How Long Would It Last?

Sungai Pari Towers, one of the oldest flats in Ipoh, has been standing at Sungai Pari river bank for more than 40 years. However, it is poorly maintained in recent years and the flat is probably only 5% occupied nowadays. I overheard rumor about these buildings will be demolished, and I understand there is a plan to develop high rise housing project at Sungai Pari, Therefore, I believe this nearly half-century-old Sungai Pari Towers may disappear within a decade.

Super Moon of July

A extraordinary bright moon is seen tonight which caught my eyes when I was on the way home. As I know today is the 16th day of lunar month, and full moon last night should normally the brightest one. Anyway, I get to know later this is indeed the super moon. It appeared bigger when it was just rose from the horizon. Unfortunately I was too late to find a nice spot for capturing the super moon. Luckily there is a second chance very soon, where we shall expect another super moon on 10th August 2014, and I wish there will be clear weather to witness the beautiful scene.

Poor Living Condition

There was a post about Sungai Pari Towers published in January last year. The photo was taken from far & we could see the condition of the flats was quite poor. Today I am walking closer to the tower & find the situation is worse than I imagined. Despite the units that are still occupied, many have been abandoned & left in very bad condition. Some units have lost the entire window frame & door while some even overgrown with weeds. In the compound of Sungai Pari Towers I found a signboard stated the maintenance had been carried out between Oct-2007 & Jan-2008. This flats are properties of the local authorities, why the maintenance isn't a continuous activity to ensure the living condition of its residents being well taken care of? And I also wonder any officer or councilor had paid a visit to this poor neighbourhood & work out something to overcome the current situation? I notice Ipoh City Council is very happy of its continuous increase of income over the years but I see negligible improvement in the city's infrastructure.

Fraser & Neave Was Here

This must be a familiar logo to many elder citizens. But I believe it is not difficult for youngsters to tell what it is, by looking at the letter F and N. Yes, that's it, "F&N", Fraser & Neave, the best known soft drink name to us. Local Chinese in the past liked to call soft drink "Holland drink" (荷兰水). Sounds funny, right? Not only soft drink but many items that came from the western world is named with "Holland", I did not investigate the reason but probably it's due to the colonization of some Malayan states by Holland in 16th~17th century. F&N was also known as "Lion brand" by locals. Well, the reason is simple & straight forward, it's taken from the F&N logo. I can still see in old coffee shop, Sun Yoon Loong, a mirror hung beside the side entrance is drawn with a lion logo of F&N written with Chinese words "Lion brand tangerine drink". Back to talk about this building, it is just at the entrance to Conolly Road (Jalan Tun Perak) from Kidd Road. I am not sure what F&N used it for in the past but it's no longer occupied by them as they have moved to the other end of Conolly Road (facing Lahat Road flyover). Anyway, I hope this can be consider as one of the historical building in Ipoh and will be given proper maintenance & preservation.

Multi Usage Tower

I believe drivers who ride along Raja Perempuan Mazwin Road will notice this telecommunication tower at the session near First Garden. It appears to be a typical telecom tower but come with a very different coating. Instead of painted in usual red and white, it's only coated in white and decorated with several colorful Islamic patterns. I also found the little golden Islamic dome on the tower top and some loud speakers on tower body. I then realize this should be also a minarets of mosque.

The Old Flats

Sungai Pari Towers is one of the oldest low cost flats that built & managed by the Ipoh City Council. I can’t really get its exact year of completion but should be in the early 1970’s. It used to be the tallest building in Ipoh, probably the first high rise building & therefore gain its nick name as “The 15-Storey”. It is later surpass by other hotel & commercial buildings, especially by another low cost flat, Kinta Heights, which also known as “The 20-Storey” that rose around year 1983. Sungai Pari Towers has been poorly managed for many years. It looked old & some facilities are not in proper condition.

Sweeping Over the City

Rain is sweeping from right to left in this photo. The warm afternoon ended with a heavy rain which brought the temperature down in the valley. I can see from this higher ground of Buntong village, the high rise buildings that used to be in sight are missing in the water curtain.