Silver state makes bid for Unesco listing - The Star

PERAK is seeking to list Kinta Valley, Lenggong Valley, Gua Tempurung and Royal Belum as Unesco world heritage sites, said state Tourism Committee chairman Datuk Hamidah Osman.

She said the state hoped to get Kinta Valley — which includes Ipoh, Batu Gajah and Kampar — listed as a Unesco tin heritage site by 2012.

Awesome attraction: Limestone formations ar the entrance of Gua Puteri.

Hamidah said the state was also trying to nominate Lenggong Valley as a world archaeological heritage site, Gua Tempurung as limestone heritage site and Royal Belum as the rainforest, jungle and biodiversity heritage site.

She said a committee comprising representatives from the Ipoh City Council, Kinta Heritage Group, Perak Tourism Action Council and the National Heritage Department was preparing a nomination dossier on Kinta Valley to be submitted to Unesco.

Hamidah said the committee had been tasked to identify and mark sites and buildings to be included in the dossier.

“We are looking into the possibility of promoting Visit Perak Year in 2012 and everything must be in place by then,” she said in an interview.

Hamidah said the Kinta Valley had left behind significant buildings from its glorious tin mining past.

Heritage landmark: The Neo-Classic Ipoh Railway Station in Ipoh Old Town.

She said these heritage structures were treasures that should be preserved.

“Unlike modern buildings, the old ones will be gone forever if uncared for and torn down.” she added.

Hamidah said about RM450,000 had been allocated for conservation projects in Panglima Lane (Concubine Street) which was among the sites that had been identified.

“We have roped in a team specialising in conserving old buildings from Universiti Teknologi MARA to help us,” she said.

Hamidah also said the tin dredge in Batu Gajah was another heritage structure that should be protected.

“It is our last remaining tin dredge and is in very bad shape with its pontoon badly damaged,” she said, adding the dredge caretaker had estimated RM1.5mil to fix it.

Hamidah said there had been proposals to move the tin dredge away from the outskirts of Batu Gajah and closer to towns.

“The cost to dismantle and reassemble the structure is also a killing factor, at about RM30mil,” she said.

“We have spoken to the National Heritage Department to get feedback on the matter,” she added.

Kinta Heritage Group Sdn Bhd chairman Jek Yap said Ipoh’s Old Town would be the core sector in the nomination centre.

He said the group had distributed 500,000 copies of the Ipoh Heritage Trail to rekindle the people’s interest in the cultural heritage of the city.

“We have also introduced the Ipoh Heritage Trail tour which starts from the Ipoh railway station and end at Jalan Panglima (Concubine Lane),” he added.

Participants would be taken to see 24 historic buildings and places including the Straits Trading Building built in 1907, the former tin miners club Han Chin Pet Soo built in 1929, the 1920’s Dramatists’ Hostel and the Ipoh Railway Station built from 1914 to 1917.

Yap said the group was registered in April to assist the government to “save Ipoh” and promote the city, which has more than 120 years of history.

A hotspot — then and now - The Star

By IVAN LOH (ivanloh@thestar.com.my)

PANGLIMA Lane or Yi Lai Hong (Concubine Lane in Cantonese) as it is popularly known, comes across as just another narrow street in Ipoh.

Yet the row of 27 pre-war buildings along the road has never failed to attract tourists, photographers and artists from far and near.

Old-world charm: The Once notorious Panglima Lane in Ipoh is now drawing a differnt crowd- touristsm shutterbugs and even movie producers.

It has, in fact, become a famous landmark, probably more for its notorious label as a place where mistresses are allegedly kept than as a opium haunt in the early 1950s.

Ninety-year-old Wong Koh Kee, the retired boss of Koh Kee Restaurant situated along the lane, however, doubted there were businessmen and tin miners who kept their mistresses there nor were there any brothels.

Classic design: The horizontal bars doorway is among the olden architecture that attracts visitors from near and afar to visit Panglima Lane in Ipoh.

“A story that goes round is that opium smokers would always say they are going to their mistresses instead of to the opium den when asked by friends,” he noted.

Wong said despite its reputation, the area was surprisingly peaceful back then with hardly any serious crime.

“One thing for sure is that the place is quiet and peaceful. The folks at the opium dens only wanted to be left alone,” he added.

Today, many people are still interested in the buildings’ architecture along the lane, which mainly serves as a passageway for visitors who parked their cars along Jalan Bijeh Timah to go to the coffeeshops along Jalan Bandar Timah.

Car-free: Panglima Lane has become a walkway between Jalan Bijeh Timah and Jalan Bandar Timah.

“The traditional horizontal bar gates, wooden window panes and bronze door knobs are a rare find for visitors,” said former resident Loh Vooi Leong.

“Tourists could also be seen snapping away pictures of bamboo poles placed across one window ledge to another to dry their clothes,” said the 58-year-old, adding that it was completely new to them.

Loh said the place had also become a favourite spot for location shootings, including for a Hong Kong drama series starring renowned actor Alex Man Chi Leung as well as by local producers filming Chinese New Year music videos and films. Once a hive of activity in the 1950s and 1960s, Panglima Lane is a close-knit community of mostly hawkers and traders where everyone is a familiar face.

Whether it is the birth of a child, the Chinese New Year festivities or even if a resident gets a job, there is always a cause for celebration.

As Loh puts it, “everyone was practically a family member then.”

“In times of duress, we will try to help each other and keep an eye for one another,” he said.

The lane with about 27 prewar shophouses used to house about 100 families. One shophouse would have about four to five families staying under one roof.

“Only six buildings are still occupied, four with families and the other two have become workers’ quarters,” he said, adding the rest were vacant and dilapidated.

Many residents left the place after the Ipoh City Council came down hard on street hawkers in 1998.

Loh, who spent his childhood days in the area, said life was pretty simple then.

“The boys like to play near Sungai Kinta, catching fighting fish in the river and spiders by the embankment. Given some marbles or spinning tops, we would enjoy ourselves for the whole day,” he recalled.

Resident Chou Yuet Lai, 60, said her childhood always revolved around work.

“While the boys are outside running and playing, the girls are often told to remain at home to cook, sweep the floor or wash cloths,” she said.

Even during her teenage years, she would help out at her relative’s noodle stall after school.

“It’s basically the norm for my family that if you don’t work, you won’t get money to eat,” said the retired waitress.