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 […]
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 […]
Suddenly one day last week we could hardly believe our ears. Was that really a scissor sharpener’s call just outside our gate? As we rushed outside there he was, riding away on his battered bicycle with his, just as battered, hat on his head. Of course my wife and I ran after him and caught up […]
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 […]
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. […]
This Friday (24 September 2010), there will be a Heritage Unity Walk – starting out at the Ipoh Railway Station. It’s a special event for 700 underprivilaged Perakian children; these children will be treated to games and a food carnival prior to the walk. And since it’s the Mid Autumn Festival, we’ll be carrying lanterns while we walk […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 – […]
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 […]
These ‘friends’ live at Leech Street – opposite the low cost flats, next door to the old Kinta Aerated Water building. Who owns them now, we wonder….and what’s become of them? We see the one on the extreme right has been painted pink; which now sells groceries (at wholesale price). What about the others? Anyone […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
