Scenes from Bentong, 5 Jul 2015

[Henry T]

Wisma MCA


Kwangsi Association Building


Modern Hospital

[Henry T]

Chinese School


Chinese Assembly Hall. Look at the year.
They have Chinese Opera performance here.


Sikh Temple

[Naka]

Looks so clean & busy

[Henry T]

There is a combination of old and new. There is progress after all. The older part of this town is nostalgic.


We hardly see old signboards like these in the modern metropolis we live in.


There so many tailor stalls like these on the first floor of the wet market.


Bell bottoms


1970s fashion


There are many Clan Associations. I'll post the pictures later.

[Naka]

Keep them coming, tks.

[Henry T]

More nostalgia.

An old facade.


The older parts.

[Henry T]

Kochow Association. What clan is this? Hainanese?


Yong Association


Lee Association


There are actually many more but I didn't take the photos.

[Greenwich]

We can still see such old building, old signboard, etc. in most smaller towns like Malacca.

The interesting part about urbanization in this country is – with less than 1 hour drive from KL, you will enter a totally different world with completely different “scenery” compare with your urban neighborhood...

No need to go far to Bentong, can find many of such “scenery” in Kelang also.

[Henry T]

We can still see such old building, old signboard, etc. in most smaller towns like Malacca.

The interesting part about urbanization in this country is – with less than 1 hour drive from KL, you will enter a totally different world with completely different “scenery” compare with your urban neighborhood...

No need to go far to Bentong, can find many of such “scenery” in Kelang also.

Actually Melaka is even older.

I think the British at that time must have only one town plan for the whole country.

In Perak there are many sleepy hollows like Chemor, Timoh (I hope I got this right), Papan, Tronoh and more.

[HTCHONG]

Henry, thank you for posting these nice pictures. It is nostalgic to me to see these pictures.

I did my Sixth Form in Sek. Men. Sulaiman, Bentong. Nice weather particularly in the morning with cool breeze. I cycled to school and usually stopped by at Ketari for breakfast which cost me less than RM1 then.

[Greenwich]

More nostalgia.

The older parts.

This old Raleigh bicycle as shown in this picture means a lot to me. It is the mode of transport for my father to go to work and for me to go to school..

When I did renovation for my parents’ house, I asked the contractor to make a “hanger” at the outer wall of the kitchen to hang this old bicycle.

[Sentinel]

In Perak there are many sleepy hollows like Chemor, Timoh (I hope I got this right), Papan, Tronoh and more.

When I was a Sales Manager for Coca-Cola for the northern region covering Penang, Perlis, Kedah and Perak, I had to visit all these "hollows" and did my market inspection work on foot. What I will do is park my car at a good local coffeeshop, drink a can of Coke.... and then walk the entire town on foot... in sport shoes, jeans and a Coke T-shirt... I love all these small towns... also did pick up some old stuff like gramophones (those with big horns), old irons (charcoal type of different eras), grandfather's clocks and even old marble table tops from coffee shops...

I still visit some of these places... Baling and Memali and Pedu in Kedah are favourites.... also Kodiang and Padang Besar near the border to Thailand... on my Honda dirtbike (dual-purpose tyres of course...)....

[Henry T]

Henry, thank you for posting these nice pictures. It is nostalgic to me to see these pictures.

I did my Sixth Form in Sek. Men. Sulaiman, Bentong. Nice weather particularly in the morning with cool breeze. I cycled to school and usually stopped by at Ketari for breakfast which cost me less than RM1 then.

Did you grow up in Bentong?

You know, in the past when there were no highways Bentong was pretty remote. It was the hilly, winding and twisty trunk road way or no way. The town was synonymous with being ulu. No offence . In fact when I was young and if KLites think you are a country bumpkin they will say you are from Bentong. Or they will ask if you are from Bentong. It is no longer ulu now. There are other more ulu places I can think of, Papan in Perak for instance. Not only is it ulu, it is also dead.

[Henry T]

This old Raleigh bicycle as shown in this picture means a lot to me. It is the mode of transport for my father to go to work and for me to go to school..

When I did renovation for my parents’ house, I asked the contractor to make a “hanger” at the outer wall of the kitchen to hang this old bicycle.

In the poor neighbourhood which I spend many years, having a Raleigh bicycle is equivalent to you driving an expensive car today. While other lesser bikes have a single speed and calliper brakes the Raleigh has a few gears and hub brakes (drum brakes). It was a big deal.

[Henry T]

When I was a Sales Manager for Coca-Cola for the northern region covering Penang, Perlis, Kedah and Perak, I had to visit all these "hollows" and did my market inspection work on foot. What I will do is park my car at a good local coffeeshop, drink a can of Coke.... and then walk the entire town on foot... in sport shoes, jeans and a Coke T-shirt... I love all these small towns... also did pick up some old stuff like gramophones (those with big horns), old irons (charcoal type of different eras), grandfather's clocks and even old marble table tops from coffee shops...

I still visit some of these places... Baling and Memali and Pedu in Kedah are favourites.... also Kodiang and Padang Besar near the border to Thailand... on my Honda dirtbike (dual-purpose tyres of course...)....

Peninsula Malaysia is a relatively small place. Hey, you can drive from Bukit Kayu Hitam to Johor Bahru, tip to tip, in ten hours. If you drive in the U.S. Coast to Coast it will probably take you one week. The highways did bring development and progress to many towns but there are some which are just bypassed and forgotten, caught in a time warp.

I am an orang desa (urbanite) my whole life and have always wondered what it would be like growing up in one of those sleepy hollows.