Peaceful Taiping, Perak's former capital
A feel for history: An avenue of sprawling trees (Top) gives Taiping an air of a town forgotten by time. A central landmark in Perak's former capital is the Clock Tower (Bottom), which was built in the 1880s and once used as a police station and a fire house. Pictures: Liz Price
Liz Price
Sunday, December 9, 2007
AS ALL the tourist literature will tell you, the word Taiping means "everlasting peace". And it certainly is peaceful compared to other towns in Malaysia, having retained its small town feel.
It was the capital of Perak until 1937 when this status was given to Ipoh. You can get a feel for Taiping's history as you stroll along the wide, well spaced streets.
Some of the side streets still have a row of large sprawling trees, which is a rare sight in towns nowadays. Unlike other towns which have been modernised, Taiping has retained many old buildings that are being preserved and restored.
A central landmark is the old Clock Tower, built in the 1880s and once used as a police station and fire house. It has been restored over the years and today it houses the visitor information centre.
Taiping's museum is the oldest in Peninsular Malaysia and was completed in 1886. In those early days, pioneers of museum work specialised in flora and fauna, and in later years began to document Malaysia's cultural heritage. Consequently the museum has a good mix of items on display, covering anthropology, zoology and local history.
The Taiping area developed quickly in the mid 19th century when tin was discovered. Perak was once the largest producer of tin ore in the country. The mines attracted large numbers of foreign settlers, particularly from China. Coming from different clans, there was a lot of unrest, and in the early 1870s, the British took control of the town and named it Taiping.
The town's mining industry continued to thrive and the country's first railway was built to transport tin from Taiping to Port Weld on the coast. The first train ran in 1885 and slowly replaced the elephants which used to carry the tin ore along the jungle paths. The station was moved a few years later when the railway line was extended.
King Edward VII School is located at Station Road. Opened in 1883, it was the first English school in the state, and is one of the most scenic schools in the state, thanks to the 100-year-old Flame of the Forest trees on the grounds.
During the Japanese Occupation, the classrooms were used as torture chambers while the school field was converted into a farm to grow food. Another first for Taiping is that the first English newspaper, the Perak Pioneer, was published there on July 4, 1894.
Taiping's claim to fame is that it is the wettest town in Peninsular Malaysia. Its average annual rainfall is about 4,000mm, whereas the peninsula's average is 2,000 to 2,500mm.
Its high rainfall has also blessed its Lake Gardens with a splendid collection of flora. The lakes in the gardens are a result of the tin mines. The gardens sprawl over 62 hectares at the foot of the hill resort of Bukit Larut (formerly known as Maxwell Hill).
The main attraction in the gardens is the long avenue of century-old rain trees. These majestic trees border the road and in some places drooping branches seem to defy gravity as they almost touch the passing cars. The picture-postcard gardens present a calm and panoramic landscape with the ancient trees, colourful flowers, a profusion of greenery and lakes. Within the gardens is the Taiping Zoo & Night Safari.
Just outside the gardens is the notorious Taiping Gaol, built in 1885. During World War II, Taiping was overrun with Japanese soldiers. It is said that they stuck the heads of executed prisoners on poles throughout the town to remind people not to commit any wrongdoings.
The Commonwealth War Cemetery lies on either side of the road leading to Maxwell Hill. There are almost 850 graves and many are marked 1941 the final resting place of a company of soldiers who fought the Japanese when they invaded Taiping. The cemetery has two entrances, and there are different religious sections the Christian graves are on the south-eastern side of the road while the Muslim and Gurkha soldiers who fell in battle are on the opposite side. More than 500 of the graves at the cemetery are unidentifiable.
Back in the town it is worth just walking around, looking at the old shop houses with the chick blinds, shutters and old signs. The government offices are from the Victorian era. There are buildings belonging to various Chinese associations, as well as Indian, Punjabi and Ceylon societies, among others.
Perak's oldest brick mosque is in Taiping. Built in 1897, the old Kota Mosque was a Hanafi sect mosque that was used by the Indian Muslim community.
Its architecture is unique as it has a six-sided facade.
The mosque was later passed to the Malay community and thereafter became known as Masjid Melayu (Malay Mosque). The Old Saint's Church, built in 1886 along the Main Road in Taiping, was the first Anglican Church in the Malay states.
Taiping is definitely worthy of a visit. It's like visiting a town of yesteryear. And it certainly deserves its peaceful name.
The Brunei Times
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Source URL:
http://www.bt.com.bn/en/en/travel/2007/12/09/peaceful_taiping_peraks_former_capital
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