Ipoh
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| Ipoh ايڤوه 怡保 |
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| Nickname: "City of Millionaires' or 'Bougainvillea City" | |||
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country | Malaysia | ||
| State | Perak | ||
| Establishment | Around 1880 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Mohamad Rafiai Moktar | ||
| Area | |||
| - City | 643 km² (248.268 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 21.95 m (72 ft) | ||
| Population (2004) | |||
| - City | 644,802 | ||
| - Density | 1,002.80/km² (2,597.20/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | MST (UTC+8) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | Not observed (UTC) | ||
| Website: http://www.mbi.gov.my | |||
Ipoh (latitude 4.60°N, longitude 101.07°E) is a city in Malaysia and is the capital of the state of Perak. It is approximately 200 km (125 miles) north of Kuala Lumpur via the North-South Highway.
Today, "Ipoh" usually refers to the territory under administration of Ipoh City Council or Dewan Bandaraya Ipoh, which absorbs the smaller towns adjacent to the city including Chemor, Jelapang, Falim, Menglembu and Tanjong Rambutan. Historically, "Ipoh" referred to the Old Town and New Town divided by the Kinta River at its heart, from which the city grew. The current Mayor of Ipoh is Mohamad Rafiai Moktar.
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[edit] History and background
[edit] Name
The name Ipoh originated from a local tree, pohon epu or now more commonly known as pokok ipoh. This particular plant is used for the extraction of poisonous tree sap. The extract is used by the Orang Asli (indigenous people) in their blowdarts.
Ipoh is also known as san seng (Chinese: 山城) which means "hill city" in the Cantonese dialect. Ipoh is also known among Malaysian Chinese as "Pa-loh" (Chinese: 壩羅). Among old nicknames for Ipoh are "City of Millionaires" and "the town that Tin built"; referring to the vast fortunes made during the boom of the tin mining and rubber industries.
[edit] History
Ipoh city came into existence in the 1890s as a village on the banks of the Kinta River. It was less prominent at that time as compared to the early mining town of Gopeng, 20 km south of Ipoh.
However, from the turn of the 20th century when more British tin-mining companies were set up in the city, Ipoh gained prominence. Influential institutions such as The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China Ltd opened a significant office in Ipoh in 1902. It provided credit to the Straits Trading Company and later the Eastern Smelting Company. More colonial era firms such as Botly and Co., A.H Whittaker & Co., Chartered Accounts, Evatt & Co., and Estate Visiting Agents Milne & Stevens started to set up offices in the booming town.
Its geographic location in the rich tin-bearing valley of the Kinta River made it a natural centre of growth. It grew rapidly as a mining town, especially in the 1920s and 1930s. A local Hakka miner, millionaire Yau Tet-Shin started developing a large tract of the city in the early 1930s, today known as the New Town section of the city — the area which roughly delineated from the eastern bank of Kinta River to Greentown.
In the 1950s, Ipoh was characterized by the proliferation of large numbers of cinema halls, amusement parks, cabarets and night life which was unrivalled in peninsular[citation needed]. The derogatory colloquialism Ipoh mali (misspelled from Malay: "Ipoh mari"; literally "from Ipoh") refers to the social escorts that accompanied the many millionaires and businessmen in the city.
With the collapse of tin prices and the closure of the tin mines in the late 1970s, Ipoh's growth had stagnated and resulted in the migration of many young talents to other parts of Malaysia (particularly metropolitan areas such as Kuala Lumpur) and Singapore. Ipoh has since been known colloquially as a "dead" city and earned a reputation as a good location for retirement. Various efforts have been made to redevelop Ipoh into a modern town (see below).
[edit] Additional notes
Ipoh has one of the cleanest and clearest water supplies in Malaysia, as the source is from the waterfalls in nearby Tanjung Rambutan. The Hospital Bahagia, a well-known psychiatric hospital in Malaysia, is located in Tanjung Rambutan.
Politically, Ipoh has traditionally been a stronghold of opposition party. From the early days when Ipoh was the bastion of PPP (an opposition party then), the predominantly Chinese voters voted for the famous Seenivasagam brothers. Today the city is the stronghold of DAP (Democratic Action Party, Malay: Parti Tindakan Demokratik). The parliamentary seat for Ipoh Timur is held by Opposition Leader, Lim Kit Siang while the seat for Ipoh Barat is held by fellow DAP leader, M. Kulasegaran.
[edit] Chronology of Ipoh
| Ipoh's Chronology [1] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Name | City Area (km²) |
| Circa 1880 | Ipoh (Establishment) | |
| Mac 1893 | Ipoh Sanitary Board | |
| 1897 | Kinta Sanitary Board | |
| 1905 | Kinta Sanitary North Board | |
| 1916 | Kinta District Board | |
| 1946 | Kinta Town Board | |
| 1954 | Ipoh & Menglembu Town Council | |
| 1957 | Ipoh Town Council | |
| 31 May 1962 | Majlis Perbandaran Ipoh | 83 |
| 27 May 1988 | Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh | 138 |
| 1997 | Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh (Greater Ipoh Restructuring) | 387 |
| 2005 | Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh (Border Redrawn) | 643 |
[edit] City layout
The following towns, suburbs, and neighborhoods comprise the area formally (and collectively) known as the Ipoh City. (Source: Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh [2])
- Ampang (Chinese: 安邦)
- Bercham (Chinese: 巴占)
- Canning Garden/Ipoh Garden (Chinese: 楏和園/怡保花園)
- Chemor (Chinese: 珠寶)
- Cyber City (Chinese: 賽城)
- Falim (Chinese: 華林市)
- Gugusan Manjoi
- Gunung Rapat (Chinese: 崑崙喇叭)
- Jelapang (Chinese: 九洞)
- Kelebang (Chinese: 佳邦)
- Lahat (Chinese: 拿乞)
- Meru (Chinese: 梅魯)
- Menglembu (Chinese: 萬里望)
- Pasir Puteh (Chinese: 大和園)
- Pekan Baru (New Town) (Chinese: 新街場)
- Pekan Lama (Old Town) (Chinese: 舊街場)
- Pengkalan (Chinese: 孟家蘭)
- Simpang Pulai (Chinese: 波賴)
- Station 18 (Chinese: 上環十八)
- Sunway City (Chinese: 雙威城)
- Tambun (Chinese: 打們)
- Buntong ([Tamil temple Mari Amman Near the bridge on the river on Sungai pari rd])
- Tanjung Rambutan (Chinese: 紅毛丹)
- Tasek (Chinese: 打昔)
[edit] Population
Ipoh still remains one of Malaysia's largest cities, even though its former status as the second largest city in Malaysia had been surpassed by Johor Bahru. Population statistics are as follows:
- Population = 644,802 (2004)
- Urban area population = 974,151 (2006) [3]
- Ranking: Fifth most populous urban centre in Malaysia.
| Ethnic groups in Ipoh, 2004 census [4] [5] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Population | Percentage |
| Chinese | 451,361 | 70.0% |
| Malay | 109,616 | 17.0% |
| Indian | 80,600 | 12.5% |
| Others | 3225 | 0.5% |
[edit] People
The majority of the residents in Ipoh (approx. 70%) are of Chinese descent. The remaining 30% comprise of Malays, Indians and people of other races (refer table above). Although Cantonese is widely spoken, the early settlers were mostly Hakka who came to mine the rich tin deposits. They worked mostly on "Palong" machines (Chinese for unrivalled dragon sprout) while the hardy Hakka women used the back-breaking "dulang" (panning) method for tin mining.
[edit] Prominent people from Ipoh
Ipoh has its share of prominent people who are known regionally or internationally, especially in business and entertainment:
- Dato' Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊), actress (in films such as Tomorrow Never Dies and more recently Memoirs of a Geisha). She was awarded the honorary title Dato' by the Sultan of Perak in recognition of her achievements.
- Mohammad Nor Khalid, a cartoonist better known as Lat.
- Angie Cheung Wai Yee (張慧儀), a Hong Kong based-actress who was born in Ipoh.
- Michael Wong Guang Liang (光良), a Taiwan based-singer from the former Michael & Victor (Guang Liang Pin Guan) duet.
- Badminton players (representatives of Malaysia at international events): Cheah Soon Kit(謝順吉) (Atlanta Olympics Silver Medallist for men's doubles), Koo Kien Kiet (2006 Doha Asian Games Gold Medallist for men's doubles), Lee Wan Wah (李萬華).
- Mamat Khalid, Malay movie director, producer and writer of local films such as Puteri Gunung Ledang, Man Laksa, Zombie Kampung Pisang.
- Jamal Abdillah (full name Jamal Ubaidillah Ali), a Malaysian pop singer and actor.
- Nicholas Ong (Point Blanc) who co-founder of a popular local music group Poetic Ammo.
- Novel Lim Siew Theng winner of Miss Astro Chinese International Pageant 2006, is from Ipoh.
- Comedian Patrick Teoh is from Ipoh.
- Tony Underwood, British Rugby Player
- Tan Sri Dato' Seri G. Darshan Singh, A Sikh Community Leader in Malaysia; President of Asian Cycling Confederation (1996-2005); Led a public donation drive to collect RM 3.25 million to build the 1st Velodrome in the country called the 'Velodrome Rakyat' or 'People's Velodrome' in 1988.
- Chung Thye Phin, last Kapitan China of Perak.
[edit] Cuisine
Ipoh is famous for its cuisine. Natives claim that Ipoh's water, which is relatively hard (high alkali content) owing to Ipoh's location on top of a large karstic formation, makes the food especially tasty.
Ipoh is particularly famous for food items such as "Sar Hor Fun" (a flat white rice noodle, best served in soup with shredded chicken meat and prawns), a variant popular to Ipoh is "Hor Hee", served with fish cakes; "Nga Choi Kai" (chicken fillet and beansprouts, enjoyed by many visitors to Ipoh); "Hakka Mee", and dim sum (small Chinese dumplings and delicacies).
Ipoh is also famous for Malay cuisine, such as satay (meat on a skewer which resembles kebabs, served with peanut sauce), and also tempoyak (preserved durian extract commonly eaten with chillies).
The town is also famous for "Ipoh white coffee" which is associated with the Old Town. It is a roast of coffee prepared using a unique method that combines elements of modern approaches with traditional Malaysian brewing practices.
Refer Ipoh cuisine for more information on the various food and drink Ipoh is famous for.
[edit] Places of interest
The Old Town and New Town of Ipoh are two different parts of Ipoh separated by the Kinta River. Most olden-day pre-World War II shophouses, heritage buildings, and some Government buildings are located in the Old Town while the New Town comprises the area originally developed by Yau Tet Shin, stretching all the way from Kinta River to Greentown. It has newer shops, buildings, shopping malls and housing estates.
D. R. Seenivasagam Park (Coronation Park), located in the heart of Ipoh (New Town), is known for its scenic beauty and recreational facilities. It boasts several recreational fields, an artificial lake filled with various types of fishes, a nursery for potted plants and a children's traffic playground. There are also beautiful arches, modular framework, shelters, pedestrian paths and the Ipoh tree which gave the city its name. The latest addition is the newly landscaped Japanese Garden featuring a typical Japanese Carp pond. The fresh atmosphere and variety of flora are also part of the main attractions of this park.
Famous attractions around Ipoh include Kellie's Castle (or Callie's Castle), which is the unfinished, abandoned mansion of an eccentric British planter, near Batu Gajah, half an hour's drive from Ipoh city centre. Its main appeal lies in the belief that it is haunted and that secret passages leading to hidden chambers exist.
A 15-minute drive from Ipoh towards Tanjung Rambutan brings you to the foot of a limestone hill where a rejuvenating experience awaits you - an invigorating hot bath from a natural spring, the Tambun hot springs.
Ulu Chepor is one of the intriguing recreational place for family and friends. It is among the finest place to relax and set back for anyone who enjoys picnicking and camping in the most remote yet nature friendly place. Ulu Chepor is a waterfall camping area located 10 km from Ipoh city claimed to be among the best in Ipoh other than Lubuk Timah in Simpang Pulai, and one in FALIM.
Another attraction is the Gunung Lang Recreational Park which is 5 km from Ipoh city center. It has been operated by the MBI with colabotarion of Minitry of Tourism Malaysia since 1999.This park is completed with 3 man-made lakes which was originally a tin mine and filled in with tropical fish. It is a RM8.4 Million worth of project.
St. Michael's Institution (SMI) along Clayton Road (now known as Jalan S.P. Seenivasagam) is an architectural masterpiece. During the Japanese occupution in World War II, the school building had became the Japanese administration headquarters in Ipoh. St. Michael's Institution is a La Sallian school, opened in 1912 by Father J.B. Coppin. Aside from this school, the Ipoh Train station which has elements of Moorish and Gothic architecture is another famous landmark of this former tin-mining city. SMI and the Railway Station are located in the Old Town of Ipoh. Many olden-day shophouses along Leech Street (in Chinese: 烈治街; now known as Jalan Bandar Timah) in the Old Town still maintain their architectural significance, besides being a popular tourist spot for food and drinks (refer Cuisine).
The New Town houses the Perak Medical University and Ipoh City Council building, among others.
For more information about the New Town and its places of interest refer below.
[edit] Limestone caves
Ipoh has many limestone caves due to the karstic formation around it. The Sam Po Tong (Cavern of Three Precious; Chinese : 三寶洞) temple, is a Chinese temple built within a limestone cave. A pond outside houses many tortoises. Its sister temple, Perak Tong (Perak Cave; Chinese : 霹靂洞), has a steep, tall staircase in the interior of the cave rising up to the top of its hill where one is greeted by a panoramic view of Ipoh and its surroundings. The statue of Buddha in Perak Tong was the tallest and largest of its kind in Malaysia when it was first commissioned. Both these cavern temples have decent vegetarian food.
Another sight worth seeing is the Kek Lok Tong (Cavern of Utmost Happiness; Chinese : 極樂洞), which is a cave temple that lies on the other side of the same range of limestone hills as Sam Poh Tong. It is accessible through the Gunung Rapat housing area. It has a cleaner, quieter and more cooling environment and has the best scenic cave view.
Limestone hills extend 20 km north of Ipoh and also 20 km to the south. There are many caves in these hills [6]. Gua Tempurung, near Gopeng south of Ipoh, is a show cave open to the public.
Unfortunately many of the limestone hills are being quarried in the ever increasing demand for crushed stone and cement. Some of the hills under threat contain endemic fauna and flora. One cave, Gua Puncak contains Peninsular Malaysia's second largest cave chamber and is in danger of being quarried. However, the Malaysian Karst Society has been set up to try and save these hills[citation needed].
[edit] Infrastructure
[edit] Healthcare
[edit] Public
The Ipoh Hospital (Hospital Besar Ipoh), which is one of the government-owned hospitals in Perak, is located near the Fair Park and Greentown area. A short distance from there lies the new Ipoh health clinic (also government-owned).
[edit] Private
Besides government hospitals, there are also private medical centers located around Ipoh.
Several of them are located in and around the Ipoh New Town:
- Ipoh Specialist Hospital (Chinese: 怡保專科醫院)
- formerly Ipoh Specialist Centre
- Kinta Medical Center (Chinese: 近打醫藥中心)
- Perak Community Specialist Hospital (Chinese: 霹靂華人接生醫院)
- formerly Perak Chinese Maternity Hospital, situated on Kampar Road
Another two are located near the suburb of Ipoh Garden (South):
- Hospital Fatimah
- Pantai Puteri Hospital (Chinese: 班台公主專科醫院)
[edit] Schools (primary and secondary education)
There are several schools with decades of established history in Ipoh. These include :
- Anderson School Ipoh 安德聖中學
- Anglo-Chinese School Ipoh
- Ave Maria Convent 圣母玛利亚国民型中学
- Sekolah Menengah Doktor Megat Khas Ipoh
- Ipoh International School
- Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent, Ipoh [Main Convent]德修女子中學
- Sekolah Menengah Agama Rakyat SMARI
- Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Jelapang Jaya Ipoh
- Sekolah Kebangsaan Manjoi 1 & 2
- Methodist Girls School Ipoh
- Sekolah Menengah Poi Lam (SUWA) 培南獨立中學
- Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Poi Lam 培南国民型中学
- Raja Perempuan Ipoh 怡保霹靂女中
- Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh
- Sekolah Izzudin Shah
- Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Menglembu
- Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Kg. Dato' Ahmad Said Ipoh
- Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Wira Jaya
- Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Gunung Rapat
- Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Raja Chulan (SRC)
- Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Jalan Pasir Puteh
- Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Kg. Pasir Puteh
- Sekolah Menengah Seri Intan
- Sekolah Menengah Seri Putera
- SM Raja Chulan Ipoh
- Sekolah Menengah Sri Ampang
- Sekolah Menengah Teknik Ipoh Persiaran Brash
- Sekolah Raja Perempuan Taayah
- Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman Ipoh
- SRJK Sam Tet Primary School 三德国民型小學
- SRK La Salle Ipoh
- SMJK Sam Tet Secondary School 三德国民型中学
- St Michael's Institution
- Tarcisian Convent
- Yuk Choy (SUWA) Independent High School（育才獨立中學）
- Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Yuk Choy 育才国民型中学
[edit] Higher Education Institutions
- Institut Kompas Accountancy and Business College
- Olympia College
- Polytechnic Ungku Omar
- Sunway College Ipoh
[edit] Sports
There are a few sporting venues in Ipoh. A portion of land located in the area called Kampong Simee has been selected by the City Council for the Sport Center. The main sports stadium for football (soccer) and other track and field events is the Perak Stadium. There is an indoor sports stadium beside it, the Indera Mulia Stadium, playing host to events such as badminton. Ipoh also home for Perak FA .
A nearby swimming pool complex, run by the city council, is also open to the public at relatively fair rates (RM1 on weekdays/RM2 on weekends and public holidays). The complex has an Olympic-size pool, a diving pool, a wave pool, a smaller pool and a children's wading pool.
Ipoh is also home to Malaysia's first velodrome, called Velodrom Rakyat or The People's Velodrome. This first Velodrome in the Country was built by the initiative of Dato' Darshan Singh Gill (now Tan Sri Dato' Seri) who led a public donation drive throughout the country and collected RM3.25 million. In addition, Ipoh also boasts as one of the first few city in the country that has an astroturf stadium for hockey, called Azlan Shah Stadium.
For golf, the available courses in Ipoh are the Royal Perak Golf Club (off Tiger Lane or Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah). Meru Golf Club is situated in Jelapang. Another course is en route to Batu Gajah, which is the Clearwater Sanctuary golf club.
Other sports venues include the Kilat Club in Pasir Pinji, Ipoh Field (Padang Ipoh) in the Old Town, the Polo Grounds, and a polo field at Iskandar Polo Club, in Ampang Baru.
[edit] Transportation
- Trunk roads: The old interstate Route 1 connects Ipoh with neighboring towns and other states (such as the town of Gopeng, and city of Kuala Lumpur down south).
- Highway: The new North-South Expressway is a faster and more efficient alternative to Route 1. However, certain towns like Kampar can only be accessible via Route 1. Drivers using the North-South highway can exit into Ipoh from any of these 4 exits - Simpang Pulai, South Ipoh (Ipoh(S) ) or North Ipoh (Ipoh(U) ) & Jelapang.
- Railway: Ipoh's railway station is operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) and is situated in the Old Town (however, it does not have intra-city travel like in Kuala Lumpur). The railway only connects Ipoh with neighbouring towns and cities.
- Bus: The inter-city bus terminal is located at Silveritage Galleria along Gopeng Road nearby Gunung Rapat, south of Ipoh (formerly situated in Medan Kidd, Old Town).
- Note: The location of this bus terminal is controversial as many people claim it is not in a central location. Furthermore, operators of businesses previously located near the railway station refused to move here. Plans are afoot to move the bus station to Meru, located in the north of Ipoh but sadly, also not at a central location.
- Air: For air travel, the Sultan Azlan Shah airport is the only airport in Ipoh. It is situated near Gunung Rapat. However, only domestic flights (and limited international ones) are available at this airport.
- As of May 2006 (for Malaysia Airlines) and September 06 (for Air Asia), flights ceased landing in Ipoh. Reasons include being an unprofitable route and too short a runway (in Air Asia's case).
- Other international flights are only available at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (in the Klang Valley, approx. 200km south), which is accessible via the abovementioned land routes and express bus (cost approximating RM50 per way).
- There was a plan to turn the Sultan Azlan Shah airport to a northern low-cost carrier hub by the state government and AirAsia (a low-cost carrier) but with the cessation of Air Asia's flights recently, it remains to be seen whether the plan will be implemented. Currently, the Ipoh airport is used solely and exclusively by Indonesian airlines servicing the Medan-Ipoh route.
[edit] Ipoh's development
Various development activities has been mooted and revived in the city recently, including the revitalisation of projects halted during the Asian financial crisis in 1997.
[edit] Modern entertainment and recreation
The Greentown area near the Ipoh City Council Building is fast becoming an entertainment hotspot. The coming online of Greentown Business Center is giving new life to the city centre. The general activities in the new development consists mostly of restaurants, food outlets, and cafés.
Medan Ipoh (formerly known as Metro Ipoh Baru) is a favourite for many younger people. The residents of the city have dubbed the area as Ipoh's very own 'Bangsar' (akin to the hip Bangsar area in Kuala Lumpur). It is located adjacent to Ipoh Garden East. The place is famous for its cluster of nightspots, cafés, coffee shops (serving local food), entertainment outlets, F&B (food and beverage) joints, and more recently cybercafés.
The UK giant retailer, Tesco, has recently opened a new outlet in this area. Kinta City Mall (a popular shopping place for locals, owned by the giant Jusco departmental store chain from Japan) is also located adjacent to Medan Ipoh and Tesco.
The recently opened Lost World of Tambun is expected to gain a certain following as Ipoh's own "Sunway City" (mirroring the actual "Sunway City" which is located about 15 km west of Kuala Lumpur). Within the "Lost World of Tambun" is the upgraded and revived natural hot spring, which was very popular in the 1960s and 1970s. It is also the location for Ipoh's another hypermarket, Giant Hypermarket.
Sadly, the vibrance of the city center has gone as the years goes by. An effort has been made by the city council to re-establish the night market centrally, at Dato' Tahwil Azar Road, known as "Night Lane". It is a typical Malaysian night market, albeit bigger and with longer operating hours.
[edit] Arts, entertainment, and culture
Ipoh was regarded by some filmmakers as a good location for shooting due to its beautiful scenery. Movies filmed in Ipoh include:
- 1999 - Anna and the King, starring Chow Yun-Fat and Jodie Foster, directed by Andy Tennant.
- 2002 - Embun, directed by Erma Fatima.
- 2003 - Paloh, directed by Adman Salleh.
- 2003 - Kadhal Kisu Kisu, directed by P. Vasu.
- 2004 - Tun Tan Cheng Lock.
- 2005 - Sepet, starring Sharifah Amani, directed by Yasmin Ahmad.
- 2005 - Gubra, starring Sharifah Amani, directed by Yasmin Ahmad.
- 2006 - After This Our Exile(Chinese: 父子), starring Aaron Kwok and Charlie Young, directed by Patrick Tam.
- 2006 - Goodbye Boys, directed by Bernard Chauly.
- 2006, In production: Lust, Caution (Chinese: 色戒), starring Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Lee-Hom Wang, directed by Oscar-winning Taiwanese director Ang Lee.
[edit] Sister cities
Ipoh has a couple of sister cities, which are[citation needed]:
[edit] External links
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