The City Built of Tin: Ipoh

Ipoh is a city with a vibrant Chinese lifestyle that you and I are certainly no strangers to. Ipoh's geographical location has made it a place of great food and scenery, but what do we know about the equally fascinating history and culture behind the attractions and food? Ipoh has an older name, Paloh. What is the origin of the popular saying: "Opened by the Hakka, prospered by the Cantonese"? When you come to Ipoh, you must have a cup of tea and dim sum. What is the history of the city's famous Liu Bao tea and the dim sum restaurants that line its streets?

Paloh Khoo Miu Temple: The beginning of Ipoh's Chinese history

The history of the Chinese in Ipoh can be traced back to the Paloh Khoo Miu temple on the banks of the Kinta River.

In 1872, a tin miner, Liang Pi Joo, led a group of Paloh residents all the way to Penang to invite the deity of justice, Tua Pek Kong, to be enshrined in a small temple by the Perak River, which was later moved to its present location in 1894 to become the Paloh Khoo Miu Temple today. The temple has witnessed the rise and fall of Ipoh for more than 150 years.

In the past, waterways were the main means of transport and legend has it that there were many floods and fires in the past," said Qiu Cheng Hua, Chairman of the Board of the Paloh Khoo Miu Temple. Since the arrival of Tua Pek Gong at Paloh Khoo Miu Temple, the place has become very peaceful, so everyone has faith in the temple and it attracts many devotees,' he said.

In the past, the temple was not only a religious place that gave people spiritual comfort, but also served as a shrine and a court, a place for the Chinese community to settle disputes and organise weddings, and “couples who had quarrels came here to settle their disputes”.

Many of the younger generation may not be aware that the temple's name, Paloh, is the former name of Ipoh. Where does the name come from?

Paloh is actually a transliteration of the Malay word “palong”, which refers to the gold mine where tin ore was mined. A lot of Chinese used to mine here, so “palong” was used to refer to the place. Qiu Cheng Hua explained, "The name was later changed to 'Ipoh', which is based on the name of a tree.”

Fortunately, the memory of Ipoh's history is sealed in an old temple that preserves the name Paloh.

The Opening of the Port by Hakka People: the Past Glory of the Tin City

Ipoh was first opened in 1880 following the discovery of large quantities of tin ore. There is a popular saying that Ipoh was opened by the Hakka and prospered by the Cantonese. Dr Wong Wun Bin, deputy director of the Institute of Chinese Studies at Campbell Laman University, warns that while the saying is true, it is not the whole story.

In fact, the Hakka were not the only influential group in the opening up of Ipoh. But if we look at history, after the discovery of tin ore in Ipoh, many people from Taiping migrated to Kinta and came to mine. As the Hakka were more experienced in mining, many of the famous miners were Hakka, including Yao Tet Shin, Foo Choo Choon, Leong Sin Nam, Leong Fee etc. After making money, these miners would do charity work to give back to the community, which had a great impact on the development of the whole town.

Wong Wun Bin pointed out that of the nine successive presidents of the Perak Chinese Mining Association, five were Hakka: "From this perspective, the influence of the Hakka people on the development of Ipoh is such that there is a saying that 'the Hakka people opened the port'.

From another perspective, the rise and fall of an industry also affects the transformation of a place.

From 1880 to 1985, if you look at the sources of donations to schools and charities, or the leaders of social organizations, they were basically tin miners. After 1985, however, the leaders of the associations were mostly from the development and logistics industries. This is an indication that the whole structure of the economy has had a big impact and since there is no tin mining industry, the phenomenon of millionaires everywhere is basically no longer present in Ipoh.

Although the glory has faded, future generations can still follow in the footsteps of their predecessors and get a glimpse of what life was like for the mining families of yesteryear.

A Portrait of Miners' Lives: Women, Gambling and Liu Bao Tea

Han Chin Pet Soo in the old town of Ipoh was a Hakka miners' club founded by a miner, Leong Fee (also known as Liang Pi Joo).

Originally from Meixian County, Guangdong Province, China, Leong came to Malaya at the age of 19. He became a successful tin miner and founded Han Chin Pet Soo in 1893 with the aim of creating a 'true villa of leisure'. Open only to Hakka tin miners, who could legally eat, drink, gamble and prostitute, the club reflected the glamour of the era.

Today, Han Chin Pet Soo has been rebuilt and renovated into a museum that preserves the history of the Hakka migration and the rise and fall of tin mining in Ipoh.

At the other end of the scale from the lavish life of the big miners is the hard work and sweat of the small miners.

The lower classes have also influenced the rise of certain industries, such as Ipoh's Liu Bao tea culture, which is linked to the history of tin mining.

Yi Jin Seng, business development manager of Leong Swee Sang Tea Merchant, said that Liu Bao tea was a necessity for miners, like firewood, rice, oil and salt. Without Liu Bao tea, the miners refused to work. When washing Dulang, the miners had to soak their feet in water for a long time in the sun, so they needed Liu Bao tea to get rid of the moisture and heat. In those days, Liu Bao tea was kept in a large jar for the miners to scoop out and drink.

Originally from Liubao Township, Cangwu County, Wuzhou City, Guangxi Province, Liubao tea is one of China's 24 famous teas, brought to Nanyang by Cantonese miners, it was their life-saving tea in a foreign land, and has been passed down to the present day, becoming a must-have wellness tea for Ipoh people.

The Cantonese Made the Port Prosper: Cultural heritage Between Our Lips

How can you have a cup of tea without dim sum?

“A pot of tea and two dishes, have some dim sum when you are free” is the eating culture of the Cantonese people. Although the Cantonese are not as numerous as the Hakka in the prestigious ranks of big mine owners, they have always had the highest percentage of the Chinese population in Ipoh.

According to Dr Wong Wun Bin, from 1891 to the 1940s, the proportion of Cantonese was around 50-53%, compared with 20-30% for the Hakka. To this day, Cantonese speakers make up the majority of the Chinese community in Ipoh. This hilly city has the largest concentration of Cantonese people in the whole of Malaysia, apart from Kuala Lumpur.

The influence of the Cantonese people is evident in the food and drink, such as rice noodles, bean sprout chicken and dim sum, all of which are Cantonese dishes.

“The reason why it is said that ‘the Cantonese people made the port flourish’ is because they are the largest population. Among them, the Cantonese from Nanfanshun (Nanhai, Panyu and Shunde) are mainly cooks. It's mainly because Cantonese people like to eat, so they came here and started industries, mostly related to food.” Wong Wun Bin explains: "Today, many people who come to Ipoh are here for the food, so we can see that it still has a heritage there”.

Back to dim sum, how has Guangzhou's teahouse food culture evolved?

Shen Baiguang, general manager of Ipoh Foh San Restaurant, pointed out that dim sum restaurants started out as two-cent restaurants, a place for farmers to get up early, meet for tea and chat after work. “Over time, people bought pastries and cakes and put them there. They were only two cents and customers could help themselves. Hence the two-cent restaurants.”

Two-cent restaurants later evolved into dim sum restaurants, and the menu became more diverse, including siu mai and prawn dumplings. It evolved further and was called a dim sum restaurant. At that time, Guangzhou's foreign trade was developing, and businessmen needed a place to have tea, and there was no reason to go to the two-cent restaurant, so there was the three-storey San Yuan Lou, and those who could afford to go up there were rich or noble, and people called it a high-rise pavilion.

The morning tea culture of the Cantonese across the ocean to Nanyang has continued for a century, and today dim sum restaurants have become a pilgrimage site for visitors.

But the history and culture behind the scenic and culinary delights are just as worth exploring. Ipoh's history and past can be found in its streets and lanes, and between lips. It is waiting to be savored by those who appreciate it.

Reposted in full from The Interview website

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