About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Ipoh

Encyclopedia : I : IP : IPO : Ipoh

Ipoh (Chinese: 怡保) (latitude 4.60°N, longitude 101.07°E) is a city in Malaysia located to the north of Kuala Lumpur. It is the state capital of Perak. It is approximately 200 km (125 miles) from 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 Hasan Nawawi Abdul Rahman.

Contents

History and background

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 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 Chinese Malaysians as "Pa-loh" (Chinese : 壩羅). The old nickname for Ipoh is "City of Millionaires", referring to the vast fortunes made during the tin and rubber days.

Ipoh is located in the rich tin-bearing valley of the Kinta River. It grew rapidly as a mining town, especially in 1920s and 1930s. With the collapse of tin prices and the closure of the tin mines in the late 1950s, Ipoh's growth had stagnated and resulted in the migration of many young and bright talents to other parts of Malaysia, particularly Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Ipoh has since been known colloquially as a "dead" city and a good retirement location. Various efforts have been made to redevelop Ipoh into a modern town (see below).

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 mental hospital in Malaysia, is located in Tanjung Rambutan.

City layout

The City Hall in Ipoh
Enlarge
The City Hall in Ipoh

The following towns, suburbs, and neighborhoods comprise the area formally (and collectively) known as the Ipoh City.

Population

Sultan Iskandar Shah Road (Hugh Low Street), stretches from the New Town into Old Town; traffic on this road only goes one way into the Old Town.
Enlarge
Sultan Iskandar Shah Road (Hugh Low Street), stretches from the New Town into Old Town; traffic on this road only goes one way into the Old Town.

Ipoh still remains one of Malaysia's largest cities. Population statistics are as follows:

Ethnic groups in Ipoh, 2004 census
Ethnicity Population Percentage
Chinese 446,040 70.0%
Malay 108,324 17.0%
Indian 79,650 12.5%
Others 3186 0.5%

People

The majority of the residents in Ipoh (approx. 70%) are of Chinese descent. 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.

Prominent people from ipoh

Ipoh has its share of prominent people who are known regionally or internationally, especially in business and entertainment:
  1. Dato' Michelle Yeoh, who acted in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and more recently Memoirs of a Geisha. (She is an alumnus of Main Convent Ipoh, and was awarded the honorary title Dato' by the Sultan of Perak in recognition of her achievements.)
  2. Cartoonist Mohammad Nor Khalid, better known as Lat, had his primary education in Jalan Pasir Putih school and secondary education in Anderson School.
  3. Angie Cheung Wai Yee, a Hong Kong based-actress who was born in Ipoh.
  4. Michael Wong (Guang Liang), a Taiwan based-singer from the former Michael & Victor (Guang Liang Pin Guan) duet, was a student of Sam Tet school.
  5. Badminton players (representatives of Malaysia at international events) include Cheah Soon Kit (Atlanta Olympics Silver Medallist for men's doubles), and Koo Kien Kiet. The latter was a student of St. Michael's Institution, Ipoh.

Cuisine

Main article: Ipoh 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 its "Sar Hor Fun", a flat white rice noodle. It is best taken in a soup with shredded chicken meat and prawns.

Another traditional favourite is dim sum, small Chinese delicacies served in steamed or fried versions, including fish, prawn and pork dumplings.

Besides that, Ipoh is famous for "Nga Choi Kai", cuisine which consist of chickens and beansprouts. Many people all around Malaysia go to Ipoh just to taste the "Nga Choi Kai"

Ipoh's Hakka Mee is also widely known in Malaysia.

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 newer buildings, shopping malls and housing estates.

D. R. Seenivasagam 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.

The school building of 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 2, the school building had became the administration headquarters in Ipoh. St. Michael's Institution is a Lasallian school. It was opened in 1912 by Father J.B. Choppin. 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.

Limestone caves

The Gua Tempurung Limestone Caves
Enlarge
The Gua Tempurung 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 gigantic limestone cave. It houses a few giant tortoises too. 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 is the tallest and largest of its kind in Malaysia. 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. however, it is only 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 (referenced: [link]). 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. Little is done to try and save the hills.

Infrastructure

Healthcare

Public

The Ipoh Hospital 怡保醫院, 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).

Private

Besides government hospitals, there are also private medical centers located around Ipoh, such as:

Schools (primary and secondary education)

There are several schools with decades of established history in Ipoh. These include :

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.

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.

For golf, the available courses in Ipoh are the Royal Perak Golf Club (off Tiger Lane or Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah). 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, and the Polo Grounds.

Transportation

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.

Modern entertainment and recreation

The Lost World of Tambun Water theme park
Enlarge
The Lost World of Tambun Water theme park

The Greentown area near 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 east 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.

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:

Ipoh is also the home ground for several budding independent (indie) music groups.

Sister city

Ipoh has a sister city, which is:

External links


                                                                   Perak Darul Ridzuan

Districts: Kinta | Larut, Matang | Hilir Perak | Manjung | Batang Padang | Kerian | Kuala Kangsar | Hulu Perak | Perak Tengah | Selama
City: Ipoh
Towns: Ayer Tawar | Bagan Datoh | Bagan Sungai Burong | Batu Gajah | Beruas | Bidor | Bukit Merah | Changkat Jering | Chemor | Gerik | Gopeng | Jelapang | Kamunting | Kampar | Kuala Kangsar | Kuala Sepetang | Lekir | Lenggong | Lumut | Menglembu | Pantai Remis | Parit | Parit Buntar | Pasir Salak | Pengkalan Hulu | Proton City | Selama | Seri Iskandar | Simpang Pulai | Simpang Tiga | Sitiawan | Slim River | Sungai Siput | Taiping | Tambun | Tanjung Malim | Tanjung Rambutan | Tapah | Teluk Intan | Terong | Teronoh
Islands: Pulau Pangkor

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: