With a history spanning over more than 130 years, the city of Gopeng is older than many other cities in Malaysia.
Thanks to tin mining boom in the 1910 till the late 1980s, the city is known to give birth to many Chinese millionaires who work the mine and made themselves ally to the Malay Sultan.
But after the great tin bust in the 1980s, coupled with a new North South Highway built, the town was essentially forgotten. Though lined with historical buildings and stunning pre war architecture, the area is no longer significant for any business related activities.
However, tucked in one of the abandoned shop rows is one red painted lot called the Gopeng Heritage House -- a tribute to the pre-war era of the Gopeng city. And is a time capsule in this sleepy town of Perak.
What's Inside?
The Heritage House is home to antiques and ordinary items, not suitable for a museum, but old enough to marvel at.
Items like this raincoat. It may look like what a samurai would wear for war, but no, it is just a raincoat handcrafted to last until over 100 years later.
It is also house a collection of simple trinkets and snapshots of things in the era where bento box like meal is a norm. The Chinese tin mine workers will enjoy their lunch in one of these.
Mostly because meals are cooked at home, and there's no shops in sights. And having your wives pack you lunch was the way things are in those days.
The meal box has 3 layers - one for rice, another for meat or fish and the third one for vegetables.
Imagine lunch hour with hundreds of your mates eating from such boxes together, sharing and boasting the meals their wives pack for the day.
Beside the mealbox is a kerosine lamp.
On the second floor of the building, you can walk into the rooms of the rich Chinese migrants during those era.
And you'll discover that while they are far richer than most in the country, they live a life that is no better than what normal people today take for granted.
The wash basin below, intricately done is akin to having a pool in your room. Extravagant in those days but nothing to be shout at right now.
In those time, having water to wash your face in your own room is so luxurious, it is unthinkable for common man in Malaya.
There are many other things to marvel at, but this one below struck us as amazing.
Your own private garden in the middle of the shoplot. How about that?
Yes, the garden is semi wild, but being able to have such a thing even now, is just a bliss.
Looking at the way the lot is constructed, you'll admire the ingenuity and the practicality of such design. With rows of shops packed together, and the main road in front, you would never thought of bringing the greeneries inside, unless money is not a problem.
If you love architecture, old things and pre war memories, this is a place to visit if you happen to visit Perak.
Gopeng is a 3 hours drive away from the cosmopolitan city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. But the difference is like day and night.
Yes, the dusty old town may no longer offer any promise of riches like it used to be. But with a gem like this Heritage House, it certainly will not be forgotten.
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