VISIT TO TAIPING PRISONS

Photos taken during our recent visit to Penjara Taiping on 27 January 2015

CLICK HERE TO VIEW MORE PHOTOS

On the heritage trail

FROM NST TRAVEL 30 Oct 2014

A walking tour offers Sharon Ng Kooi Kin insight into the various places of worship in Penang

WE are advised to wear comfortable walking shoes and bring hats, umbrellas and drinking water on the 120-minute walk in the hot tropical sun.

We are at the Penang Teochew Association in Chulia Street to register for the 7.30am slot of Heritage Walk And Talk organised by the Penang Heritage Trust. There are some 300 participants at the registration tables. Our group of 11 from Taiping Heritage Society will join the Bukit Brown members from Singapore.

Before we start, chief organiser and project consultant Lim Gaik Siang, who is also the chairperson of the association’s Han Jiang Ancestral Temple restoration committee, gives an entertaining orientation talk on Folk Beliefs In George Town World Heritage Site.

She speaks about customs, legends and the beliefs of 200 religious houses and clan associations which celebrate about 500 festivals a year. In George Town, there are many houses of worship of all religions and Chinese temples are steeped in Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism.

She goes into detail about some of the more popular deities, how to recognise them in the temples we will be visiting that morning, the significance of offerings, the practices and staunch beliefs of the devotees and many other interesting tidbits to whet our appetite for the actual tour.

WALK THE TALK

A petite and sprightly girl named Joann Khaw is assigned to be our guide. Joann, a licenced tour guide with 20 years’ experience, is very knowledgeable about local beliefs and history. Her commentaries are engrossing, especially when she throws in her own experiences.

We start walking through a street bazaar where Indian delicacies are on sale. This is Little India, with Hindu shrines and stalls of colourful flowers and garlands lining the pavements.

Stalls of colourful flowers and garlands

We couldn’t enter the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple but Joann gives us a brief background, telling us how and why Lord Ganesha has an elephant head! The walk continues to temples and shrines like the Chi Sian Shrine on Lebuh Queen and the Wu Di Temple on Lebuh King.

The Tua Peh Kong Temple is the most impressive. We are introduced to the Jade Emperor (T’nee Kong) and the Duke of Heaven (T’nee Kua). Not to be missed is a little shrine hidden behind the main altar housing a female deity. Women pray to her for a good husband or boyfriend. The most common offerings are bottles of rose water, compact face powder and lipstick!

The biggest and seemingly most popular temple is the Kong Hock Keong or Guan Im (Goddess of Mercy) Temple on Lebuh Pitt.

A worker is seen on a ladder adding oil to a large vessel containing oil. Tiam yew (adding oil) is a common gesture by worshipers to bring blessings to their families.

SHRINES AND DEITIES

Another interesting aspect of the walking tour is the visit to shrines dedicated to specific deities.

We are shown two shrines of the Tujuh Beradik (Seven Brothers) Datuk Kong where devotees come to ask for, among other requests, lottery numbers !

At these shrines, seven skull caps and seven urns for joss sticks are common features. Offerings include cigarettes, coconut, betelnut leaves and other halal food, usually brought by Chinese devotees.

It is more like a folk belief with a touch of animism, rather than mainstream religions yet such shrines still maintain a following till this day.

In a street corner at Lebuh Pitt is the Ganesha Shrine. Hindu devotees pray here, swirling incense and breaking coconuts in front of the shrine.

Asked if other races pray here too, Joann says that many Chinese do. As if on cue, two young Chinese girls in shorts show up to pay homage.

The statue of Ganesha is usually garlanded but the garlands are cleared daily at 5pm, the shrine swept clean and broken coconut shells removed.

The last two worship houses we visit are Yap Temple in Lebuh Armenian and Kapitan Keling Mosque in Pitt Street.

The latter, an imposing building of Moorish architecture, was built in 1801. It is the oldest mosque in George Town. It was called Masjid Kapitan Keling Pitt Street.

In the front compound of the mosque, there used to be a police station (tua balai), a market and auctioneer’s junction. In fact, along Pitt Street (now renamed Lebuh Masjid Kapitan Keling) are houses of worship of the four main religions in the country: Christianity (St. George’s Church), Buddhism/Taoism (Guan Im Temple), Hindusim (Maha Mariamman Temple) and Islam (Masjid Kapitan Keling).

All these houses of worship are more than a century old and play a big part in promoting George Town as a world heritage site.

A Hindu street procession at the Little India

The preservation of this multi-religious and multi-racial feature of George Town is rarely found anywhere else in the world. The best part is that they can all be visited within a two-hour walk!

PUPPET AND OPERA MUSEUM

The last stop is the Teochew Puppet & Opera Museum in Mor Hun Club, Lebuh Armenian. For me, this is the most interesting of all the sites on the walk.

The Teochew clan, a Chinese dialect group, has a strong presence in traditional performing arts and their skills and activities have been listed as Intangible Cultural Heritage in Penang.

The last Teochew puppet owner, Toh Ai Wah, now 64, was the winner of the Living Heritage Treasure of Penang Award in 2008.

Although we do not get to meet her, we are introduced to Ling Goh, her daughter and the present director. Ling, also a puppeteer, represents the sixth generation of the Goh family Teochew opera troupe.

For our visit, she demonstrates how to apply stage make-up and shares with us the work they’re presently doing. The troupe is usually invited to perform at Chinese religious festivals all over Penang and even in other States.

The operas are not only for the viewing pleasure of temple gods but also for entertaining present day audiences.

For instance, a few months ago, her troupe was invited to perform at a cafe lounge in Kuala Lumpur, with a puppet show as introduction and life-sized actors continuing the story.

Puppet shows and operas are also regularly held at the museum.

THS nembers with Ling Goh (in red) and Joanne (in white)

This unique museum has a wonderful display of performing arts paraphernalia, made even more fascinating by the presence of puppet-sized costumes, miniature furniture and stage props.

Richly embroidered human-sized Chinese opera costumes hang in one corner while other counters show off cloth shoes and high boots, long beards, bejewelled head dresses, elaborate masks and wooden weapons used in traditional Chinese dramas.

The puppet dolls, dressed in lavishly decorated costumes, are a delight to see. Also on display are the wind and string musical instruments used by the stage musicians, scripts and musical scores featured in Chinese operas.

What a fitting end to one of the most interesting and engrossing heritage walks I have ever embarked upon.

George Town in Penang was awarded Unesco World Heritage Site status on July 7, 2008. This year is the sixth anniversary of its Heritage Day celebrations, which spans over two days with some 40 events and activities to choose from, including talks, city walks, traditional handicraft classes, Ramadan bazaar, Penang food, open houses, multicultural performances and temple opera shows.

Fast Facts

Penang Heritage Trust, 26 Lebuh Gereja, George Town, Penang.

Tel: 04-264 2631. Email: info@pht.org.my

Teochew Puppet and Opera Museum

Tel: 04-262 0377

By Sharon Ng Kooi Kin

Taiping's Old Museum House

Friday 16 May 2014 12:01 AM IPOH ECHO

Museum's chief caretaker Mr Tan Kok Siew briefing the Taiping Heritage Society members

About 40 heritage lovers joined in the Taiping Heritage Society’s visit to the Old House Museum, located at Market Square recently. The facility is along Jalan Taming Sari near the old Taiping wet market, where the town’s iconic clock tower stands.

The museum, the latest tourist and history buff attraction in town, was ‘adapted’ in 2013 into a 130-year-old three-storey heritage shophouse belonging to the late Lim Zi You. The house-museum opened its doors during Chinese New Year this year. It records and recollects the history of the Lim family dynasty after their move to Malaya from China over a century ago. Lim started business making charcoal stoves and later alcoholic drinks for the immigrant population in old Taiping.

Former Perak Heritage Society president, Law Siak Hong, who was in the group, said that the museum is Taiping’s pride. “It’s a unique icon, as old stuff from the original owner are still kept intact in the house”, he said.

The house has all the trimmings of a bygone era like turn-of-the-century furniture and fittings, a large dining room, ancestral hall, sitting area, large bedrooms with a Qing dynasty bed and old toilet baths, all built from old construction materials, joints, techniques and carved wood. Many impressive antiques and rare objects are displayed for the appreciation of  keen history enthusiasts.

Inside the museum

Taiping Heritage Society’s honorary secretary, P. Kesavan, said that there is an urgent need for the preservation and protection of old buildings and shophouses in Taiping. “I believe Taiping’s heritage status is merely a declaration, which has no protection status. What is really needed is to gazette the old parts of the town to be totally protected under the law, like is done in Penang and Malacca.”

Kesavan added that there had to be a permanent solution to protecting Taiping’s heritage, which was fast disappearing, and a proper mechanism to stop the cutting of old trees in the town, which were symbiotic with its heritage feel.

The house museum’s chief caretaker, Tan Kok Siew or Kapitan, as he is fondly called, said that most of the original fittings and designs are well preserved and he took the liberty of adding his own collection of antiques and artifacts for display.

“By housing a museum in this old building, I can help to preserve the antiquity of the entire structure and at the same time open it for public viewing to inculcate a passion for saving things of the past. These buildings have great value for everyone to appreciate,” he said.

Tan hoped the museum would encourage the conservation of heritage buildings and icons in Taiping and stop them from being destroyed forever.

Nirmal Ariyapala

Annual General Meeting 2014

The new Committee members elected are as below:

President - Yeap Thean Eng

Vice President - Abdul Halim Yahaya

Hon Secretary - P. Kesavan

Asst Secretary - M. Mahendran

Hon Treasurer - Teoh Kok Liang

Committees

Sharon Ng

Tung Lay Chun

Duncan Raj

Mohd Nor

Goh Keat Soon

Chung Chew Seng

Dato' Zuhuri Ahmad

CONGRATULATIONS !!!

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2014

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2014

To all members TAIPING HERITAGE SOCIETY, 

This is to inform you that the above AGM has been scheduled as follows:

DATE         : Wednesday, 19 MARCH 2014

TIME          : 5PM

VENUE      : SERI WARISAN HOTEL, Jalan Convent, Taiping.

AGENDA

5pm           -      REGISTRATION OF MEMBERS.

5.30pm      -     ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING:- 

1.              President’s address.
2.              Confirmation of the  AGM minutes held on 15.3.2013.
3.              To receive and adopt the.Annual Report of the society.
4.              To receive and adopt the financial report ended 31.12.2013. 
5.              To deal with other matters tabled at the meeting.
6.              Election of Office Bearers.

6.30pm      -      DINNER.(FOC for members)

Please confirm your attendance as soon as possible to facilitate catering. 

Email reply to etyeap@gmail.com or tel: 0125382743

Thank you.


Yours faithfully,

P. Kesavan
Hon. Secretary

Jamuan Beramah Mesra with Orang Besar Jajahan, Taiping

            It was a fun-filled afternoon of singing, dancing and feasting for ten organisations of underprivileged children, handicapped and senior citizens at the residence of the OBJ in Jalan Kota Taiping on 9 November 2013. Among the beneficiaries were Crystal Children’s Welfare Home, St John’s Nursing Home, Sekolah Semangat Maju for the mentally challenged, ESDA and children’s welfare homes from Ulu Sepetang and Aulong.

Some underprivileged children

            An estimated crowd of 600 flocked to the event, occupying every nook and corner of the spacious grounds. An initial shower of rain did not dampen their spirits and as the sun reemerged, the guests were invited to tuck in from various counters of food lavishly laid out. There were fried noodles and chicken, cakes and traditional delicacies, hot tea and cold drinks.

Taiping Heritage Society was among 20 NGO’s (Non government organisations) who contributed financial assistance to Toh Muda Wan Isa and his wife Toh Puan Muda Norisha. Four hundred goody bags were prepared for the participants, and as caregivers and invited guests looked on, Toh Puan Muda Norisha and Datin Jennifer Ong handed out the gift packets.

President and Vice President with the OBJ

Then it was time for some entertainment. A colourfully garbed clown was surrounded by children waiting for toys and animals cleverly fashioned from twisting tube balloons. But loud pulsating music drew the crowd to three young ladies performing an Indian dance. Other singing and dance perfomances followed and each one was loudly applauded and cheered on with piercing wolf whistles and cries of encouragement. The loudest applause however, went to a group of young dancers doing the cha cha and the final item was the ever popular Gangnam Style from New Club Taiping and Vincent Children’s Home.

Clown entertaining the children

It was all in all a very successful event organized by the community for the community. As Toh Puan Norisha put in, “The most important thing is that the children enjoyed themselves.” And they certainly did!

Children waiting for their bus


CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS

Sc/161113/tpg

Health Forum: "Towards Successful and Healthy Ageing"

A Public Health Forum was held on 24 October 2013, at the New Club Taiping. It was jointly organized by the Taiping Heritage Society (THS) and New Club Taiping (NCT). The main speaker was Dr David Yong from the Department of Geriatrics, Changi General Hospital, Singapore.

Forum backdrop

Dr Yong is a Senior Aged Care Physician, a clinical expert in long term care in nursing homes, a lecturer in geriatric and family medicine to medical students and gerontology nurses and sits on various Ministry of Health committees. He has represented Singapore in HMDP Fellowship to Australia in 1998 and the USA in 2011and has received the Singapore Long Service Award in 2013.

Registration desk

Dr Yong spoke on five features of diseases in older people, ten common disorders of the elderly, good care-giving of the aged and five points for successful ageing, based on current knowledge. His 4W and 1w formula for healthy ageing was especially captivating: Walk, Weight, Work, Worry less and with a small ‘w’ … wealth. He advised the audience not to give away all their money and property before they die!

Dr David Yong

Other ailments briefly discussed were Alzheimer’s Disease, Strokes, Parkinson’s Disease and Dementia. Free admission to this health forum attracted 50 THS and NCT members and 70 members of the public. The guests of honour were YDH Toh Muda Orang Kaya Menteri Dato Wan Mohd Isa and his wife Toh Puan Muda Datin Norisha.

Section of the participants

Before the health forum, MC for the nite, Mr. C.T. Nathan from NCT,  gave a short history of New Club Taiping and the facilities offered. Organising Chairperson, Mrs Sharon Chan, gave a brief history of Taiping Heritage Society and a short power point presentation of some activities organised by the THS in recent years. She also reminded the audience that the senior citizens of Taiping form part of the heritage of this town. President of THS, Mr Yeap Thean Eng and President of NCT, Mr Tang Yuet Mun, also graced the occasion.

Report by: Sharon Ng-Chan

CLICK HERE TO VIEW MORE PHOTOS

PUBLIC FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT

 PUBLIC FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT

TOWARDS SUCCESSFUL & HEALTHY AGEING

(Organised by the Taiping Heritage Society & New Club Taiping)

SPEAKER: DR. DAVID YONG (Senior Aged Care Physician,

Department of Geriatric Medicine, Changi Hospital, Singapore)

Date:          24 October 2013, Thursday

Time:          8.00pm 

Venue:        New Club Taiping

Dr David Yong will share

.   Five features of diseases in older people

.   Ten common disorders of the elderly

.   Good care giving

.   Five points for successful ageing based on current knowledge

Among ailments discussed will be Alzheimer’s Disease, Strokes and

Parkinson’s Disease.

Light refreshments will be served after the Forum

Please register before the Closing Date: 22 October 2013, Tuesday.

Admission is FREE.  Limited places! So register early!

Tel: 012-5382743 (YeapTheanEng, Taiping Heritage Society)

05-8073935 (New Club Taiping)

Exploring Perak's heritage.

Exploring Perak’s heritage

Story and pics by Sharon Chan

At the break of dawn on the last Sunday of September 2013, 70 eager participants from Taiping embarked on a tour of Perak’s heritage sites. Organised by the Taiping Heritage Society, in collaboration with the Ceylon Association and Inner Wheel Club, this heritage tour covered six locations in Gopeng, Kampar and Batu Gajah.

            After breakfast at Gopeng Pasar Food Court, we explored two small museums, the Gopeng Heritage House and the Gopeng Museum housed in refurbished prewar shop houses. We learnt about how the tin mining and rubber industries were started here and how they helped to develop the town and its surrounding areas.

Gopeng Heritage House

Then it was just a ten minutes drive to Gua Tempurung, the largest cave complex in Peninsular Malaysia. I was in one of two buses on this tour group and my bus of 40 passengers had 22 seniors over 60 years of age with us! These golden cistizens received a good discounted rate of only RM3 each when the rest had to pay RM9 entry fees for the Top of the World Grade Two package.

As we trudged along an endless series of steps, we were shown fascinating limestone formations of stalactites and stalagmites, some joining up to form towering pillars. Many of these formations which had taken 250 to 400 million years to form, resembled animals and humans and we had a fun time picking out these resembles. Rosli, our caving guide, used his torchlight to point out these images as well as limestone crystals, wave walls, potholes and many amazing structures. What a spectacular natural heritage Perak possesses and all Perakians should be proud of Gua Tempurung!

Twenty-five out of 40 made it to the end of the tour, climbing a total of 640 steps reaching an elevation of 120m! That was quite an achievement! Syabas! to all, especially a sprightly 77 year old lady who was not even breathless climbing all those steps.

We made it! Gua Tempurung's Top of the World

We took lunch at Kampar New Town and then had a great time in Jalan Idris, buying lots of the famous Kampar biscuits, cookies, pastries and curry bread. Then it was off to the Kinta Gravel Pump Tin Mining Museum. The surrounding grounds had replicas of dulang washers panning for alluvial tin ore and a wooden sluice with water flowing down it used to trap the heavier tin particles. A number of heavy machinery used in excavating for tin in the 19^th century were displayed inside and outside the museum. The air conditioned interior was a welcomed respite from the heat outside.

            A brainchild of Tan Sri Hew See Tong, former tin miner and Kampar MP, the museum was set up at a cost of RM2 million and is really worth a visit from anyone interested in the tin mining industry. Look out for a replica of Larut, (the famous pet elephant of territorial chief Dato Long Jaafar) who got lost and when found days later, was covered in mud and tin ore! So Larut led to the discovery of tin in Taiping in 1848, resulting in other tin fields found all over Perak.

            The next heritage site we visited was Kellie’s Castle, a Scottish rubber planter’s dream gone awry. In 1820, William Kellie Smith arrived in the then Malaya at the age of 20 and over several years, built his hugely successful business empire in the rubber and tin mining industries. He married his Scottish childhood sweetheart, Agnes, and had a daughter Helen and many years later, his son Anthony. To celebrate the much awaited birth of his son and heir, Kellie started building his castle, reminiscent of his Scottish roots. But tragedy struck shortly after WW2, when the endemic Spanish Flu killed off many of his imported Indian labourers and craftsmen. On a short visit to Portugal in 1926, Kellie himself also died, leaving behind a dream unrealized and uncompleted.

Heritage tour members at Kellie's Castle

            Today, Kellie’s Castle is a major tourist attraction in Perak, a structure of alien architecture, shrouded in mystery and a romance won and lost. Its corridors are reputed to be haunted and there are undiscovered tunnels and concrete staircases leading nowhere. Plans to build an indoor tennis court and roof top gardens to entertain the local royalties and the foreign planters’ communities were left unfulfilled. Look for the elevator, caged in metal meshes, because it is the first lift ever built in Malaysia.

            Our last destination was the Gaharu Tea Garden near Gopeng. David Ho Kwan Meng, Managing Director and 75% share holder, was at hand to welcome us. He shepherded us into a meeting room where he gave us an informative and humorous 30 minute briefing of the efficacy of his gaharu products and many testimonies of real life healings. Also known as Agarwood or Eaglewood, gaharu has featured for centuries in Chinese and Arabain cultures to promote longevity, good health and beauty. It has taken Ho, 21 years to build up his gaharu empire, which is now a thriving business venture and tourist attraction. He has also built the Great Wall of Gopeng surrounding his 120ha gaharu plantation, which now has 200,000 agarwood trees.

Briefing by owner Mr David Ho

            Visitors can buy a wide variety of gaharu products at the gift shop of the Visitors Centre, from teas and perfumes to biscuits, instant noodles, aromatherapy oils and various concoctions that are claimed to be anti cancerous, anti ageing and a cure for all sorts of ailments.

            What a successful heritage tour of some major historical sites in Perak we have embarked upon! It was with a sense of achievement that we arrived safely back in Taiping at 7.30pm, rejoicing in the fact that we had visited so many interesting places in just 12 hours.

At Gaharu Tea Valley, Gopeng

Contacts

Taiping Heritage Society: 012-5382743 (President Yeap Thean Eng)

Gaharu Tea Garden: 012-5886999 (Managing Director David Ho)

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS