In recent years, Ipoh's popularity as an international tourist destination has been significantly boosted by efforts to conserve its British colonial-era architecture.[3][4] The city is also well known for its cuisine and natural attractions, such as its limestone hills and caves within which Buddhist temples were built.[5]
The name Ipoh is derived from a local tree, pohon epu, now more commonly known as pokok ipoh. The sap of this plant is poisonous and was used by local indigenous people mixed with Strychnos latex to coat the tips of their blowpipe darts for hunting.[6]
History
Originally a village, Ipoh began to grow rapidly in the 1880s after huge deposits of tin were discovered within its vicinity.[7] Its geographic location in the rich tin-bearing valley of the Kinta River made it a natural centre of growth.[8]
The Great Fire of Ipoh in 1892 destroyed over half the town, but also presented an opportunity to rebuild the town in a more orderly grid pattern.[9] By 1895, it was the second largest town within the Federated Malay States, which also consisted of Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, and Pahang.[10]
Ipoh was subsequently rebuilt in time for the second tin rush and grew rapidly as a result of the booming tin mining industry, particularly in the 1920s and 1930s.[11]
A local Hakka miner, millionaire Yau Tet Shin, started developing a large tract of the town in the early 1930s, today known as the "New Town", from the eastern bank of the Kinta River to Greentown.[12] In 1937, Ipoh was made the capital of Perak, replacing Taiping.
Map of Ipoh, Perak in 1951
Ipoh was invaded by the Japanese on 15 December 1941. In March 1942, the Japanese Civil Administration or Perak Shu Seicho was set up at St. Michael's Institution. After the liberation of Malaya by British forces, Ipoh remained the capital of Perak as it does to this day.[13]
Following the depletion of its tin deposits and the collapse of tin prices in the 1970s, the city suffered decades of decline and neglect.[14][15][3][4] With the closure of the tin mines, its urban population was forced to seek employment in other cities within Malaysia. In spite of this, Ipoh remains one of the largest cities in Malaysia in terms of population, with tourism now a main driver of the city's economy.[16]
Ipoh is in the state of Perak, which is in the central part of Peninsular Malaysia. The city is in the middle of the karsticKinta Valley region, on the bank of the Kinta River and the confluence of the smaller rivers Sungai Pinji and Sungai Pari. Hills of limestone, called mogotes, surround the city, which can be found around suburban areas to the northeast, east and southeast.[17]
Ipoh has a tropical rainforest climate. Ipoh is more subject to the Intertropical Convergence Zone than the trade winds and very rarely has cyclones, therefore it can be described as having an equatorial climate. The city's temperature shows little variation throughout the year, the average temperature being 28 °C (82 °F). Ipoh sees high precipitation throughout the year with an average of 200 mm (7.9 in) of rain each month and averaging 2,897.0 mm (114.06 in) of rain per year. The wettest month is October when on average 307.1 mm (12.09 in) of rain falls. Ipoh's driest month is January which has 256.3 mm (10.09 in) of rainfall on average.
Mogotes are the most prominent natural features of the city. There are many caves in these outcrops, some of which have cave temples built in them.[21] The Sam Poh Tong Temple is a notable example, along with Kek Lok Tong; Cavern of Utmost Happiness), which lies on the other side of the same outcrop. It is accessible through the Gunung Rapat housing area. Other cave temples in Ipoh include Ling Sen Tong, Nan Tian Tong, Kwan Yin Tong and Perak Tong.
Gua Tempurung, near Gopeng, south of Ipoh, is a show cave open to the public and popular among spelunkers. More than 3 km (1.9 mi) long, it is one of the longest caves in Peninsular Malaysia. Part of it has been developed with electric lighting and walkways, and there are tours of varying lengths and difficulty. A river passage runs about 1.6 km (0.99 mi) through the hill. There are five large chambers, filled with spectacular speleothems which include stalactites and stalagmites.
In its early history, Ipoh as a settlement was built around its mining industry,[22] although inferior to that of Gopeng, some 19 kilometres (12 mi) to the south. Ipoh was once one of the richest cities in Malaysia[23] and South East Asia, in the days when tin was its major product. During the 1980s, when tin prices collapsed, the economy of Ipoh was affected significantly.[24] However, the city has since experienced economic growth. The city of Ipoh hosts the headquarters of several large multinational corporations, such as: Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad, a major palm oil company;[25] Batu Kawan Berhad, an investment company which holds the majority share in Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad;[26][27]Hovid Berhad, a major Malaysian pharmaceutical company;[28] and Old Town White Coffee (or Old Town Berhad), a food and beverage giant originating from Ipoh which specializes in white coffee.[29] Other public listed companies in Ipoh include, Perak Transit Berhad, Tasek Cement Berhad, DKLS Industries Berhad, Wellcall Holding Berhad, Rubberex Berhad, and Perak Corp. Ipoh also hosts the Malaysian headquarters for several foreign multinational companies, including Finisar, Voith, ITL Asia Pacific,[30] and Sagami Manufacturers.[31]
The Ipoh City Council governs the city. Datuk Rumaizi Baharin, appointed in April 2020, is the current mayor of Ipoh.[32]
Ipoh is divided into two parliamentary constituencies: Ipoh Barat (Ipoh West) and Ipoh Timor (Ipoh East). The parliamentary seat for Ipoh Barat is held by Democratic Action Party (DAP) Representative M. Kulasegaran.[33] The seat for Ipoh Timor is held by fellow DAP leader Howard Lee Chuan How. As of 2022, there were 233,000 voters in Ipoh. Most of the voters in Ipoh are Chinese, followed by Malays, Indians and others.
Ethnic breakdown of Ipoh's electorate as of 2022[34]
Ipoh remains one of Malaysia's largest cities. As of 2010, the municipal area of Ipoh has a population of 657,892.[35] It ranks as the seventh most populous urban centre in Malaysia (2010).[35]
The following is based on Department of Statistics Malaysia 2010 census.[35]
Aspects of Ipoh's Old Town, clockwise from top right: Birch Memorial Clock Tower, wall mural by Ernest Zacharevic, Concubine Lane, skyline of the administrative centre
The new North–South Expressway is a faster and more efficient alternative to Route 1. However, some towns such as Kampar can only be accessible via Route 1.
Train
Ipoh's railway station is operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) and is in the Old Town. However, it does not have intra-city travel like there is in Kuala Lumpur; the railway only connects Ipoh with neighbouring towns and cities. The station is a stately building, referred to by locals as the "Taj Mahal of Ipoh". KTM Intercity began the Shuttle Train Service between Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh from 1 December 2008 while the modern Electric Train System (ETS) shuttle began from 12 August 2010, with an average speed of 145 km/h (90 mph), plying the Ipoh-Seremban route, which cut the travelling distance between Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur to 120 minutes. There are 10 dedicated shuttle train services between these two cities daily, beginning at 5 am from both of the stations. Travel time between the cities was expected to be reduced from three hours to two hours and fifteen minutes when the new set of EMU trains arrived in mid-2009.[39]
Bus
Ipoh Amanjaya Bus TerminalA bus in Ipoh operated by PerakTransit
The inter-city bus terminal is located at Amanjaya Integrated Bus Terminal in Bandar Meru Raya, just north of the city. Medan Kidd is the public transport intracity terminal that is very near to Ipoh Railway Station. Currently, the main public transport operator in the city is PerakTransit under the branding of myBAS Ipoh.
Golf courses in Ipoh include the Royal Perak Golf Club off Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah (Tiger Lane), the Meru Golf Club in Jelapang, and Clearwater Sanctuary Golf Club en route to Batu Gajah.
Other sports venues include the Kilat Club in Pasir Pinji, Ipoh Field (Padang Ipoh) in the Old Town, the Polo Grounds, and the Iskandar Polo Club in Ampang Baru.[citation needed]
^Choong, C.M.; Sautter, B.; Pubellier, M.; Menier, D.; Chow, W.S; Kadir, A.A. (December 2014). "Geological Features of the Kinta Valley". Platform: A Journal of Engineering, Science and Society. 10 (2): 1–14.
^Jacq-Hergoualc'h, Michel; Victoria Hobson (September 2002). The Malay Peninsula: Crossroads of the Maritime Silk Road (100 BC – 1300 AD). BRILL. ISBN90-04-11973-6.
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