Reviews
& Press : : Kinta Valley
Perak
Academy
http://www.perakacademy.com/publications/kintavalley.html
Kinta
Valley: Pioneering Malaysia's Modern Development
Authors:
Khoo Salma Nasution & Abdur-Razzaq Lubis
Publication Date: January 2005
Publishers: Perak Academy
Price: RM150.00 (excludes postage and tax)
Summary:
This glossy, hard-bound coffee table book will feature a fascinating
journey through history to modern day Kinta Valley. It will cover:
Natural
Geography
The Kinta Valley’s 45 limestone hills are of great interest
to geologists, scientists, archaeologists, explorers and nature
lovers. The region boasts many rare and indigenous animals and
plant species. Gua Tempurung is well known for its natural splendour,
and Gua Tambun for its prehistoric cave paintings and Tambun for
its hot springs.
The
Indigenous People of Perak
The words “Kinta” (water weed) and "Ipoh"
(tree from which poison is extracted for blowpipe darts) remind
us of the original inhabitants of the area, the Orang Asli. The
progenitor of the Kinta nobility was reputedly a Sumatran who
settled down with the Orang Asli, taking a wife from among them.
The aboriginal groups indigenous to the Kinta Valley are the Temiar
and the Semai, sub-groups of the Senoi.
Tin
Mining
Tin became an important international commodity due to the expanding
food-canning industry. Tin ore, ubiquitous in the Kinta Valley,
was first mined by the indigenous people, followed by Chinese
miners and then by British, French and Australian investors. The
technology advanced from simple bore holes and dulang (panning)
to sluice boxes and palung to modern hydraulic machinery and dredges.
City
Town and Settlement
Many early settlements, such as Batu Gajah, the administrative
capital of Kinta, started as river ports. The tin rush led to
the mushrooming of Ipoh, Papan, Lahat, Tronoh, Gopeng and Kampar,
while rubber and other crops led to the growth of Jelapang, Chemor,
Tanjung Rambutan, Tambun and Tanjung Tualang. The Chinese population
in the rural areas was re-settled in new villages during the Emergency
period.
Historical
Personalities
Kinta was built by miners and migrants – Malay aristocrats
and rubber small-holders, Cantonese and Hakka miners, Sumatran
political refugees and journalists, European administrators, mining
engineers and miners, Ceylonese pressmen and printers, Sinhalese
jewellers, Tamil railway builders and Chettiar money lenders,
Japanese photographers, American Methodist missionaries, South
Indian Muslim food-sellers and petty traders, Hokkien shopkeepers,
French Catholic and Eurasian educationists…
Modern
Day Kinta Valley
Ipoh was made the capital of Perak during the Japanese occupation.
With an excellent road system and good quality of life, choice
housing areas and recreational facilities are flourishing around
Ipoh. Today the Kinta Valley is known for gourmet Cantonese food,
Menglembu groundnuts, Tambun pomelos, ceramic pottery and limestone
hill temples. With the setting up of a new university and a medical
park, Kinta Valley is poised to become an educational and medical
centre.
This
book will be an ideal corporate gift or a prized possession for
yourself, friends and visitors.
