Ipoh old town to host ‘muhibah’ long table banquet this CNY to enliven area

IPOH, Feb 4 — Come February 16, Jalan Bijeh Timah and its surrounding area will spring to life at night with the muhibah long table banquet.

With 168 tables to be set up, each table is able to seat up to six persons at Jalan Bijeh Timah and Lorong Bijeh Timah. Guests will get to tuck into traditional Chinese and Malay dishes and be entertained by live performances.

The tables will be set up along the one kilometer area of Jalan Bijeh Timah and Lorong Bijeh Timah.

Event organiser Tan Kai Lek said vegetarian meals will also be served during the event, held in conjunction with Chinese New Year, that will start at 7pm and end at 10pm.

For the Chinese dishes, food from the Hokkien, Guangdong, Hainan, Khek, Teochew and Nyonya communities will be served,” he told Malay Mail, adding that of the total tables, 10 tables would serve halal food while eight tables would be reserved for vegetarian food.

In keeping with the tradition of Chinese New Year, lou sang (prosperity toss) will also be held at each table.

The highlight of the night will be the display of a 15-meter dragon in conjunction with the Year of the Dragon.

"As we could not get any troupes to perform, volunteers including myself will take over the performance, where I will be in charge with holding the 3kg head,” said Tan.

Besides the dragon dance, there will also be traditional performances by the three major communities.

"Among them are Cantonese opera and recitation of nursery rhymes accompanied by 24 season drums.”

The night will culminate with a five-minute fireworks display, added Tan.

The event was first held in 2018 but was stopped for two years due to Covid-19 before it resumed in 2022.

According to Tan, the event is an effort to enliven the area, which normally does not see any activities after sun down.

"Before the event was held for the first time, my friends and I were discussing how to make the area livelier at night. Except for a few eateries, the area is practically a ghost town at night.”

"After the long table banquet dinner event began, the area was slowly brought to life.”

Locals, added Tan, also laud the organising of the event.

"A senior citizen who operates a shop near here congratulated us for having the event and he said in all his years of living, this was the first time the area saw a long banquet being held.”

Tickets for the event are sold at RM90 per person. For further details, contact Ng at 012-2161955.