a grant of $25 000 from the government to assist in the completion of the building. Subsequent additions from 1938 were made in the same style. It was C.H. Labrooy, who also designed the Ipoh Railway Station and Ipoh Town Hall. The formal opening of this building was on 30th March 1914 by His Excellency Sir Arthur Young. Further buildings followed.
The next few decades were marked by many firsts. The first annual ACS school play – a tradition that has remained until today – was staged in 1915. Rev. L. Proebstel helmed the production of ‘Julius Caesar’ that year. In 1921 the second scout troop in the state of Perak (and the first in Ipoh) was formed in the school by Mr. A.B. Samuels. This led to one of the school’s historic moments when a rally was held at the school, in 1934, to welcome Lord Baden-Powell, the first Chief Scout.
‘The Voyager’, ACS’s annual school magazine, was first launched in 1926 and in 1936, Mr. P.B. Bell launched the construction the first science laboratory among Perak schools. The new block, also consisting of a carpentry workshop, was officially opened in 1938.
With the onset of the Pacific War, the British Army requisitioned the front portion of the school as their Ipoh headquarters. When the British troops withdrew in 1941, the school was taken over by the Japanese until their defeat in 1945. The school reopened its doors on the 26th of September 1945 under the first local principal, Mr. Aw Boon Jin.
In the decade that followed, the curriculum was expanded to include various languages, more science subjects and woodwork up to School Certificate Level. In 1949, ACS was the first school in Perak to offer post-Senior classes, the equivalent of today’s Form 6. In 1956, Mr. Teerath Ram took over the administration of the school. He was a visionary leader who instigated many changes including the separation of the primary and secondary sections of the school, the construction of several new blocks housing classrooms, a teachers’ lounge, a lecture theatre, an improved library and a new canteen. He was also responsible for the construction of the recreation centre and the swimming pool – the pride of the school of which the school teachers contributed $32 000 of the $140 000 building cost – as well as the $250 000 indoor stadium, named “Teerath Ram Hall” in his honour.
Several upgrades to the school were undertaken in subsequent years, including the building of an Audio Visual Aids (AVA) Room, the setting up of the School Band, and under Principal Thomas Kok Hee Fatt, the modernising of the school saw the set up a Computer Room and four additional AVA rooms. He saw the significance of sports and of creating a comfortable and pleasant environment in which the students could excel, doing his part to make the school greener. He also introduced the Eagle as the school mascot in 1999.
ACS has in its alumni several prolific sportsmen including the badminton players Mr. Teoh Seng Khoon (Thomas Cup 1949 and All-England 1949) and Mr. Cheah Soon Kit (Thomas Cup 1992); Malaysian Olympic representatives Professor Thong Saw Pak (weightlifting, Helsinki 1952), Mr. Philip Sankey (hockey, Melbourne 1956 and Tokyo 1964), Mr. Chet Singh a/l Sarmukh Singh (hockey, Tokyo 1964) and Dato Poon Fook Loke (hockey captain, Montreal 1976 and Los Angeles 1984). The school also produced top national swimmers Allan Ong and Anthony Ang.”
Tan Sri Dato Seri Yuen Yuet Leng, a Perakian and Police Officer extraordinary. Author of Operation Ginger and Nation Before Self, both being compulsive reading. We recommend them.
This is a 1969 calendar produced by Kinta Traders, at 43 Treacher Street, Ipoh. They claimed to provide the latest fashion wear. It is a 6 page calendar (2 months per page) each page featuring local birds.
Does anyone have any information about Kinta Traders please?
“To eat durian is a new sensation worth a voyage to the East to experience.”
Alfred Russell Wallace, The Malay Archipelago.
Despite being written almost 150 years ago, that is one of the nicer quotations describing the King of Fruits. More modern critics are likely to use descriptions that vary from being simply rude to downright obscene. All are unprintable in a volume such as this. Personally, the author being a keen supporter of the Durian prefers to describe its special taste and aroma as “Tastes like Heaven, smells like Hell”. Nonetheless, no matter which side of the Durian fence you sit, lover or hater, the King of Fruits, either fresh or in any one of its many guises, is still popular with many citizens in South East Asia, young and old.
Apart from the obvious tasty snack of the raw, soft, yellow flesh, found inside that prickly exterior one longstanding Durian treat is the Durian cake or Dodol (in local parlance), not cake in the form that Caucasians would expect, but more a rubbery texture more akin to a toffee than a cake.
Anna Down, locally born but now a UK resident, has very pleasant memories of her childhood in Ipoh during that special time of the year when Durians were in plentiful supply – and cheap!
She recalls that the best place to buy Durians in the season was at the roadside around the old children’s playground at Brewster Road. Here there were always plenty of hawkers competing for trade and for bulk buys, prices could be haggled down to a level which made the subsequent effort well worth while. Such buying sprees were never made alone as the best prices could be obtained if a group was to buy together with the best bargainer appointed to lead the expedition. In Anna’s case her mum always went with a group of friends and after selecting the best bargains and employing her best and most persuasive haggling technique, she would hail one or two trishaws or rickshaws where the ripe and prickly fruit would be loaded aboard and the unfortunate rickshaw puller/trishaw man would be directed to her home address where the next stage of the process was to begin. For these Durians were destined to become home-made Durian cake.
Once unloaded and transferred to the back yard, the Durians were prised open with difficulty and the assistance of a butcher’s cleaver. The aromatic (some would say ‘smelly’) yellow flesh was separated from its seeds and scraped into a big multi-coloured bowl from China. Once all the Durians had been stripped of their delicious contents, the shells and seeds were discarded and the precious flesh transferred into a big copper container. Sugar was added and the mixture was stirred constantly with a large wooden paddle over a low heat until the correct consistency was reached. By this stage the mixture had become dark brown. To test the consistence Anna would take a spoonful of the mixture taste if if she could get away with it and see if it another spoonful could successfully be rolled into a shape like a Swiss roll. Once that was achieved, the entire contents of the copper container were removed from the heat and the mixture formed into as many rolls as could be made. Once cooled the rolls were then wrapped and distributed to the families involved and the copper container could be scraped clean by Ann as a reward for her help..
Anna ends this tale by reminding us that commercial Durian cake is readily available in Malaysia today, but bears little resemblance to that home-made treat from years gone by.
Do you have any memories of days gone by that you would like to share with us please?
As part of our objective of saving the history of the Kinta Valley for future generations we try to gather original memories about days past. Here is one about Rickshaws. Do you have any memories we you can share with us please
“Anna Down, locally born, but now from UK, remembers that as a child in Ipoh she had a regular Rickshaw Puller to take her and two others to and from the Anglo Chinese Girls School daily. He was a tall, well-built, Chinese man who was paid monthly for his services and despite only having a single seat vehicle, happily allowed two girls to squash into the seat and one to squat on the wooden platform. They took turns as to who rode where and called him ‘Long-Legged Uncle on account of his physical size.
Anna remembers the rickshaw as ‘great fun’ as they used to exhort ‘Long-Legged’ to run faster and overtake the other girls in their rickshaws and trishaws which he could do with ease on account of his long legs. She also remembers fondly that when she left Ipoh to go to UK for further studies he presented her with a ‘lovely brocade jacket’.At around the same time (early 1950’s) Anna recalls a ‘rather obese’ Chinese ‘Aunty’ who was a ‘broker’ and spent a considerable amount of her day traveling around Ipoh in a rickshaw. On one ‘never to be forgotten journey’ she hired a rickshaw puller who was the exact opposite of ‘Long-Legged’. He was small, positively skinny, poorly dressed and indistinguishable from others as his face was covered with the traditional ‘Good Morning’ towel and pointed hat to keep the sun off.
‘Aunty’ climbed into the rickshaw, sat herself down with a thump and ordered the puller to start the journey in the fastest possible time. The puller promptly lifted the handles high and prepared to start running. At that very moment ‘Aunty leant back gratefully into the comfortable seat and disaster struck. The rickshaw tipped back and the puller was left with his feet dangling in the air, as the rickshaw continued its backwards arc, until the overweight passenger was stranded in the hood of the vehicle, upside down, with her legs in the air. Wearing only her sarong below her waist, which had of course followed gravity and was now only enveloping her upper limbs ‘Aunty’s modesty was at risk, but as quick as a flash the puller dropped to the ground, removed his hat and gallantly slapped it on his passengers exposed areas to protect her from public view. His colleagues came to rescue and righted the rickshaw. It is not recorded whether ‘Aunty’ ever traveled by rickshaw again.”
