IPOH, Feb 15 — Colourful carpets hang along the five-foot way of a row of heritage shophouses in one street as carpet traders compete for business next to each other while just a few streets away, waxed ducks and glossy waxed sausages hang from the ceiling of a shophouse dealing in an entirely different trade.
In between, there are cloth merchants, grocery stores, coffee shops, wholesalers of various products from toys to clothes to bags and of course, Little India.
These tradesmen have been there for decades, as is apparent in the way some of the wooden doors stand slightly lopsided while the walls tell stories of decades gone past.
All is business as usual, perhaps busier in the past two years, as spanking new cafés, restaurants, boutique hotels and guesthouses have cropped up in their midst.
The whole rejuvenation coincided with Ipoh-born landscape architect Ng Sek San and his associates opening Sekeping Kong Heng over the iconic coffee shop of the same name in the heart of Old Town back in 2013. (Ipoh is naturally divided into two by the Kinta River; Old Town and New Town.)
The ripple effect saw a slow but steady revival of Old Town where previously old, vacant buildings were turned into new business ventures. This is similar to Penang’s George Town getting a new shot of life after it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008.
Sekeping Kong Heng itself continues to expand and now, the four-storey former bank building next to it has opened its first three floors for business as The Old Block.
The Old Block
The Old Block (TOB) is an extension to Sekeping Kong Heng’s minimalistic lodging for visitors to the small town. It offers more spacious accommodation in the form of apartments for those planning to stay longer than a few days.
The ground floor and first floor of the building is open to local traders and one of the first few to move in is Kars Newstand, a news vendor who used to ply his trade just down the road at No. 1, Jalan Panglima.
A.Rama’s newstand was easily discernible from his faded blue “Newsweek” blinds back at No. 1 so when he moved to TOB at the end of last year, the blinds came along so that his regulars knew where to find him.
“My mother has been selling newspapers at the old shop for more than 20 years before I took over the business,” he said.
Rama wasn’t evicted by the owner of the shophouse but the main tenant — Rama is a sub-tenant — was giving him problems so to avoid any further conflict,
he decided to move to TOB.
“The building owner had actually protected us as he had told the main tenant that we must be allowed to continue doing business there. The main tenant didn’t try to evict us but he was giving us problems over small issues, perhaps in hopes that we’d move out on our own,” he said.
Rama said moving to the newly-refurbished TOB is not a bad move after all as it is air-conditioned, his regulars know where to find him and he gets more new customers from Kong Heng, the adjoining Plan B and the string of cafés along the same row — Burps & Giggles, Missing Marbles, Buku Tiga Lima, Roquette Café and Pattiserrie Boutique and Café.
A space for crafters
Next to Rama’s newstand is Tok Tok Handicraft, a craft stall that sells various things from landyards to keychains and purses and bags where buyers get to personalise their purchases by embossing their names on it.
Tok Tok is not the first crafter in the square of adjoining refurbished buildings as over at Sekeping, there are also more handicrafters taking up the space next to the famed Bits and Bobs and their iced balls. Yes, you can get what was a childhood treat for those who grew up in the Sixties here.
A trio of handicrafters has taken up one of the stalls and named it Ipoh Craftnerds.
The tiny space showcases shelves of handmade jewellery, soft toys, bookmarks, keychains, postcards, fridge magnets and picture frames.
Leong Chai Yuen, Claire Thoo and Aznira Ahmad decided to turn their hobbies into a business venture when they realised the potential of the busy square.
“We can say that this very spot is the liveliest place in Old Town now especially on weekends and public holidays,” Leong shared.
Their tiny little stall is chockful of various crafts not only from three of them but also other handicrafters from Ipoh.
“We are selling handmade items from around 10 crafters and we will rotate different crafters regularly so we will always have something new for our customers,” Leong said.
Another stall, Am Zakka Store, by Amelly Lee, also sells handmade crafts especially large plush underwater animals like seahorses and dolphins made by her mother.
She also sells notebooks that customers can personalise with their chosen designs that will be printed onto the books.
Outside the square of peeling crumbling walls shaded by thick trees, a signature of all of Ng’s Sekeping projects, other souvenir and craft stores are also opening up as visitors continue to increase during weekends.
Arts and museums
The completion of Lithuanian Ernest Zacharevic’s seven murals all around Old Town since the middle of last year has also contributed to the rising number of visitors to the area, spurring a new interest in art.
Even a few months before the murals made an appearance, Sepaloh Art Centre, an exhibition space within Sarang Paloh, opened to host several art exhibitions.
Sarang Paloh is a complex of two buildings – the former OCBC bank headquarters and a former goldsmith shop – that sports an art centre, an event hall and a guesthouse with 11 rooms.
The guesthouse is newly opened and its art centre, located on the second storey, has held a few art exhibitions.
There are now two museums within walking distance of each other in the heart of the old town – one within TOB itself and another, just a street away.
The Yasmin At Kong Heng museum opened its doors in late 2014 on the second storey of TOB and is now open only on weekends.
It is a tribute to the late Yasmin Ahmad, who was well known for her often ground-breaking television commercials and films.
Her commercials are played on the televisions inside the small space while adorning the walls are pictures of her and her work interspersed with facts about her.
Just a few houses across from yee lai hong (also known as Concubine Lane), a narrow lane opposite Kong Heng, is an imposing three-storey heritage building with the words “Han Chin Pet Soo” emblazoned on it.
The building, rebuilt in 1929 after its original structure was destroyed, was home to the Hakka Miners Club but has now been restored and opened as a tin mining museum by Ipoh World.
The museum was only officially opened on February 5 and though entrance is free, visitors must book a tour through ipohworld.org for guided tours as they do not entertain walk-ins.
Cafés and eateries
Next are the new eateries that have opened among the existing old-styled coffee shops and restaurants.
The famed Lou Wong restaurant, known for their Ipoh nga choi gai (Ipoh steamed chicken and beansprouts), has opened a branch just a couple doors away from Kong Heng Restaurant.
They are not the first of the established businesses going after a slice of the tourism pie at Old Town as TSG Ipoh opened its Wheel Noodle @ TSG here with its 1981 Guesthouse behind it on Market Street.
The Wheel Noodle shop offers tiny bowls of what is popularly known as boat noodles. These small bowls of noodles were originally sold by vendors on boats plying the canals of Bangkok.
The Life Shop Atelier from Kota Damansara has also taken an interest in the area with the opening of its Everyday Lifeshop — a little café and retail shop — on Market Street.
Taking a long leisurely walk around the area is a surefire way to discover new businesses as previously vacant buildings are being snapped up and turned into new business ventures.
Just across from TOB is the majestic century-old Arlene House, also known as Chung Thye Phin Building, which is currently undergoing massive restoration works.
Similarly, smaller heritage shophouses along some of the narrow lanes and roads are also being restored.
It can be said that the Ipoh Old Town is an up and coming place to be for arts, heritage, culture and some modern café hopping too. Dare we say it is the next George Town?
