Great Malaysian Railway Journeys
IPOH
A RIKISHA RIDE AROUND IPOH OLD TOWN & NEW TOWN

black and white photo of Ipoh in early 20th century

This page was written in 2015. It used to be hosted on a separate Weebly website but Weebly is no longer available for customers in Malaysia so I am transferring the content here.

P.A. Anthony, the General Manager of Federated Malay States Railway (and presumably the author of the 1914 version of the Pamphlet of Information for Travellers), appears to have been quite impressed by Ipoh and writes about the town in favourable terms as he describes a rikisha trip around the major sights (his description is in italics):

"Taking the railway station as a centre, Ipoh, the commercial capital of Perak, may be thus described. The resthouse lies on the station road, which runs straight into the town down a hill."

The famous Ipoh Railway station which exists today was nearing completion when the pamphlet was written. Up until 1914, the railway station had been just a single storey wood and atap building with no accommodation attached.

Ipoh Station in 1930.

"The first turning on the left leads to the Kuala Kangsar Road (Club, Courts of Justice, English Church, Residency), and the first turning on the right is the Batu Gajah road (hospital grounds and Grand Hotel). If we take neither turning but go down the hill, we pass on the right the Government offices and Post Office, and on the left the Padang (recreation ground), the municipal offices, the banks, and, over against them, on the right again, the Birch Memorial Clock Tower, recently erected to the memory of James Wheeler Woodford Birch, first British Resident of Perak, who was assassinated by Malays."

Birch Memorial in 2011.

"Continuing past this along Hugh Low Street, named after the second British Resident, we go right through to the bridge over the Kinta river, passing on the right, the pretty People's Park, with its decorative Chinese temple on the edge, and noting the Malay mosque opposite across the river."

Hugh Low Street is now called Jalan Sultan Iskandar. This was how the street looked in 1930. By this time, rikishas were using the pavement together with cyclists and pedestrians. Incidentally, Low's Peak, the highest point on Mt. Kinabalu, is also named after Hugh Low.

Dato' Panglima Kinta Mosque is the mosque referred to in the pamphlet.

"Crossing the bridge we continue through the new town, and when the shop-houses end we swing to the left down a side street (this street was probably Cowan Street, now Jalan Raja Ekram) and keep straight on at right angles to our previous course until we reach a main road running parallel to Hugh Low Street (Brewster Road, now Jalan Sultan Idris Shah). Here we turn left-handed and again cross the Kinta river, this time by the Birch bridge, named after the murdered Resident's son, Sir E.W. Birch, who, thirty years after that crime, in turn became Resident of Perak."

Town Padang Mosque. It was constructed in 1908 in Moghul style and has features similar to those in the Red Fort, Delhi. It was financed by a wealthy Muslim Tamil businessman, Shaik Adam.

"From this bridge we run straight to the recreation ground, and, bearing to the right to go round it, pass the Indian Muhammadan mosque, climb the rise to the English Church, turn left-handed again, pass the Club and so arrive back at the railway station. This round in a rikisha (25 cents, 7d.) will give a very good idea of Ipoh and enable the visitor to realise that it is by no means necessary that an Eastern town should be a crazy congeries of filthy and dilapidated rookeries as so many are. "

The 'English Church' (St. John The Divine), when finished in 1912 was the largest church in Malaya.

old postcard of the Ipoh Club and padang

The Ipoh Club is still there but cricket is seldom played on the padang these days.

"A pleasant evening's run, also in a rikisha, is along Hugh Low Street, across the bridge and on until the road forks. Take the left hand fork and go on as far as the turn to the racecourse, turn down this, past the Golf Club, and so bearing left-handed come back on the same road, but before reaching the fork branch off to the right and re-enter Ipoh by way of Birch bridge and the Padang. The view from the racecourse towards the limestone cliffs and the higher hills of the main range behind them is at all times beautiful, but perhaps most impressive when a distant evening thunderstorm majestically proceeds along them, its black-blue lowering above the white-splashed rocks, and its whole scheme of colour shot through and through with those violet vapours into which darkness at length melts the dying light of the day."

From this description it appears that the golf links used to be inside the oval racetrack. Nowadays the racecourse is still in the same location, but the golf club, now the Royal Perak Golf Club, has shifted to a much bigger and more prestigious location about 1km away.

Dig a little deeper into Ipoh:

ROUND THE KINTA VALLEY

In 1914, the Kinta Valley was the most famous tin mining area in the world. I follow in the footsteps of the pamphlet author and see what traces from those days still remain.

IPOH ROCK TEMPLES

The cave temples near Ipoh remain popular places to visit. They have been expanded and enhanced over the past hundred years.

STATION ROAD, IPOH

I'll be looking at what has become of some of the businesses who were operating in Station Road in 1914, which was then the commercial hub of Ipoh.

GRAND HOTEL, IPOH

The Grand Hotel was the place to stay in Ipoh when the 1914 Pamphlet of Information for Travellers was written. We'll find out what happened to it.

IPOH HERITAGE WALK

Explore Ipoh on foot with my two-part Ipoh Heritage Walk.

Previous Stop: Sungai Siput

Next Stop: Batu Gajah

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AUTHOR BIO

David (the one on the left) is the writer behind Malaysia Traveller, sharing first-hand travel advice from over five decades of living and travelling across Asia and the Middle East. Based in Malaysia since 2009 and now in Kuching, he has published over 760 pages on this website, personally visited every place he covers, and uses only his own photos. Readers can learn more on his About Me page. He also shares updates on Facebook and YouTube. He loves uncovering overlooked places that even some Malaysians have never visited.