Taiping, Perak

Taiping Klian Pauh
District Capital
Kota Road at night
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): The Rain Town, The Heritage Town
Taiping
Coordinates: 4°51′N 100°44′E / 4.850°N 100.733°E / 4.850; 100.733Coordinates: 4°51′N 100°44′E / 4.850°N 100.733°E / 4.850; 100.733
Country	Malaysia
State	Perak
Languages	Bahasa Malaysia • English
Established	1874
Government
• Type	Municipality
• District Officer	Harun Bin Rawi
• Mayor	Tuan Omor Bin Saad
• Member of Parliament	YB Nga Kor Ming (DAP)
Area
• Total	186.46 km2 (71.99 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	217,647
• Density	1,025/km2 (2,654/sq mi)
Time zone	MST (UTC+8)
Postal code	34xxx
Area code(s)	05
Website	www.mptaiping.gov.my

Taiping (Chinese pronunciation: /tʰaɪ̯⁵¹piŋ/; Malay pronunciation: /taipeŋ/)(Chinese: 太平, Tàipíng; Jawi: تايڤيڠ) is a town located in Larut, Matang and Selama District, Perak, Malaysia. With a population of 217,647 (in 2011),^[1] it is the second largest town in Perak after Ipoh, the state capital. Taiping took over Kuala Kangsar's role as the state capital from 1876 to 1937, but was then replaced by Ipoh.^[2] Its development slowed down after that, but in recent years the town has begun developing rapidly again. Perak State Museum is located in the town.

Taiping also receives some limelight for being the wettest town in Peninsular Malaysia.^[3] The average annual rainfall is about 4,000mm in Taiping while the peninsula's average is 2,000mm – 2,500mm. Its unusual rainfall has also led to a fertile collection of flora and century-old rain trees in the Taiping Lake Gardens.

History

The area developed quickly in the 19th century when tin was discovered. The mines attracted large numbers of settlers, particularly Chinese. Feuds began between the different groups of Chinese immigrants and became so bitter that in the early 1870s, the British intervened and assumed control of the town.^[4] Taiping was the capital for the districts of Larut, Matang and Selama in Perak. Before 1937, Taiping was the capital of the state of Perak and the center of a long and drawn out war resulting in a change of rulership for the state. Taiping used to be known as Klian Pauh - Klian meaning mine while Pauh is a type of small mango.

Taiping town.

The colonial-era Larut, Matang and Selama Land and District Office.

St. George's Institution, a colonial boys' school established in 1915.

Long Jaafar has been historically credited with the discovery of tin in Larut in 1848. According to legend, Long Jaafar had an elephant named Larut and he used to take this elephant with him when journeying between Bukit Gantang and Lubok Merbau. One day the elephant went missing and when the elephant was eventually found three days later Long Jaafar noticed tin ore embedded in the mud that was on the elephant's legs. It is said that this was how Larut got its name.

Eventually in 1850, Larut district was bestowed upon Long Jaafar by Raja Muda Ngah Ali and the Chiefs of Perak: the Temenggong, Panglima Bukit Gantang, Panglima Kinta, Syahbandar and Seri Adika Raja. Some time later, the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Abdullah, died in 1857 and a series of succession disputes ensued. Unhappy with the abuse and favoritism of various royalties, rival Malay camps took sides with one or the other of the two great Chinese secret societies present in there at the time.

Long Jaafar established and developed his administrative center at Bukit Gantang and made Kuala Sungai Limau at Trong the principal harbor of the Larut Settlement. In 1857 Long Jaafar was succeeded by his son Ngah Ibrahim. Sultan Jaffar Muazzam Shah presented an acknowledgement letter to Ngah Ibrahim on 24 May 1858. This letter was signed by Sultan Jaffar, Raja Muda Ngah Ali and the Raja Bendahara of Perak. In the time of Ngah Ibrahim the Chinese increased in number and by early 1860 two large groups were formed by the Chinese, the "Five Associations" whose members worked in the mines of Klian Pauh and the "Four Associations" whose members worked in the mines of Klian Baharu.

Mining rights were given to the Hakka "Five Associations" or Go-Kuan (五館 or 五群) and the Cantonese "Four Associations" or Si-Kuan (四館). Chung Keng Quee (鄭景貴) was leader of the Hakka Go-Kuan and the Hai San (海山) society that they belonged to, and began to operate his tin mines in Larut in 1860. Larut was destined to be plagued by four major wars between members of both the Cantonese Go-Kuan Ghee Hin Society (義興私會黨) and the Hakka Hai San society. Many Hakka had fled China when the Taiping Rebellion broke out there and found work in the mines of Chung Keng Quee establishing his position over the mining area in Larut as leader of the Hai San from 1860 to 1884.

The capital of Perak was moved from Bandar Baru (New Town) to Taiping after Datok Maharaja Lela assassinated the first British Resident of Perak Mr. James Wheeler Woodford Birch at Pasir Salak in 1875. In 1937, the capital of Perak was moved from Taiping to Ipoh.

The town's mining industry continued to thrive; the country's first railway was built to transport tin from Taiping to Port Weld (now known as Kuala Sepetang) at the coast for export. The first train in Malaysia took its schedule on June 1, 1885.^[5]

By 1900, an English language school,^[6] a newspaper,^[7] and the Perak Museum (the oldest in Malaysia) had been established.^[8]

Although Taiping's economy declined with the dwindling tin deposits, the metal still remains an important industry in the area as do rubber and rice.

Geography and climate

Aerial view of Taiping City

Taiping is situated on a plain to the west of the Bintang Mountains. Penang lies to the north-west and Ipoh to the south-east.

Climate

Taiping also receives some limelight for being the wettest town in Peninsular Malaysia. The average annual rainfall is about 4,000mm in Taiping while the peninsula's average is 2,000mm – 2,500mm. Its unusual rainfall has also led to a fertile collection of flora and century-old rain trees in the Taiping Lake Gardens.

Town layout

The following towns, suburbs, and neighborhoods comprise the area formally (and collectively) known as Taiping:

Current and predicted Taiping town population.

• Kamunting
• Aulong
• Pokok Assam
• Air Kuning
• Changkat Jering
• Simpang
• Kampung Paya
• Kampung Jelutong
• Kampung Cheh
• Kampung Pauh
• Kampung Dew
• Changkat Ibol
• Bukit Gantang
• Rancangan Perkampungan tersusun Kpg Ulu Tupai
• Tupai Industrial Area
• Green House Area
• Assam Kumbang
• Bukit Jana
• Kampung Boyan
• Larut Tin
• Klian Pauh
• Taiping Heights
• Ayer Putih
• Kampung Pinang
• Matang
• Kuala Sepetang
• Kampung Senduk Tengah
• Kampung Batu Tegoh

Education

Primary and secondary education in Taiping are provided by national-type schools and Chinese-medium schools.

Primary schools

Secondary schools

SMK Bukit Jana^[10] |1 April 1996

Attractions

The iconic raintrees (Albizia saman) along the road around Taiping Lake Gardens that have been there since the British colonial times over a hundred years ago. The trees have been the subject of local conservationists efforts to protect them against removal by the municipal council for a new development.

• Lake Garden - The first public garden established during the British rule in Malaysia. It was originally a mining ground before established as a public garden in 1880.
• Maxwell Hill (Bukit Larut) - A hill station with an altitude of about 1000m; ideal for jungle-trekking and camping.
• Tulip Garden - Located at Bukit Larut, it is the first tulip farm established in Malaysia.
• Taiping Zoo and Night Safari Taiping - First zoo to be established in Malaysia; popular on weekends with day-trippers from out of town

Notable Taipingites

• Anwar Fazal, Born in Sungei Bayor (Selama) but resided in Taiping. Anwar is the founder and also Chairman of the Taiping Peace Initiative and various non-governmental organisations in Malaysia.

• Archbishop Emeritus Gregory Yong Sooi Ngean, former Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Singapore.

• Imee Ooi, music producer, composer, arranger and vocalist.

• Tan Sri Dr. Lim Swee Aun, Former Health Minister of Malaysia.

• Uthaya Sankar SB, a Malaysian writer from Aulong Lama, Taiping. He now stays in Shah Alam, Selangor but most of his stories use Taiping as the background.

• Toh Chin Chye, A Singaporean politician that served as Deputy Prime Minister for Singapore.

Transportation

Rail

Taiping railway station was a first station to be opened in Malaysia. Originally the station served the local tin mines transporting ore to Port Weld (now Kuala Sepetang) and mine workers to workers settlements. In 1930s, railway connections to other towns like Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore started. The Taiping-Port Weld line was dismantled by KTMB in the 1980s.^[11][12]

Currently the station is served by KTM Intercity trains, it takes around 5 hours to travel to KL Sentral. On 1 July 2015, the station will be served by KTM ETS's ETS Ekspres service, reducing the travel time to KL Sentral to about two and a half hours, and the ETS Transit service between Ipoh and Padang Besar.

References

1. ↑ Senarai Mukim dan Statistik Penduduk
2. ↑ Malaysian States http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Malay_states.htm
3. ↑ The newspapers recorded that Taiping was the wettest place in Malaya in March 1937 with a rainfall of 21.55 inches with Maxwell's Hill next with 16.01 inches and Kuala Lumpur with 6.39 inches (The Straits Times, 24 April 1937, Page 12).; In 1959, The Straits Times (The Straits Times, 2 April 1959, Page 7) reported, 'Water was rationed 39 days last year in Taiping, the wettest town in Malaya. 'Taiping's Larut Hills record the highest annual average total of 5800 mm rain (Cranbrook, Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, ed. Malaysia:key Environments. Oxford: Published in Collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources by Pergamon, 1988. Print. Page 7).
4. ↑ See pages 86-88, Chapter 8 Malaysian Confrontations, Send A Gunboat: The Victorian Navy and Supremacy at Sea, 1854-1904, by Antony Preston & John Major, Conway, an imprint of Anova Books Ltd, London, UK, 2007 Revised Edition, ISBN 978-0-85177-923-2
5. ↑ The Straits Times, 31 August 1931, Page 6
6. ↑ Straits Times Weekly Issue, 12 November 1890, Page 3
7. ↑ The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884-1942), 28 April 1894, Page 11
8. ↑ The Straits Times, 6 March 1889, Page 2
9. ↑ named after Lady Treacher, wife of William Hood Treacher
10. ↑ ms:Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bukit Jana
11. ↑ "Landasan Keretapi Yang Pertama di Tanah Melayu". Retrieved 1 December 2009. 
12. ↑ Malayan Railways 100 years 1885 - 1995

Departments

• Larut Land Office
• Perak State Government Website
• Perak Tourist Information Centre, Ipoh City Council
• Taiping Town Council

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Taiping.

Media related to Taiping, Perak at Wikimedia Commons

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