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 […]
During the Malayan Emergency from 1948 to 1960 Communist attacks on roads and railways were a regular part of living in Malaya, particularly where transfer of cash was concerned. Consequently the railways introduced the Wickham Armoured Railcar as protection, but for the military and police isolated from the rail service it became normal to fly […]
When the Japanese invaded Malaya in the Second World War, John Davis’s service in that country could have ended. Determined to help the land he had come to love, however, he transferred from the Federated Malay States – M16 – and then, in 1942, to the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Escaping to India by fishing […]
The photographs, taken by a Japanese tourist, show Ipoh’s famous Beef Noodle Stall in operation in Theatre Street in 1968 where it served the people of Ipoh for more than 50 years, until they were forced by legislation to move to a central hawkers area, known locally as Rainbow City. They have been at this […]
This photograph taken by Kamy Studio, Ipoh has Chinese characters on the back which read: “To Ms Chai Kwai Ying, The Red Crane Band, 22-12-70.” If any one can tell us about this band we will be delighted to hear from you.
On 14 June 2009 both the China Press and Oriental Daily kindly featured the launch of ipohWorld’s new database archive and blog. The photographs show guests viewing the photographic exhibition, “Snapshots of the Emergency” that accompanied the launch. Scans of the articles are shown above and for the convenience of the all, we enclose our Press […]
As an introduction to the launch of ipohWorld’s new website, database archive and blog at the Royal Ipoh Club on 13 June 2009, the Star Newspaper kindly featured us on the same morning. The photographs in the above article show the ipohWorld project manager demonstrating the type of information available in the archive ( on […]
There is nothing to add to my previous comments except to ask “Doesn’t anyone care?”
Our last Gopeng post related to the new museum there and also remarked that parts of the town were falling down. For those of you who do not know the place, here is a photograph of a row of houses just a few yards from the museum. What a dreadful sight to greet the visitor […]
Upgrade and renovation of fine building need to be tastefully done (architecturally) example the Ipoh High Court, Extension to St Michael school. Tent structure extension to the Ipoh railway station is foreign to the resident’s architecture is to be avoided. Hawkers in Malaysia must stop discharging waste into public drains, rivers for it promotes disease […]
“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 […]
Following on from my two previous posts about the Foochows of Sitiawan, here is the promised image of the book referred to. Written by Shih Toong Siong, a descendant of those first immigrants the book tells the story of the Foochows since 1903. They were a ‘population transplant’, for a rice growing experiment, fully paid […]
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 […]
Sometime ago we made an afternoon visit to the Settlement Museum within the Kampong Koh Memorial Garden. Opened in September 2003 and sited in the 70 year-old house of the Methodist Pastor, the museum traces the Foochow settlers’ history from leaving their original homeland in China in 1903 until the present day. This history covers, […]
The virtually unspoilt town of Beruas is well off the beaten track for most of us, but I actually made the effort and got there last year. The museum is set in the heart of the town about 40Km away from Sitiawan and is housed in what used to be the town’s court building. Set […]
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 […]
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 […]
