Details on the talk can be found below.

Although I was born in Batu Gajah, about a half hour’s drive from Ipoh, the capital city of modern Perak, my knowledge of the State has mainly been gleaned from The Malayan Trilogy, written by the renowned English novelist Anthony Burgess (who once taught at the Malay College in Kuala Kangsar, a boarding school in Perak for the Malay elites – dubbed the Eton of the East) and more recently through Tash Aw’s award winning book Harmony Silk Factory, a novel set in Perak during the tin rush. So I was very excited to join the Museum Volunteer Field trip to Ipoh on May 30^th Thursday to discover if its way of life is still intact.

Coming along on my balik kampong trip, were 22 other museum volunteers, 9 Malaysian Culture Group members and 5 Jabatan Muzium Malaysia (JMM) staff.  We left the museum car park at around 6am in JMM’s spanking new bus which made the four hour trip passing through the beautiful limestone hills in the Kinta Valley extremely comfortable.

According to history, Ipoh came into existence in the 1820s as a small Malay village of Palau along the banks of Kinta River. The tin rush of the 1880’s resulted in a boom and increased Ipoh’s population to about 4,000 people. A devastating fire in 1892 damaged the town but gave the British, who ruled Perak, the opportunity to rebuild the streets in a more orderly way.  Broad, straight roads were built in the town, flanked by rows of shops and majestic buildings.

This was certainly evident in the first building we visited – the glorious white neoclassical Ipoh Railway Station, often referred to as the ‘Taj Mahal’ of Ipoh because of its beautiful domes and high arches. Built between 1914 and 19187 by the famed British architect A.B. Hubback who also designed the Kuala Lumpur Railway station, it replaced the original railway station which was an attap roofed shack.

Our next stop was the newly renovated Station Square in front of the Railway Station where our guide, Mr Raja, explained to us the significance of the War memorial which rather touchingly commemorates Perak’s war dead and bears the words: “Sacred to the memory of the men from the state of Perak who fell in the Great War 1914 -1918 and to those who died in 1939-1945 War.”

Across the road we found ourselves at the regal Town Hall and old Post Office. Completed in 1916, these buildings served as a post and telegraph office as well as the police headquarters. In 1945 the Malay Nationalist Party, the first political party formed in Malaya, held its inaugural congress here. It is still in use for weddings and other events.

A few streets behind the Town Hall and Post office we viewed the four-sided Birch Memorial clock tower which was built in 1909 to honour J.W.W. Birch, the first resident of Perak in 1875. For a small structure it has many details: the tower bells that used to strike the chimes of Big Ben in London, four terracotta figures perched at the top of the tower which represented the four virtues of British administration namely loyalty, justice, patience and fortitude and a panel portraying 44 famous figures from world history across the tower. Interestingly the form of Prophet Mohammad was painted out of the panel in the 1990s in keeping with the Muslims objection to the depiction of the prophet. The bust of Birch was also missing. Stolen perhaps?

On the way to lunch at a delicious mamak restaurant, we passed many other striking buildings in old Ipoh, particularly the beautifully maintained Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank building which look as impressive now as it did in the 1930s.  In contrast, many of the buildings in Ipoh are near decay although their classical architectural design still imbue them with a sense of quiet elegance and dignity.  Thankfully, we could see evidence of an initiative to revive old Ipoh especially along Panglima Lane (Concubine Lane) which dates back to the turn of the century. At that time, this area was known for opium, gambling and brothels. Now, new boutique hotels such as the Sekeping Kong Heng as well as eclectic restaurants such as Burps and Giggles are giving visitors a slice of history within an old town which is still alive and working.

We also visited two museums and the tin dredge at Tanjung Tualang.  Stay tuned to part 2 for a description of our memorable visit to these places.

Chan Wing was one of the millionaires born in the heydays of the tin mining industry.  Reticent in public with a preference to stay in the background, Chan Wing may well have been forgotten if not for the house he built.  The Big House, as it was called then, has an interesting history of its own culminating as the abode for kings.

Chan Wing (1933). Taken from the book “From Poor Migrant to Millionaire” by Chan King Nui

Chan Wing’s was a typical rags to riches story.  Born to poverty in China in 1873, he was the fourth son among six boys and two girls.  With a father that squandered his money, time and energy on opium, it fell on their mother to provide for the family.  The family lived at subsistence level and school was a luxury that they could ill-afford.

An opportunity to better their lot came with the arrival of agents to their village with stories about a land called Nanyang and a metal called tin around which tales of great riches were spun.  Fourteen year old Chan Wing and his younger brother, Loong, were dispatched to this fabled land with the hopes and dreams of the whole family riding on them.  While Loong would return home a year later ridden with malaria and unable to cope with the harsh working conditions in the tin-mines, Chan Wing would go on to make their wildest dreams come true.  But this dream had its roots in tears and sorrow as the only way the family was able to raise the money to send Chan Wing and Loong to Malaya was by selling the youngest son, who was still a babe in arms.  Their mother was devastated but did not stand in the way.

On arrival in Malaya, the brothers got jobs at a tin mine in Sungai Besi but Chan Wing would change jobs many times including being a shopkeeper for two of Loke Yew’s shops in Sungai Besi.  At the age of 24, he joined forces with four of his clansmen to form a ‘kongsi’ (syndicate) to mine for tin ore next to the tin rich Sungai Besi Mine.  A European group and at least two other Chinese kongsi had previously mined on this plot of land with no success.  The kongsi formed by Chan Wing and friends operated for 9 months without finding any ore.  Savings dwindled and hopes plummeted but they dug deeper and their perseverance paid off when Chan Wing saw a darkish patch in one of the boxes of sand that he was washing.  The kongsi had struck very big as the place was subsequently found to be littered in tin and the rest, as they say, is history.

With the years of scrimping and saving behind him and money no longer a major concern, Chan Wing’s attention turned to marriage and he requested his mother to find a bride for him.  Low Ming Ching, simple, pleasant, timid and barely sixteen, would become the first in a line of wives to come.

Chan Wing would go on to venture into other businesses including banking (he sat on the board of Kwong Yik Bank), rice and rubber.  He became a respected and accepted member in Malayan society and now had an important decision to make – where to make his permanent home.

At the time of Chan Wing’s birth, China was under the rule of the Qing dynasty (1644 to 1912).  This was not the rule of the majority Han Chinese but the dynasty was founded by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan, a Manchu tribe from northeastern China which usurped power from the Ming emperor.   The Manchu had a unique hairstyle where the hair on the front of the head until the temples were shaved off every ten days and the rest braided into a long pigtail.  This pigtail is also known as a ‘queue’.  During the Qing Dynasty, the Manchus imposed this hairstyle on the Han Chinese and cutting off the queue was considered an act of treason.  Chan Wing took the decision to live permanently in Malaya and as an act of defiance against the Manchu government, he cut off his queue.

Meanwhile, his family had grown into 8 wives with 21 children living at different locations.  Chan Wing bought 13 acres of land and commissioned Swan and Maclaren to design a house that will bring his whole family under one roof and in 1929, the family moved into what would become known as The Big House.  It might have been the biggest house in Malaya at that time, but for the family it was not big enough.  As his daugher Chan King Nui recalls in her book ‘From Poor Migrant to Millionaire’, although the mothers had a room each, the children had to share rooms – four to a room.  The number of children by now had swelled to 25.  Chan Wing and his family stayed at the Big House until 1941 when war came to Malaya.

Chan Wing got separated from his family during the war and he stayed out the war in Australia while his family was evacuated to India where his twenty-sixth and last child, a boy, was born.  He reunited with his family when they returned to Malaya after the war but was diagnosed with cancer and in spite of the best treatment succumbed to his illness in 1947 at the age of 74.

During the Japanese Occupation (1942 – 1945), the Big House became the residence of the Japanese Governor and after the war, it was commandeered by the British.  In 1950, the Selangor state government rented it from the owners and it became the palace of the Sultan of Selangor until 1957 when the federal government bought the property from the owners.  It was renovated and extended to become Istana Negara, the official residence of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (king of Malaysia).  In Dec 2011, Istana Negara moved to its new location at Jalan Duta and the Istana Negara Lama, as the property is now called, has been turned over to the Department of Museums, Malaysia.

Most of the information on Chan Wing in this article comes from the book ‘From Poor Migrant to Millionaire’, written by Chan King Nui; one of Chan Wing’s daughters.

The students, aged between 7 and 12, were divided into three groups and were led through Galleries A, B and C by the volunteers.  The students were engaged throughout and gave the volunteers their focused attention.  Upon completing the tour of the galleries, they assembled at Dataran Muzium and took part in a few traditional games, namely the baling tin, gerek buluh and sepak buluh ayam.

Playing the Gerek Buluh

This picture shows the children playing the Gerek Buluh.  In this game, a wheel is attached to a long bamboo handle and the participants are required to roll the wheel to the opposite side and hand it over to their partners who will then take over in a relay.  The winner is, and no marks for guessing, the team that is first to reach the finish line.

The children had the most fun in this game.  Although some of them had difficulty controlling the wheel and went zig-zag instead of going in a straight line, they all managed to hold on to the bamboo and finish the game.

Below are pictures of the children touring the galleries.  Kudos to volunteers Cay, Mique, Karen, Fafa, Miju, Vallie, Zakaria, Sarah, Serena and Colin for taking the time out and making it a fun day for the students.

This is a long novel divided into three parts with 1,318 pages but most of us managed to finish reading it before the meeting and came prepared with our opinions, prejudices and interpretations.

The discussion was led by Reiko who cleverly counteracted the various viewpoints with alternative opinions thus providing us with a perspective of the book that had more shades than what we envisioned in the first read.

Personally, I was disappointed with the book chiefly because the hype around it had raised my expectations.  Fully expecting to love the book, I started reading it with high hopes and I did enjoy the beginning but the story fizzled out in the end and so did my interest in Murakami.  I like books with a supernatural bent but will pick a Clive Barker over a Murakami.

Our birthday ‘buffet’ was made up of freshly baked madeleines, courtesy of Marie who liked the reference to Proust in IQ84 and Dutch cookies from Kokkie.  Add a card and candles from Lena and we were ready for our birthday song.  Ironically, the first book we read was Shantaram which is close to a 1,000 pages and we started our 2nd year with another long book.  Maybe we should make this our tradition thus reading only one long book a year.

We are reading two books this coming Thursday (18th April): “First They Killed My Father” by Loung Ung and “The Female Cell” by Rumaizah Abu Bakar, a fellow volunteer with MV.  I have read both books but will save my comments for the meeting.

Nowruz, which is steeped in tradition, is celebrated at the time of the vernal equinox or the first day of spring which falls around 21 March.  This is the time when sunlight is evenly divided between the northern and southern hemispheres.  The start of the New Year is very precisely timed and Iranians celebrate Nowruz at the precise time of the arrival of spring, regardless if this is at midnight, 10am or 4am!

Jaleh in traditional Iranian costume

Preparations start a few weeks before the festival.  Iranians start by ‘shaking the house’ during which they literally clean every spot in their homes.  The phrase ‘spring cleaning’ is believed to have originated in this Iranian tradition.  During this time, Iranians would also buy new clothes and furniture as well as make donations to charity.

Fire Jumping, is celebrated on the night of the last Wednesday of the old year.  Small bonfires are lit in the streets and people jump over the flames while shouting “May my sickly pallor be yours and your red glow be mine.”   The flames symbolically take away all the unpleasantness of the previous year.

Haji Firuz

Before the arrival of Nowruz, a man dressed in red with face covered in soot takes to the streets dancing and singing and proclaiming that Nowruz is approaching.  This is Haji Firuz, the herald of Nowruz.  Haji Firuz has a side-kick, Uncle Nowruz, who is the Iranian version of Santa Claus.  Similar to Santa, Uncle Nowruz is also an old man with a white beard who brings gifts and good luck to people.

Another interesting tradition carried out before the arrival of Nowruz is similar to Halloween.  Kids in the neighbourhood would drop by in disguise and announce their presence by hitting a metal pot with a metal spoon.  This is called ‘pot hitting‘ and would earn them a treat from the house owner.

Preparing the Haft-Seen table is, perhaps, the important tradition of Nowruz.  Iranians will sit around the table with friends and family while waiting for Nowruz to arrive.  Jaleh prepared a table for us which is shown on the right.  Nowruz has its traditions in Zoroastrianism, a religion that was prevalent in present day Iran around 3,000 years ago.  The table was called Haft-Chin and it had seven items on it symbolising seven elements in the universe.  Since the advent of Islam, the table is now known as Haft-Seen, or the seven ‘S’s and there are seven key items on it each starting with the letter ‘S’.  One of the items, sabzeh (wheat, barley or lentil sprouts growing in a dish), is perhaps the only item that is common to both tables.

Nowruz is celebrated for 12 days during which time, schools and many offices are closed.  Visiting friends and family is the main activity.  The 13th day of Nowruz is considered to be bad luck as it is associated with the number 13.  To avoid the bad luck, people go outdoors on picnics and this day is called Sizdah Bedar meaning ‘getting rid of the 13‘.  On this day, some girls would tie the leaves of their sabzeh dish before throwing it away.  While doing so, they express their wish to get married before the next Sizdah Bedar.

Jaleh had also arranged for us to try out some Iranian food which she had ordered from an Iranian restaurant.

From far, this dish looks familiar and Malaysians may be forgiven for dismissing it as ice-kacang.  But this dessert, called faloodeh, is not made from shaved ice but from frozen vermicelli topped with rose syrup.  A tinge of lime juice is added giving it a zesty taste.  Apart from faloodeh, we also tried out an aubergine dish which was served with flat bread.  Only one word, ‘yummy’.  Wish all focus events would end with a treat!

Trainee docents in batches 16, 17 and 18 started their docent training program in Sept 2012 and after months of hard work, 54 trainees graduated in a ceremony held at the auditorium of Jabatan Muzium Malaysia bringing the total number of volunteers to 180. It was a year of ‘firsts’ with a record number of 20 Malaysian and 18 Japanese volunteers graduating.  Other volunteers came from France, the UK, Poland, Singapore, Australia and Korea.

Karen Loh – President of MV

In her welcome speech, Karen was confident that all the new graduates are ready to guide as they have been equipped with more than enough knowledge to conduct a proper tour of the national museum.  Karen also thanked all the course leaders for their time and dedication and having prepared the new docents so well.

Karen then stressed on commitment and reminded the docents that they have committed to 2 years of active service as a volunteer.  Most volunteers are committed and active but there have been cases of trainees leaving as soon as the training program is over.  Karen was confident that none of the new graduating docents would do that, unless beyond their control.

Karen’s speech was followed by speeches from representatives of the graduating batches 16, 17 and 18.  First up were Arfah Hani Abdullah and Anne Lemetter from batch 16 with a funny sketch and an interesting speech.  Then Sharifah Seri Lailah and Kenji Sato, from batches 17 and 18 respectively, had the audience riveted as they recounted their experiences as a trainee.

Zanita Anuar, Director of Innovation Unit, gave a speech next and thanked all museum volunteers for their dedication and hard work.  The speeches were followed by presentation of awards to the graduates.

Graduating batch 16

Graduating batch 17

Graduating batch 18

The trainers were not forgotten and were called on-stage and each presented with a beautiful piece of silk batik.  The trainers were : Batch 16 – Asma, Marie & Hayley; Batch 17 – Cze Yan, Justin, Jane, William and Karen; Batch 18 – Mr. Masayuki, Mr. Shigenori, Ms Naomi, Ms  Yui Togo, Ms  Yui Isaka, Ms Hiroko Shibata and Ms Junko Mori.

Trainers of batches 16, 17 and 18

Refreshments were served after the graduation ceremony.  Enjoy the pictures below.

Master of Ceremonies – Stuart

Fiza – From Jabatan Muzium

Shaiful started the talk by discussing some of the famous pre-historic sites in Malaysia including Guar Kepar in Penang, Gua Cha in Kelantan, Lenggong in Perak and Niah in Sarawak.  He also talked about the log coffin burials in Kinabatangan, Sabah; a 2,000 year old practice by the Orang Sungai which is still on-going today.  Log burials are unique to Kinabatangan and in this type of burial, the coffin itself is not buried but placed in the cave – on the floor for ordinary people and on a specially erected wooded platform for people of higher status.  Shaiful has hands-on experience at Kinabatangan as he is researching this for his PhD.

Saiful related an interesting anecdote on the former Deputy Director of Museums in Malaya, Gale Sieveking.  Sieveking took up the post in 1953 and was responsible for the first systematic excavation of Gua Cha in which over 30 human remains were uncovered from both the Hoabinhian and Neolithic levels.  He returned to England in 1956 and after his demise in 2007, his family discovered skeletons from Gua Cha under his bed.  Jabatan Muzium was notified which repatriated the skeletons to Malaysia.  Although an amusing anecdote, it also testifies to the passion archaeologists have for their subjects.

Saiful then turned his focus to Lenggong Valley which obtained UNESCO World Heritage status in 2012.  He talked about Gua Kajang, a natural limestone tunnel which is large enough to ride a horse through.  The site is dated to around 7,000 to 11,000 year ago and some charred bones were found here indicating the presence of fire; although it is uncertain if this was a natural fire or man-made.

Perak Man and Gua Gunung Runtuh, in which this skeleton was found, were given due attention as was Gua Kelawar in which the Perak Woman was found.  Another interesting site at Lenggong Valley is Gua Harimau in which 12 prehistoric skeletons were uncovered making it the largest burial site in Lenggong.  Perhaps the most exciting site at Lenggong Valley at the moment is Bukit Bunuh, the site of a meteorite impact 1.83 million years ago.  The high temperatures and pressure of the meteorite impact transformed rocks at the impact site into suevite and a handaxe made of chert was found buried in the suevite rocks, making this handaxe more than 1.83 million years old and the oldest stone tool to be found outside Africa.

Karen presenting Saiful with a token of appreciation with Mariana looking on.

Shaiful Idzwan Shahidan holds a Masters in Field Archaeology and Masters in Applied Ethics (Archaeological Ethics).  He is currently a Research Officer and ASTS Fellow at the Centre for Global Archaeological Research, USM.  He has over 7 years of experience in archaeology and has conducted archaeological research at a number of locations in Malaysia including at Lenggong Valley (Perak), BujangValley (Kedah) and Kinabatangan Valley (Sabah).  He was a member of the expert committee for the preparation of Nomination Dossier for the Archaeological Heritage of the Lenggong Valley into the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. He was also part of the Joint Malaysian and Australian Archaeological Site Survey team for possible World War II burial sites in Parit Sulong, Johor and worked with the Penang Islamic Department on the relocation of ancient graves.

We were indeed honoured to have Shaiful with us.

The Museum Volunteers has own program for the French Language Week which is currently on-going in Malaysia.

Every morning from Monday 18th to Thursday 21st March (between 9.00 am to 12.30 pm), schools children from all over Malaysia who are studying French will be participating in a special programme being organised by the French speaking volunteers of MV.  At least 250 school children are expected to participate in this programme.  The volunteers will focus on five artifacts and the history and stories behind these will be explained to the students. This year, the focus will be on Hang Tuah, Flor de la Mar, Perak Man, tin and rubber.  In addition, the French embassy team has prepared games for the children.  The entire programme will be carried out in French.

On Thursday night, there is a special program called “Nuit au Musée” that is “Night at the Museum”.  The Ambassadors of embassies who participate in this French Language Week are invited to the museum together with the french speaking community. Guests will arrive at 7.00 pm and they will be served with drinks and finger food.  The visitors will then be entertained with a Silat demonstration and are encouraged to participate in the demonstration.  They will then be invited into Gallery B of the museum to attend a talk titled “La découverte de l’esprit malais au travers du Keris”.  After the talk, which will be conducted in French, visitors  are welcome to discuss with the guides present on the link between different traditional values and some chosen artifacts.

During these four intense days new graduates, who just graduated on 16th March 2013,   will have the opportunity to share their new knowledge as well as meet and handle their first visitors.  It is a fun packed week ahead!

For more events during the French Language Week, please visit http://flwmalaysia.com/calendar.php