KINTA CHRONICLES: Behold .. The Beauty Of Kinta Valley

From the Kinta Valley. (l) Vanda hookeriana aka Papilionanthe hookeriana and (r) Fluorite in mineral form

Checked out the exhibition ‘The Beauty of Kinta Valley’ held at Tin Alley heritage center and learnt fascinating facts about this valley.

Last weekend featured two eye-opening talks the about the Kinta valley. The first was titled ‘The Kinta Story’ by heritage enthusiast Fazil Shuhaimi Talib.

Fazil related about the early history of Hulu Kinta, where Ipoh is located, and about the role of Tun Kelalang.

First speaker Fazil Shuhaimi Taib. Inset Panglima Kinta Mosque

In 1530 Tun Kelalang, son of Tun Saban from Hulu Perak migrated downstream of the Perak River and entered a tributary branch, the Kinta River and opened a settlement located in Hulu Kinta district.

The first Malay kampong was at Kampong Kepayang located upriver from Gunung Churuh (G. Cheroh), because that was as far north as the Kinta river was navigable.

The descendants of Tun Kelalang by marriage to the descendants of Sultan Mansur Shah afforded them to inherit the title of Panglima Kinta and ruled Hulu Kinta from Kg Kepayang as they were area chiefs and collected taxes.

Gunong Cheroh, the highest navigable point on the Kinta River. Kampong Kepayang is located a short distance upriver.

(l) Masjid Paloh in 1920 (r) Ipoh in 1930 surrounded by the many Kampongs

Thus, before the entry of the British the area around Ipoh consisted of many kampongs and villages. Sir Hugh Low, the British Resident@1880, mentioned that Ipoh then was the largest centre of the Malays in the Kinta Valley.

If Fazil’s talk was enlightening the presentation by K Fletcher entitled ‘Kinta: On the Wildside’ was thoroughly refreshing.

K. Fletcher explaining the Wild Side of the Kinta Valley

Fletcher is a retired geologist whom made Malaysia his second home and became a Conservation photographer. He has lived here for 16 years.

His talk took the audience on a photographic tour starting from the Kledang Hill where he would walk for hours in the morning photographing the flora and fauna.

Wildly fascinating , giant palms and animals at the Kledang Range

His tour carried on to Ulu Geroh on the Titiwangsa Range where he showed photos of the Raja Brook butterflies and medium sized Rafflesia plants, the Kinta Weed found in plains of the valley and the bounty of our limestone hills like 122 species of snails 34, endemic to one hill. Most interesting indeed.