Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 05-01-05 23:04
我的家
My family 我的家
-----------------------------------------------------------------
處處風雨緊, 處處不太平.
Every where things are tense,
And every where is not peaceful.
A Chinese Saying
===================================
In the early 1870s Hakka tin mine workers built a temple called Baluo (壩
蘿) on the southern bank of the Kinta River (近打河) which flowed through
the Kinta Valley. Many wooden and atap huts sprouted around the temple.
It became a little settlement for the Hakka tin mine workers who worked
in the tin mines in the vicinity. The settlement became a large village
which took the name of Baluo, after the temple.
Ba (壩) was a Hakka slang for Lanba (瀾壩) meaning swamp and Luo (蘿) was
a kind of wild tough weed, used for making ropes during that time. A lot
of Luo weed grew on the swamp near the bank of Kinta River. During rainy
season water from the Kinta River inundated this area. Eventually, the Hakkas
called the village Baluo (壩蘿) after the Luo weed growing in the swamps.
More Hakkas arrived from China and settled down in Baluo. Many shop houses
were built and Baluo became a town.
In January 1874 the Sultan of Perak, Rajah Abdullah, and the British signed
the Pangkor Engagement on the island of Pangkor. The British officially
colonized the State of Perak and they changed the name of Baluo to Ipoh
(怡保). The name Ipoh is derived from the upas [Antiaris toxicaria] tree
which once thrived in the area and whose poisonous sap was used by the Orang
Asli (Malayan Aborigines) for their arrow-heads. However, the Hakkas continued
to call the town Baluo until today. Baluo or Ipoh is now a metropolis of
over 500,000 people.
In 1937 Ipoh became the capital of the State of Perak, replacing Taiping
(太平 a Hakka name meaning Great Peace), which was originally the capital,
about fifty miles north of Ipoh.
At the turn of the 20th century a rich Hakka tin miner, Yao Desheng (姚德
勝) built a new town on the east bank of Kinta River. Eventually as Ipoh
(Baluo) expanded the people called the original section "Old Town" on the
west bank and that section on the east bank "New Town". Later, two bridges
were built across the Kinta River joining the two towns. One bridge was
built on Brewster Road and the other on Huge Low Street.
Fifty kilometers south of Baluo (Ipoh) on the west coast is the island called
Pangkor where the Pangkor Engagement was signed between the British and
the Sultan of Perak. The island is about seven and half kilometers long
and two and a half kilometers wide. Pangkor Island means "The Beach of the
Beautiful Princess". Legend had it that a warrior in Sumatra Island, in
present day Indonesia, fell in love with a beautiful princess. In order
to win her favour the warrior sailed north to distinguish himself in battle.
Several months later when the warrior failed to return the princess set
out to find him. The princess searched far and wide and the warrior was
no where to be found. When the princess reached an island she learned that
the warrior had died in battle and was buried on the island. The princess
asked the islanders to lead her to the warrior's grave. The princess was
very sad and heartbroken when she saw the grave. Distraught the princess
climbed a cliff and flung herself onto the rocks below.
The islanders found her body and buried her next to the warrior's grave
and named the island "Pangkor", "The Beach of the Beautiful Princess".
http://yn.chung.id.au/PangkorIsland1.jpg
(From the tourist book "The Rough Guide")
http://yn.chung.id.au/PangkorIsland2.jpg
(From the tourist book "Insight Guides")
CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
All rights reserved
|
|
The Asiawind forums are provided to you by
InTechTra Inc.
