The Making of Ipoh Cantonese Heritage Trail - Introduction

 Feb 2022 by Dr. Richard Ng



Paloh (Ipoh Town): Founded  by Hakka, Made Vibrant by the Cantonese

This book was prepared during the Covid-19 Pandemic mooted  by our Ipoh City Mayor, YBhg Dato’ Hj. Rumaizi Bin Bahrin to seek a solution to the economic problem faced by Ipohites. The author through one of his MBA classes brought up this problem as a case study and one the MBA students, Wong Kian Hing, with his vast experience in journalism attached to Perak Sin Chew Newspaper responded to take up the challenge.

 

We spent more than 18 months to research and collect evidence either through observation, interviews with many stakeholders and literature review. Several meetings were held with the three main Chinese Cantonese Associations, which include the Perak Nam Hoi Association, Perak Pun Yue Association and Perak Shun Tak Association. In one of our meetings the Cantonese proverb cropped up: “Loh Toong, Choy Toong”, which means when the path opens up the opportunity will open up too.

 

Heritage tourism is one of the fastest ways to revive the economy during post covid-19 pandemic. With Ipoh history dated back to 1880s and the way the town was built from the tin industry, the heritage of more than 130 years will be attractive to the tourists. With more than 60 percent of the Chinese population in Ipoh made of Cantonese, it is not surprising that Cantonese was widely spoken in Ipoh just as Hokkien to Penang.

 

The Ipoh Cantonese Trail will present 32 significant spots with famous eateries complimenting it. It is based on Ipoh Walkable City concept where tourists can spend almost up to 2 days by walking and stopped to enjoy the famous food such as Bean Sprout Chicken noodle and Curry Noodle. It is also a must to taste Ipoh famous Old Town White Coffee. Tourist can also enjoy to see the various Cantonese Culture such as the Lion Dance, Opera Show, Martial Arts performance, Yuen Xiao, Tossing of Salad (Loh Sang)  and Lantern or Moon Cake Festival.

 

This book will present the history of the migration of Chinese to Ipoh, the prominent tin miners and the 32 spots along the ICHT trail.


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The Making of Ipoh Cantonese Heritage Trail - Acknowledgement

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 July 2021 - By Dr. Richard Ng The Ipoh Cantonese Heritage Trail - aka Ipoh Heritae Trail 3 I am grateful to YB Dato’ Nolee Ashilin Binti Dato’ Mohammad Radzi, Perak State Exco in charge of Tourism as well as YBhg Dato’ Hj. Rumaizi Bin Bahrin @ Md Daud, the mayor of Ipoh for this opportunity to document this historical account of the early tin miners who founded Paloh (and later known as Ipoh) that leads to the creation of the Ipoh Cantonese Heritage Trail. The trail will help highlight the spots which have historical significance based on the contribution of the Chinese sub-ethnic Hakka migrants and then made vibrant by the Cantonese. It will form part of the four main heritage trails in Ipoh in promoting heritage tourism and the economy well-being of Perakians and Ipohites. I wish to thank all the earlier writers and contributors for their accounts on the history of Chinese migrants in Perak for which most parts of my writing are based on. Among the authors I wish to speciall...
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