A destination with plenty to do

The Kwan Yin Temple is one of the landmarks in Kampung Baru Tronoh Mines in Kampar.

Expecting plenty of durians upon arrival in Sungai Durian New Village, a recent group of visitors were pleasantly surprised by the availability of fresh-from-the-water tiger prawns.

The visitors were excited when they got to hold a live tiger prawn that came straight from a pond.

Despite its name, the village became known for tiger-prawn farming some 20 years ago and has only started receiving visitors recently.

A group of tourists from Melaka visited a duck farm in Tanjung Tualang in Kampar. — Photos: Foong Pek Yee/The Star

The 61-year-old Wong Hon Fatt supplies his tiger prawns to seafood restaurants in Tanjung Tualang New Village – a seafood haven sometimes referred to as Tiger Prawn Town.

Both villages are located near each other in Kampar, Perak and residents predominantly used to be tin miners until the world tin market crashed in 1985.

Losing their jobs overnight, some turned to prawn farming in the abandoned mining ponds for a living.

It was the booming economy in the early 1990s that gave the villagers a head start in their seafood restaurant businesses.

Wong showing the tourists a tiger prawn just caught from his farm in Kampung Baru Sungei Durian in Kampar.

The rest, as people say, is history.

Nestled among lush natural greenery and hills also makes Kampar an ideal destination for nature lovers.

The area is popular for its white water rafting, birds watching and jungle trekking.

There are also former mining ponds that have been turned into duck farms in Kampar.

A growing interest in agro-tourism has seen some owners opening their farms to tourists in recent years.

A mural in the My Prawn Village food court in Tanjung Tualang, Kampar. Lotus thrives in former tin mining ponds in Kampar these days.

The scorching late morning sun did not deter the Melaka delegation from walking around a duck farm in Tanjung Tualang.

Some of them were however a bit disappointed because they did not get to collect duck eggs which was listed as one of the highlights of the day.

“Visitors must come early in the morning if they want to collect duck eggs,” a local villager told StarMetro.

For food lovers, Kampar itself is also a place worth exploring.

The rustic life in Kampung Baru Tanjung Tualang in Kampar.

The food trail leads the delegation to a little and secluded village – Tronoh Mines New Village – for its springy fishballs followed by a tiger prawn lunch at the newly opened My Prawn Village in Tanjung Tualang.

Wa Loong New Village com­mittee hosted the villagers and village chief Daniel Wa and secretary Wong Kiew Chai were their guides.

A visit to Kampar would not be complete without a bit of history about tin mining.

Fish balls and bean curd and vegetable stuffed with fish cakes or ‘yeong liew’ in Cantonese made by the village chief and his wife in Kampung Baru Tronoh Mines in Kampar are fast gaining popularity.

The last stop for the day was a visit to the Tin Mining Museum in Bandar Baru Kampar.

Built by former tin miner Tan Sri Hew See Tong, the museum has life-sized replicas of tin mine workers and traders, exhibits and audio recordings that make learning easy and fun for those who have little or no knowledge of the tin industry.

Visiting the museum is like stepping back in time in a place literally built on tin and a nice way to round off a visit to the area.

The Tin Mining Museum in Bandar Baru Kampar in Kampar is home to a replica of ‘Larut’, an elephant which is said to have led to the discovery of tin ore in northern Perak in the 18th century.