That was the first time i noticed the road Jalan Eu Kong. When i was preparing to blog about it ( April 12 2007) I "DISCOVERED" again that the chinese medical shops chain Eu Yan Sang originated from Gopeng and Eu Kong was its founder.
Yesterday a shop on that road had turned their family home into a museum. The Yaw family had lived at No 28 Jalan Eu Kong since before the 1900's ....is that cool or not!!..Now they have turned their downstairs into a museum ...below..photographs line the downstairs walls and help guide the visitor through the history of Gopeng.....
..while their living area is upstairs....below a view of the back yard...cozy huh!!!nice town house...
..they've come out with a 1 sheet map for a Heritage Walk...it is good....
.... the back page has the details of the landmarks..comprehensive enough to give you an insight ....
..the walk...Masjid Jamek..just 2 blocks down the road from the museum but you have to go through a lane to see it..built by Mandailing shopkeepers (??Mandailings?? they came from Sumatra...)
..cut across the road and you will come to these houses " Kamung Rawa" built for the Orang Rawa mining workers. Orang Rawa????..from the book Kinta Valley...'the Orang Rawa were Malay .. who were very efficient dulang miners..." Malay dulang washers...interesting huh!!
...an old Police Station??note the vents on top of the roof tiles...
..Hup Teik Soy Sauce factory....just across the road
..the chinese clan houses (l) altar at the Hainanese Association and (r) the front of the Hseng Lung Hakka Association
...go across the main trunk road, Jalan Besar, looking west and note a slight hill..they call this place "Changkat"..it was the original site for Gopengs civic quarter..because of the presence of tin they mined the area ...now there is a disused mining pond in its place...nice area though shabbily kept...definitely something that can be improved upon....
..from that spot i looked back towards town and High Street..
..later when i got back to the museum i saw this photograph..Gopeng Hill View...was it from where i was standing earlier...
..the photographs on the wall are a "must view" for all visitors... it gives you an insight to life in those times. More importantly how rich the quality of life was then..the communities of Mandailing, Rawa, Hainanese, Hakka, Malay, Orang Asli & Semai, the English...
..the temple then ....
...and now, its still standing..( i took the photo below & and posted it in black and white. another interesting point...they took good photographs those days....)
..a theatre....(Panggung Wayang Gopeng)... note the date....the design resembles the one still standing in Chemor...was it by the same architect???
..chinese village house...i still recall seeing these houses in Menglembu up till the late 80's opposite the market area...only they had zinc roofs then..with elderly inhabitants as the children had all migrated to USA and other greener pastures due to the fallen tin prices....
...a "dulang pass"....at the turn of the last century...British administrative efficiency..no doubt..
.. a map of Gopeng in 1874...how did they do it....the detail... no google...yet
...so all you readers...check out this museum at No 28 Jalan Eu Kong...its a treasure...support it by buying their maps...take a short walk around this town..probably take 2 hours tops...and bring your family and friends there for years to come just to make sure our next generation have a connection to their roots.
cheers!
kk
I always pass Gopeng driving to Ipoh. I never stop there to walk see. I am not from Perak though I have my homes here escaping the traffic in Klang Valley. Currently I plonk myself in Perak enjoying the care free live,hills and watching pretty women haha....perak is famous for besides taugeh white chicken, popiah, laksa.....Next time I better stop and walk around in Gopeng. Anyway enjoy reading the story about Eu Kong......
ReplyDeleteHi Gopeng Town fans !
ReplyDeleteYou must surely not miss the famous "Gopeng lai fun" noodles that goes with the tasty soup with the locally home-made fish balls & paste, best of all, the endearing chillies paste that mesmerised the taste buds!
Try it, the next time you want breakfast or even supper in good old enchanting Gopeng!
wao....good.i wonder to know about the gopeng homestay program...i knew tht Rawa ppl are involved in the program.i would like to what is the traditional job?any1 know about that?
ReplyDeleteIm also one of the local live and grew up in gopeng but moved to KL to earn a living about 10 years ago, i still have my family members living at high street. My recent visit back to my hometown was due to my grandmother pass away. My aunty told me the story of my grand and great grandfather, knowing that they are also in mining buisness during the year of 1900. i was too little to understand the history of my family from grandpa when he still around...really thanks to those who help setting up the museum, it let more peoples understand the history this place.....
ReplyDelete