Ngah Ibrahim

A beautiful white mansion stood in the middle of a huge land with some broken bricks that looks like a fort surrounding the area.

This white mansion was the home of Ngah Ibrahim, son of Long Jaafar who was the Chief of Larut.Long Jaafar was the man responsible for tin mining in Larut and he became the richest man in Perak.After his death, Ngah Ibrahim took over his role as Chief of Larut  and that was when it all began.Ngah was into coffee plantation, padi plantation and tin mining.So he was even richer than his father. During his era the Chinese groups that was brought into Larut by his father to help with tin mining started fighting.That was why he built the fort  in the 1870s at his private residence.

"It all began with the Larut Wars between the Ghee Hin and the Hai Sans who were fighting over everything.The third Larut War was fought because of a woman.Apparently these two group of thugs were enemies  from day one in China till they reached Perak."said Hanim.

As we enter the museum,we will see a man made elephant with mannequins of Malay men touching the elephant's leg which seems to glitter.Those glitters were meant to be tin ore and it was this elephant that was called Larut who made Long Jaafar aware of the existence of tin ore in the area of Larut.From then on history began to take shape.

"You may not learn about this in your history lesson but the biggest mistake made by Ngah Ibrahim , the chief of Larut was when he hired a British called Captain Speedy from Penang to help him with the fights between the two Chinese group or 'gangsters'."

The British intervention in Perak began when Speedy came to Larut although some argued that it started after the treaty of Pangkor was signed by Sultan Abdullah and the British. The British appointed J.W.W Birch to be the first Resident and Speedy became the Assistant Resident.

Speedy was a policeman in Penang and when Ngah approached the governor of Penang for help, Speedy was chosen but he asked for three things from Ngah and they were a house beside Ngah ' s house,to bring Indians from India to Larut and a high salary.His wishes were granted by Ngah and from then on Speedy started to manipulate Ngah."Ngah trusted him fully to the point that Speedy has access to Ngah's account and even during the engagement of Ngah ' s daughter,Speedy became the spokesman for Ngah ' s family."

"Speedy had his own agenda and that was to keep track of the wealth of Ngah and his mission was to get the wealth back to his country.This information was later gathered when Malaysian scholars went to England and gathered facts from there."

There is a mock courtroom upstairs and mannequins of Ngah and others on trial. His bedroom faces the river which is no longer there . According to the keeper of the museum,there are nights when his spirit could be seen sleeping on the bed.

After the murder of J.W.W. Birch, the first British Resident in Perak at Pasir Salak on 1 November 1875, the fort became a court for the trial of Birch's murder. Dato Maharajalela, Dato' Sagor, Sepuntum and Pandak Indut were kept in one of the room as prisoners.The room is still at the museum untouched and there are shackles and manequins of the prisoners to show us how they were treated.

They were found guilty and were sentenced to death by hanging at the court on 21 January 1877. Ngah Ibrahim, Sultan Abdullah and 40 others were exiled to Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. Ngah Ibrahim died on 1887 in Singapore and was buried at the Masjid Al-Junied cemetery. However, on 7 September 2006, Ngah Ibrahim's body was brought back to Perak and reburied near his house.

The truth of the matter still remains blurry because there were arguments saying that Ngah was framed by the British and that Speedy betrayed Ngah when he took over the fort while  Ngah succumbed to the accusations.

During the Japanese occupation in 1941, the Japanese Imperial Army made the fort its headquarters and war strategic operations centre till 1945.In1987, this fort was taken over by the Perak Museum Department as a state historical site known as Kota Ngah Ibrahim Historical Complex.

Being inside the museum,I felt the sadness of the building for it witnessed the downfall of the  owner and death of those linked to the owner.I was told that Ngah Ibrahim cried everyday till his eyes became blur and he wrote 'puisi' while waiting to be exiled.His son too wrote a sad poetry which is still available in one of the local university.

All these can be found in the museum and the sad part was nobody question about Birch.He was a notorious man unlike Speedy who was subtle with his actions and was sent back to England because he was slowly turning into a Malay.There will always be  two sides to a story and what we learned in our history class were the ones from the British point of view.

Ngah Ibrahim was a hero to the Malays because he fought for their rights.He was a good administrator but his weakness was he trusted too easily

The Keris

We seems to be chasing the unknown, the latest technology and everything futuristic that we have forgotten about our past glories which are our heritage and legacy.

Dr.Fawazul Khair Ibrahim,58 who is a senior lecturer at the the faculty of built environment, University Technology Mara and holds a PhD in topology hulu keris hilt (dagger ) held a campaign with a theme called 'one house,one keris' for he fear that this Malay heritage may come to the point of extinction if the elderly neglects it."If we do not champion our own legacy,then who will?" said Fawazul or Prof (I call him prof)."To me,the keris is our legacy" he continued and should be valued by the Malays.

Fawazur who is also an artist hope that his campaign which he does through his art work will make the society realize that the subject of keris (dagger) is not just a symbol to be be used during convocation and installation of the Sultans.It is a legacy for all Malays and we should keep this legacy alive.With that in mind,it will also help the few remaining 'tukang keris' to heighten their unique profession and perhaps pass down their knowledge to others.

"I am not a "tukang keris" therefore I paint and draw the hulu keris tajung as a subject matter hoping that my drawings and art will attract the younger generation to the keris." he said

In ancient days,the keris was said to have supernatural power.They can fly out from their sheath and kill their enemy.Some can even kill their enemy by shoving the dagger into the footsteps of the enemy.These are just myth and folklore. Myths are meant to entertain the listeners.

Abdul Mazin Abdul Jamal is a professional keris maker.He is 65 and he belongs to the fourth generation of the 'tukang keris' (keris maker )He resides in Padang Changkat ,Kuala Kangsar.

"Long ago the Malays in the Peninsular  used spears (lembing)till one day a woman decided to shorten the spear and turned it into a dagger called 'keris' so that the women of that era could hide it in their 'sanggul'(hair bun)."said Mazin . According to prof,this is subjective because it is not written in any book.

The keris is a double edge blade and there are straight blade and curved blades.Everything about the keris has  meanings.There are three types of keris,that is the 'keris anak alang' 'keris Sempana' and the keris hukum.We do not have to delve deep into the names unless one is going to pursue a PhD in this field.

The beauty of the keris lies at the hilt (hulu) because of the intricate carving and decorations. Look at how beautiful the "Taming Sari " is . This keris was presented to Hang Tuah by the Sultan of Malacca and it was a powerful dagger.Many stories were told about the Taming Sari but it is now part of the royal regalia of the Perak Sultanate. How it came to Perak remains a mystery. The logical explanation would be because of Sultan Muzaffar Shah, the first Sultan of Perak. Since he was from Malacca,it must have been brought along by him.

Legend has it that the 'Taming Sari 'was thrown into the sea by Hang Tuah because he killed his best friend Hang Jebat with that keris and somehow when Sultan Muzaffar reach Beting Beras Basah in Perak,it appeared,floating beside his ship.So that was how Sultan Muzaffar got the most talked about dagger in Malaysia. Then again it is a legend so lets leave it as it is.

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Ho Yan Hor

The Ho Yan Hor tea museum which is located at Jalan bukit timah right beside Han Chin Pet Soo museum was built to honour the man  called Dr.Ho Kai Cheong.His father was Ho Sin Leong from China and he came to Malaya and was stationed  in Kati,Kuala Kangsar. 

Therefore Dr.Ho was the first Chinese to be born in Kati. His father runs a kopitiam and that was how he cultivated his interest in tea making.

The museum was the orginal home of Dr Ho who initially rented a room for his family in 1941.After his success, he bought the building and the rest is history.

From the Ho Yan Hor herbal tea business, Ho set up the Ho Yan Hor Medical Hall, later renamed as Ho Yan Hor Sdn Bhd.
Today, it is known as Hovid Bhd, a public listed company.

"At the age of eight his father took him back to China and after six years he returned to Malaya.At 14 he decided to venture on his own telling his father that he no longer wants to work in the kopitiam. "said Ng Chen Yuan, the museum manager.

So he found a job in a Chinese medical hall."He was hardworking and was an avid reader.He learned about Chinese medicine through his books ."

" He managed to open a medical hall at the age of 17 and runs it for a year after which he was called  back to China to join the army .Later he went to Hong Kong and took up medicine at Canton University and graduated in 1940."said Ng.

He came back to Malaya and became a Chinese physician in Malim Nawar. Not long after his stint as a physician, he was caught by the Japanese because they thought that he was a spy for the British. He pleaded stubbornly to the Japanese saying "I am a doctor, not a spy  and my job is to treat the people." So by luck,he was set free.

He ran off to a Malay village and started planting padi in order to hide from the Japanese. He moved to Ipoh after the war and met his wife.At this point,he was totally broke but he had a mentor .

The mentor adviced him to sell his herbal tea on a small scale. With four dollars in his pocket, he started brewing his first pot of tea.Ho sold his tea within an hour.So happy he was, that he started his tea business from 5pm to 10pm and everyday he sold 1,200 cups. Lady luck was on his side and he started making money .Every night his hand shook while counting his money.

Ho was also known as a cycling entrepreneur.He cycled all over  Malaya to sell his tea and it took him three weeks to reach Kuala Lumpur with blisters all over.He made it and took half a year to get back home.

In 1948 he bought his first car, and in 1951 he bought his first Ho Yan Hor van for his business.

The museum shares the amazing stories of the founder and provides the discovery of the origins and evolution of the heritage herbal tea, including the 24 herbs used by Dr Ho to make his herbal Ho yan hor tea.

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