Enduring charms of Penang, Perak

IT was an eye-opening experience for a group of 20 Kapit folks, including myself, during our recent visits to Penang and Perak, among the four states in the northern region of the country.

Organised by a good friend of mine Jeremy Wong, the trip brought together some members of various local organisations – all senior citizens aged 60 and above.

Among them were Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Kapit branch chairman and former councillor Ling Thian Ing, Malaysian Red Crescent (MRC) Kapit Chapter chairman Dr Sia Tih Kong and member Betty Wong, Kapitan Yap Hui Li, Kapitan Mickey Ngu, nursing superintendent Evelyn Biju, as well as retired secondary school teachers Yap Peng Siew and Lee Hock Chuan.

Basically, it was a vacation for all of us, but as that was happening, we realised that it was also an educational outing, especially for me because it was my first time in Penang and Perak.

Pearl of the Orient

The first destination was Penang, long known as the ‘Pearl of the Orient’ which, to me, was an ideal destination for relaxation.

Prior to the trip, Jeremy had already engaged a guide for us, a friendly Penangite by the name of Ransun Tan.

Jeremy himself was already familiar with the state, often travelling there for work and leisure.

For a ‘staycation’, Penang is an affordable option – a budget of RM2,000 would already be more than comfortable for one to enjoy up to four days there.

Accommodation-wise, the choices are aplenty – from budget inns and homestays, to star-ranked hotels and apartments, although those around the capital George Town impose higher rates than those in the city outskirts.

In this regard, we were thankful that Jeremy had organised everything through Ransun, so we did not have to worry about our stay and transport.

As we toured Penang, I was delightfully surprised to see many parts on the island resembling the historical areas in Kuching, especially the old shophouses and the colonial-style buildings.

I must declare kudos to the Penang state government for preserving these zones in George Town which, together with Melaka, were jointly listed as the ‘Historic Cities of the Straits of Melaka’ for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco)’s World Heritage Site status on July 7, 2008.

The first Penang Bridge was another architectural marvel that I felt I must mention in this article.

It was wonderful to finally see, with my own eyes, this spectacular structure spanning 13.5km, with 8.4km of it over the Penang Straits.

For years since its inauguration on Sept 14, 1985, this bridge had been the only one connecting the island part of Penang to the mainland, and had also been hailed as the longest in Malaysia.

On March 1, 2014, the Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge, also known as Penang Bridge 2, opened.

With overall length of 24km, with 16.9km of it over the water, it not only took the first Penang Bridge’s status of being the longest in the country, but it is now regarded as the next longest in Asean after the 30km Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Bridge in Brunei, also known as Temburong Bridge.

I also got to see the Tun Abdul Razak Complex (Komtar) right at the city centre, housing a shopping mall, a transportation hub, and many administrative offices of the Penang state government.

Standing at 249m comprising 68 storeys, it is definitely higher than the 126m, 28-storey Wisma Sanyan in Sibu.

Other than these historical sites, we also got to visit Kampung Agong – a countryside agro-themed park, the renowned Kek Lok Si Temple, tourist magnets Bukit Bendera, Bukit Mertajam and Batu Ferringhi, the Leong San Tong Khoo ‘Kongsi’, the Chew Jetty, the famous murals of George Town, and also St Anne’s Church, which I found out that every year, would welcome Catholics from all over Asean coming for pilgrimage.

Food galore

For years, I had been hearing about Penang being one of the top culinary picks among many major tourism destinations in Asean, and this trip confirmed it.

We were really spoilt for choice whether it was for breakfast, lunch, dinner and any time in between.

Apart from the trademark ‘Penang Laksa’, there were also ‘Mee Jawa’, ‘Chai Kueh’ and a host of Nyonya dishes, ‘Air Batu Campur’, the ‘Charcoal Burnt Bread’, ‘Bubur Chacha, and the delectable ‘Dim Sums’.

The seafood restaurants were excellent as well, though their menu prices were a bit more pricey than those in Sarawak and Sabah.

Still, it was a great culinary adventure for us, but there was also a downside to this – we all lamented about our weight gain after the trip!

Khoo clan’s legacy

The Khoo Kongsi was a very interesting part of our Penang trip.

‘Kongsi’ means ‘clan house’, and the one at Cannon Square in the heart of ‘Old George Town’ is dedicated to the Hokkien’s Khoo clan, whose association is the largest and the oldest among the clan-based organisations registered in Penang.

The clan house was structurally and aesthetically magnificent, with intricate Chinese architecture and designs being juxtaposed with colonial-style double-storey shoplots around the main building.

Ransun said: “The ‘kongsi’, in the olden days, played a very important role in the local economy.

“They really looked after the Khoo clan migrants in Penang in the 18th century – providing food and shelter until they could settle on their own feet.

“The ‘kongsi’ helped the clansfolks find jobs, usually as labourers working at the jetty or at the tin or iron-ore mines in Ipoh.

“Today, Khoo Kongsi is a well-established organisation, strong enough to provide financial assistance to the members’ children going for higher studies.

“The ‘kongsi’ is able to help because of the steady income flowing in from the rental of shoplots. Being at the ‘Golden Area’ in George Town, each shop can command a rent of up to RM7,000 a month.”

Having heard Ransun’s talk about the clan, I began to see more similarities between Penang and Sarawak.

Just like my home state, Penang has a diverse population largely comprising the Malays, the Chinese, the Indians and the Eurasians.

Penang, like Sarawak, is also a regional medical tourism hub.

Mining history

Our next destination was Perak, a state known for its mining history.

It was a short stay, but we managed to visit ‘Tasik Cermin’ (Mirror’s Lake) and the Miner’s Tunnel, designated as a geopark by the government.

Originally an abandoned iron mine pit south of Ipoh that was later made into a lake, Tasik Cermin is very large, almost the size of a football field.

Filled with blue crystal-clear water, it attracts throngs of tourists. Among the activities there is the boat ride around the lakeshore, with a vessel able to accommodate eight people on board at one time.

We enjoyed this very much and it was really cool, with the surrounding high limestone hills providing a natural shade against the scorching sun.

The Miner’s Tunnel was another interesting feature of our Perak trip. Spanning 90m, it was excavated by the Hakka Chinese miners in search of iron ores, a vital source for the iron and steel production in the past.

In the olden days, the mining technique included rock-blasting and manual extraction. Miners used dynamites to do this and in order to transport the iron ores out, a tunnel was built.

Culinary-wise, we enjoyed the offerings that Ipoh was famous for: ‘Dim Sum’ for breakfast, the ‘Ayam Tauge’ (Chicken with Beansprouts) for lunch, and the famous ‘Ipoh White Coffee’ accompanied with ‘Charcoal Burnt Bread’ at any time in between.

Another item on our itinerary was a stroll down Concubine Lane in the heart of Ipoh, of which the name piqued my interest.

Through some reading, I found out that in the 1900s, this was where the wealthy Chinese businessmen, many of whom had struck it rich in the mining industry, placed their mistresses.

“Of course these rich men had their (first) wives whom they would take to official events and gatherings, but here, they housed their mistresses.

“That was more than a century ago. Now, Concubine Lane is a thriving commercial area and also a tourist attraction,” said Ransun.

I was really amazed to see how beautiful and exciting the back alley was, lined with little shops and stalls offering a great variety of items apart from food and drinks.

“Concubine Lane still sounds alright; ‘Mistresses Lane’ just doesn’t have the same ring to it,” I thought.