Ipoh

Ipoh (Chinese: 怡保) (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.

[edit] 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 boom of the tin mining and rubber industries.

The city first exist in the 1890s as a village on the banks of Kinta River. It was less prominent at that time as compared to early Gopeng. However, from the turn of the century when more British tin-mining companies were set up in the city, Ipoh gained prominance. Its geopgraphic location in the rich tin-bearing valley of the Kinta River made it a natural growth centre. It grew rapidly as a mining town, especially in 1920s and 1930s. A local Hakka miner, millionaire Yau Tet-Shin started developing a large tract of the city in 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.

Ipoh in the 1950s were characterised by the proliferation large numbers of cinema halls, amusement parks, cabarets and night life which was unrivalled in peninsular. The derogatory colloquially used Ipoh mali (Ipoh mari - lit. 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 and bright 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 a earned a reputation as a good location for retirement. 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.

Politically, Ipoh is a stronghold of opposition party, DAP (Democratic Action Party or 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.

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

Image:Ipoh.JPG

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

Image:Ipoh4.JPG

Ipoh still remains one of Malaysia's largest cities. 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
Malay	451,361	70.0%
Chinese	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）], 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.)
Cartoonist Mohammad Nor Khalid, better known as Lat, had his primary education in Jalan Pasir Putih school and secondary education in Anderson School.
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, was a student of Sam Tet school.
Badminton players (representatives of Malaysia at international events) include Cheah Soon Kit（謝順吉） (Atlanta Olympics Silver Medallist for men's doubles), and Koo Kien Kiet. The former a student of ACS while the latter was a student of St. Michael's Institution, Ipoh. Lee Wan Wah（李萬華） is also from Ipoh and he is an ex-Andersonian.

[edit] 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 food items such as "Sar Hor Fun" (a flat white rice noodle, best served in soup with shredded chicken meat and prawns), "Nga Choi Kai" (chicken fillet and beansprouts, enjoyed by many visitors to Ipoh), "Hakka Mee", and dim sum (small Chinese delicacies including fish, prawn and pork dumplings). Refer Ipoh cuisine for a discussion of the various food and drink Ipoh is famous for.

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.

[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 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 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

Image:Gua Tempurung.jpg

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
Anglo-Chinese School Ipoh
Ave Maria Convent 圣母玛利亚国民型中学
Ipoh International School
SMK Convent, Ipoh [Main Convent]
Methodist Girls School Ipoh
Poi Lam (SUWA) Independent High School （培南獨立中學）(in Pengkalan Pegoh)
Raja Perempuan Ipoh
Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh
Sekolah Izzudin Shah
Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Gunung Rapat
Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Raja Chulan (SRC)
Sekolah Menengah Pasir Puteh
Sekolah Menengah Sri Ampang
Sekolah Menengah Teknik Ipoh Persiaran Brash
Sekolah Raja Perempuan Taayah
Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman Ipoh
SRJK Sam Tet Primary School
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）

[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.

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. 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.

Ipoh has a proud polo tradition - with the main filed at Iskandar Polo Club located in Ampang Baru.

Other sports venues include the Kilat Club in Pasir Pinji, Ipoh Field (Padang Ipoh) in the Old Town, and the Polo Grounds.

[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 KTM (Keretapi Tanah Melayu) 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).
- Notes: 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 at May 06 (Malaysia Airlines) and Sep 06 (Air Asia) ceased landing in Ipoh citing unprofitable route and short runway (in Air Asia's case). Other international flights are only available at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (approx. 200km south), which is accessible via express bus (cost averaging RM42 per way). There was a plan to turn the 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 more like an Indonesian outpost as it 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

Image:Lost World of Tambun.jpg

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 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.

In production: Lust, Caution (Chinese: 色戒), starring Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Lee-Hom Wang, directed by Oscar-winning Taiwanese director Ang Lee.

Ipoh is also noted for it's independent music community (fostered by Bodysurf Music record label/collective) and is considered the 'indie rock capital' of West Malaysia for bands such as Muck, Couple, Bittersweet, Free Love, Harmacy and Elisebelle Tears. Bodysurf Music released a compilation in 2006 titled Radio Malaya which featured most of the prominent bands from the Ipoh indie rock scene.

[edit] Sister city

Ipoh has a couple of sister cities, which are ^{[citation needed]}:

[edit] External links

fr:Ipoh id:Ipoh it:Ipoh ms:Ipoh nl:Ipoh pl:Ipoh fi:Ipoh zh:怡保

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