Well Done and Thank You, Ernest

The seventh mural by Ernest in Ipoh, is rather different from his ordinary style. The piece of art on the wall carries characteristic of Chinese ink wash painting that illustrates scene of tin mining, which built this city up, and Ipoh's famous lime stone hill. Coincidentally, this mural is also painting on the originated site of a well known local-born healthcare and pharmaceutical brand, Hovid or better known by the locals as Ho Yan Hor. With the completion of this mural, Ernest has accomplished his plan in Ipoh and we would thank him very much for bringing Ipoh such fantastic paintings. Besides attracting tourists, we hope it would also light up the spirit of art in Ipoh to grow it into a culturally brilliant city.

The Work is Almost Done

As reported, Lithuanian artist, Ernest Zacharevic is sponsored to present seven murals in Ipoh Old Town. So far, most of the murals are done, leaving the final huge one "Tin Mine" at Treacher Street, where the famous Ho Yan Hor herbal tea started its business (currently known as Hovid) still in painting process. Before this, Ernest has completed "Yellow Humming Bird", "Old Man Drinking White Coffee", "Boys in A Paper Plane", "5 Packs of Coffee" and "Waste Collecting Old Man", while he added on a new dress and a bird cage for "The Little Girl". To ease finding these murals, I make use of Google Earth to mark the locations. Hopefully this is helpful for those who wish to visit the murals without much difficulties to hunt them in Old Town.

City Still in Haze

I do not really record it, but this is probably the second week in Ipoh with warm weather & no heavy rain. Dirt & particles accumulated in the atmosphere is worsening & skyline of the city looked bad. Mountains at background is completely missing from sight & buildings at distance also seen to be blur. People are so desparating for heavy rain to clean the air & return a healthier environment in Ipoh.

Invasion of New Architecture

I captured the last scene of 3 old shops at Treacher Street in June 2010 before it was torn down. Now there is a new building which is completely inharmony to the neighbouring old buildings under construction. Despite some restoration project in town that intend to preserve original structure, or at least its appearance, we still find many are not appreciating the value of heritage buildings.

Han Chin Pet Soo since 1929

Han Chin Pet Soo or Villa of Han Chin which located at northern Treacher Street (Jalan Bijeh Timah) is a clubhouse for tin miners in the past. It was founded by a China-born Hakka tin miner, Leong Fee in 1929. Though it is just a three-storey single-shoplot sized building, it's well known by the locals as "The Villa" or "Pit Sui" in Cantonese. The nostalgic floor & wall tiles is a unique prewar architecture & it marks the city's glorious past of tin minning industry. Opposite to it is the famous Concubine Lane (Panglima Lane).

Do Something to Safe Them

Looking at the condition of these few shops in Treacher Street (Jalan Bijih Timah), I think they will not survive long. In fact the 2 shops on the right are unique because of its smaller size, as seen, it has only 2 windows compare to others that have 3 windows. It is because of lack of proper town planning during the initial age of town settlement & some shops, alleys are not built to standard size in order to maximize the land usage. Seeing these unique building in town in danger of disappearing, I wish someone could do something to safe it.