28 Facts about Ipoh

1. Ipoh is in the state of Perak.

2. The state flag has three equal horizontal bands of white, yellow and black.

3. The Perak emblem which is yellow and black depicts the Perak crest, the crescent and the rice flower.

4. Ipoh is named after a local tree called the Ipoh tree.

5. The town of Ipoh grew because of the rich tin resources found in the Kinta valley.

6. Today, one can see many disused mining pools on the outskirts of Ipoh.

7. Ipoh received its city status on 27 May, 1988.

8. Ipoh is famous for its easily accessible limestone cave temples.

9. Most of the hills surrounding Ipoh are limestone hills.

10. Gua Tempurung is an interesting cave to visit, to see its stalactite and stalagmite formations.

11. Ipoh’s only water theme park is called the Lost World of Tambun.

12. The oldest gardens in the city is the DR Park.

13. Ipoh is famous for its bean sprouts and chicken meat with white fat noodles.

14. Ipoh is the home of the Old Town White Coffee.

15. To savour Ipoh’s famous food, have your meals at the local food courts or hawker centres.

16. The night markets (pasar malam) are popular places for a good bargain for food and other products.

17. Morning markets found outside wet markets also offer good bargains.

18. There are no beaches in Ipoh, but there are waterfalls on the outskirts of Ipoh.

19. The nearest beach is about a two-hour drive away at Teluk Batik.

20. You could visit the fishing villages and enjoy the sunshine and beaches by taking a ferry from Lumut to Pangkor Island.

21. Ipoh is constantly hot (28 – 34 degrees).

22. To experience cool weather, one can take a 2-hour drive up to Cameron Highlands in Pahang.

23. The pomelo fruit is grown in Tambun, Ipoh.

24. The Taiping Zoo near Ipoh has more than 180 species of birds.

25. The Taiping Zoo offers a night safari as well.

26. The Perak Museum in Taiping is the oldest museum in Malaysia.

27. A popular tourist destination is Kellie’s Castle, the unfinished ruins built by a Scottish rubber tycoon.

28. The Birch Memorial is a clock tower in Ipoh built in 1909.

The Choirmistress' Role

I've been with the Latin Choir at St Michael’s Church Ipoh since 2007 as its choirmistress (the men jokingly say that I am their mistress!) and I am enjoying the fact that we can glorify the Lord in song in Church occasionally.

There are about 50 elderly people, mostly in their 60s and 70s in the choir. We have two accomplished organists, one in her late 70's and another who has years before she reaches 50. They are both versatile at the organ and clavinova and set the pace for what we do and how we present each hymn.

We are known as the Latin Choir but we sing English hymns as well. We sing for services in Church at least 10 times a year, not on a weekly basis. We come together for practices about 6 weeks before we are supposed to sing. 

At the moment, we are attempting the Hallelujah Chorus in four parts but it is not so easy going as 99% of the members are music illiterate. We can manage 4-part singing for other Christmas carols like Joy to the World, Silent Night, Ding Dong Merrily on High and O Holy Night. We are quite confident with those carols and sang them at the 8a.m. Mass on 8 January 2012. The parts were arranged by B.M. Remedios.

I don't have any basic knowledge of conducting. I used to fight shy of conducting the Negaraku during Assembly when I was a teacher. In this choir, I see myself as a coordinator between the organists and the singers, teaching them new hymns, how to get the melody right, making sure they get the correct pitch and timing, etc. Thus I make sure that everyone works together in unison to make our worship as a congregation at each liturgical celebration more meaningful.

I think that everyone has his own style of conducting. We have 4-5 choirs in our church. The congregation say that one conductor looks like he is frying ‘kuay teow’. Another looks like she is all out to go to battle. Another accomplished music teacher conducts at her own pace without listening to the beat of the organ nor being aware of whether the choir members are taking her cue. Another only knows how to conduct the stilted way, not bothering about whether the choir is following the rhythm. 

I have heard different comments about me. One says that I am a bit lifeless (compared to the one going out to battle) but someone else says that I am the best of all the conductors that we have in our church. Whatever they say, my duty is to get the choir and the organists and the congregation in sync for community worship. If that works well during the service, then I praise and thank God.

In actual fact, I was a choir member years ago and gave it up for a spell. I rejoined the choir as I read somewhere that after 60 years of age, one’s voice deteriorates, That frightened me and since I like singing I took on the challenge of being choir mistress of the Latin Choir. The previous choirmistress who was a perfectionist was sickly and wanted to retire from the position. She used to be a good singer when she was younger but now has voice problems, asthma and other ailments.

Our young organist is fantastic on the keyboard and covers up most of our mistakes. We have a good time singing (not always sweetly). But I think, being a church choir, we always give our best to the Lord and He in turn rewards us in so many ways. Oh yes, the acoustics in our church is very good so these days we do not even have to use microphones.

The finer things in Life

When I think of the finer things in life, I associate them with things that money cannot buy, for example,

... a leisurely wake up in the morning

.... the sounds of birds chirping

... a drive with no traffic jams

... the taste of food 

... time spent with good friends

.. and good health.

Then again, having a little money does help one enjoy the finer things in life, too. For lunch, I had 

...... a McDonald's McValue meal (Fillet-o-fish .... as it is a Friday)

..... while eating french fries and sipping on coke

..... while watching a Malay movie on television

..... in the comfort of my own cosy living room 

.... in my cosy little terrace home.

It is one of the finer things in life as opposed to

.... sitting in a Chinese restaurant

.... waiting to gorge down a 10-course Chinese meal

.... amid loud noises of people chattering at the top of their voices

.... in an air-conditioned environment.

To each his own. I savoured every moment of it awhile ago and thank God for the experience.

Life & Death

I have always wanted to die young. Now I am too old to die young.  I have reached the age where I see and hear of people younger than me leaving the world. I regularly come across people older than me expressing their fears of having to go to the next world, if there is one.

My perspective on life and the eminent death is that we, as mortals, are here in this world only on a temporary basis, a pilgrim on life’s journey. Our stay, for some reason or other, could be cut short or could drag on endlessly. 

Only God knows how long we will be here. To some , this could be a blessing, not only for themselves but also for others. This stay will be filled with challenges, big and small, some of our own making and many beyond our control.

As a pilgrim on this journey of life, we will have to face these challenges with resilience and fortitude so that at the end of the day, we can feel proud that we had lived our life well. When we are gone, we should leave behind only good memories.

Misfortune

Is this the season for misfortune? So many friends have been experiencing bouts of ‘bad luck’ recently.

Friend A’s 37-year-old daughter has been given six months to live. She is suffering from leukemia. A compatible bone marrow donor was found but she has taken a turn for the worse and cannot undergo the operation.

Friend B’s 49-year old sister had her leg amputated because of diabetes. Doctors warned the family that she could have died on the operating table. However, she survived the operation. Now, she has to undergo bypass surgery on the other leg and if that does not work, she has to face the rest of her life without legs.

Friend C was conned into withdrawing her savings of RM37K. If not for the timely intervention of the bank personnel, she could have lost another RM70K. Now she lives in constant fear of phone calls and even has to handle the wrath of her insensitive husband who chides her continuously.

It is said that every cloud has a silver lining. All these misfortunes had that silver lining. If only there was more to it than the silver lining.

Ipoh’s landscape

Shopping complexes are sprouting like mushrooms in the Kinta valley. Do we need another shopping mall? Or is it more viable to have better and more convenient medical facilities around the area?

A new 10-storey building with an additional 528 beds is being planned for the main hospital which is in the heart of town. With the city of Ipoh being so spread out, would it not be more beneficial and convenient to the public if this medical facility were to be built away from the congested city centre? It could be more patient-friendly by being a five-storey building on sprawling lawns, away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

With an aging population and more sicknesses being diagnosed each day, the time has come for the government to focus on health issues. More areas should also be set aside for recreation. This could be the tasks of the various city councilors for the areas they are responsible for. They could gazette parks and recreational areas where healthy living and regular exercise could be promoted.

Life is not about materialism, depicted by big tall buildings and shopping complexes. The people of Ipoh need more user- friendly environments for a healthier lifestyle.

The focus on English

Many parents want their children to be taught Mathematics and Science in English. More hours spent on English will definitely improve their command of the language. However, improvements could be made in the teaching of the English language itself, focussing not only on grammar and vocabulary as the basis for language improvement, but also encouraging more creative minds by drawing students’ attention to scientific and mathematical concepts, historical ideas, philosophical issues and the like.

When learning a language, one starts from its grapheme-phoneme orientation and its phonology. The sounds sometimes would take precedence over the text, but eventually, both are necessary for excellent language skills, especially in reading. With these basic skills, one goes on to build confidence because of the vocabulary and grammar that one is exposed to in language learning.

It is therefore not important whether English is the medium of instruction when teaching Science and Mathematics. It is also of little importance as to how much time is set aside for teaching English as a subject. What is imperative is the methodology and the quality of materials used for the teaching of English. The objectives for the teaching of the English language should be clear in the minds of all teachers. Ultimately, the aim for teaching English should be to have a more learned society which is able to express its ideas and thoughts coherently in the language.