Ipoh received two significant international accolades this year.
A FEEL-GOOD story of Chinese new villagers helping stranded travellers return to Kuala Lumpur after the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations made Perakians and the nation proud.
The Kampung Baru Pelawan villagers in Ladang Bikam, Bidor, had repaired a dirt road at an oil palm plantation in the dead of night after seeing multiple cars getting stuck there.
Most travellers had relied on Google Maps to escape the congested North-South Expressway and ended up at the plantation, but the road was not passable to cars.
Business consultant Zairul Annuar Mohd Zin had taken to social media to express his gratitude for their help.
“Most of us who were lost in the plantation that night were Malays and those that came to help were a group of Chinese villagers.
“It is not something that happens every day. I wanted to show Malaysians that we can come together to help one another irrespective of race, religion and background. These are the real heroes,” he added.
Another cause for celebration in the state is Taiping’s 150th anniversary in January.
The Good Samaritans from Ladang Bikam who helped stranded motorists.
The town, which means “everlasting peace” in Chinese, was established in 1874 following the end of the Larut War to mark the peace between warring tin mining groups.
Another good news, among many more, is the 7.41 million tourist arrivals in conjunction with the Visit Perak Year (VPY) 2024 campaign in the third quarter of the year.
International recognition
Perak and Ipoh hit the headlines for all the right reasons several times in 2024.
In March, Ipoh white coffee came in 10th spot on the list of Top 39 Coffees in the World by TasteAtlas.
In July, Ipoh was ranked 465th out of 1,000 global cities in the Oxford Economics Global Cities Index.
The former tin mining hub was among 12 Malaysian cities on the list and also ranked 22nd among 55 South-East Asian cities.
The Oxford Economics Global Cities Index was based on five categories: economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. These are aggregated to create an overall score for each city.
In October, Ipoh mayor Datuk Rumaizi Baharin accepted the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) Scroll of Honour Award for the Doughnut Economics programme in Mexico.
The recognition was based on efforts to transition the city from a resource-intensive economy to a regenerative model focusing on health, waste management and ecotourism while aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
It is a flagship programme under the Perak Sejahtera 2030 development roadmap to turn it into a Doughnut Economics City by 2027.
Other achievements by Perakians included a new world record set by 800 children from 86 Tamil schools in the state for reciting the Thirukkural in 30 seconds.
The Thirukkural is a collection of Tamil verses written by ancient Indian sage Thiruvalluvar.
National honours
In November, legendary cartoonist Datuk Mohd Nor Khalid, better known as Lat, received the Anugerah Seniman Negara (ASN) or National Arts Award from Her Majesty Raja Zarith Sofiah, Queen of Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur.
Veena Angelina Jincis, from Kampung Orang Asli Batu Tiga in Tapah, was among four women from the community nationwide to be hired as flight attendants with Malaysia Airlines.
In July, Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun made history for successfully performing its first Extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) arterial bypass surgery on a 56-year-old patient with Moyamoya disease.
In March, Perak Ruler Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah proclaimed Lenggong as a geopark and opened the Lenggong Geopark Gallery.
In the last seven years, a total of 11 locations nationwide have been recognised as national geoparks.
In January, different types of coral fossils, estimated to be some 300 million years old, were discovered in a 6.9ha area near Kampung Changkat Tualang in Kampar.
The fossils of the long-extinct sea snail species were found by a group of researchers from the Perak Geotourism Association.
The state government said it would gazette the 6.9ha site as another geosite within the Kinta Valley Geopark.
The Perak men and women’s cricket team contributed to the state’s gold medal haul in Sukma Sarawak.
Perak’s Malaysia Games (Sukma) contingent achieved its target of securing 35 gold medals during the event in Sarawak from Aug 17 to 24.
The para-athletes contingent picked up 25 gold medals during the Para Sukma event from Sept 22 to 28.
A total of RM1.102mil was awarded to the athletes who won medals at Sukma and Para Sukma.
Tragic incidents
In April, 10 navy personnel were killed after two helicopters collided mid-air over the Lumut Naval Base.
The incident occurred during a rehearsal for a Royal Malaysian Navy parade in conjunction with its 90th anniversary celebration.
Helicopter debris from the crash that killed 10 at the Lumut Naval Base.
In November, three Public Works Department (JKR) workers from Langkawi drowned while participating in a water rafting activity at Sungai Jahang in Gopeng.
The boat that the victims were in capsized after a sudden rise in the water level due to continuous heavy rain.
A number of well-known personalities from the state also left us this year.
Former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tun Hanif Omar, who was born in Teluk Intan, passed away in April at 85.
Hanif was the country’s fourth and youngest IGP, having been appointed to the post at the age of 35 on June 8, 1974 and retiring in Jan 15, 1994.
Former Malaysian ambassador to the Netherlands Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin died on June 27 at the age of 76.
The Perak-born diplomat had once served as Malaysia’s permanent representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and as the Malaysian Co-Agent for the Pulau Ligitan, Pulau Sipadan and Batu Puteh case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands.
Former Perak Speaker Datuk Mat Isa Ismail, 74, died on July 24. He was a former private secretary to the then defence minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak from 1993 to 1995 and was the Changkat Jering assemblyman from 1997 to 2008.
Two days later on July 26, former MCA deputy president Tun Michael Chen Wing Sum died at the age of 92.
Chen, who had served in several ministerial roles in the 1970s, was largely credited for establishing formal ties between Malaysia and China after the Cold War, according to MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
Born in Chenderiang, Chen was the former MP for Damansara, Ulu Selangor and Beruas.
Another death this year was of former state executive councillor Datuk Azman Mahalan.
The former Ayer Kuning assemblyman from 1986 to 2004, died on Sept 22 at the age of 82.
Celebrities who passed on this year were Ahmad Hamdan Mohamed Ramli, more popularly-known as Hamdan Senario and Simon Mohan.
Ahmad Hamdan who started out as a singer in 1988, was born in Batu Gajah and died in Johor Baru on Jan 5 at age 54.
Simon, whose real name is Elanjselvan VM Mohan, 64, died in Kuala Lumpur on June 11.
He became famous for singing in Chinese.
Nature strikes back
The yearly flash floods continued with more than 1,600 people in the state being displaced.
Among the affected areas were Ipoh, Kuala Kangsar, Kerian, Taiping, Kampar, Batu Gajah, Sungai Siput and Slim.
In August, the historic Sungai Slim Old Bridge in Slim River collapsed after being hit by a water surge that carried debris.
The bridge was among the many locations in the country that had witnessed battles between the British and Japanese during World War II.
A Bailey bridge has since been built to reconnect Slim River town and Kampung Slim.
The Slim River bridge which was destroyed by a water surge.
On Sept 18, the state Fire and Rescue Department responded to 17 cases of uprooted trees in several districts, causing injuries to people and damaging vehicles.
Two people in Kamunting were seriously injured after a tree fell on their motorcycle while two others sustained minor injuries in the same incident.
Earlier in May, a woman was unharmed after a tree fell on her car at Jalan Kuala Dipang in Kampar.
On Sept 28, a sinkhole caused the porches of two houses in Taman Teja in Gopeng to cave in, while two other houses suffered minor damage.
In another unrelated sinkhole incident that occurred three days earlier, a 30-year-old Perak Water Board worker sustained injuries when a section of a construction site at Jalan Pasir Salak in Perak Tengah caved in.
However, in the middle of the year, the state experienced a hot spell with some 70% of the channel of lakes at the Taiping Lake Gardens evaporated, leaving cracking, sun-baked mud surfaces.
Water at the lake returned in August with continuous rainfall.
South lake in Taiping Lake Garden looking dry due to the hot weather.
In October, a loud noise of unknown origin literally shook Ipoh city.
Adding to the mystery, the loud boom, which caused a brief tremor, seems to occur once every six years since 2012.
Then state police chief Comm Datuk Azizi Mat Aris said that relevant agencies had investigated and ruled out rock-blasting activities, earthquakes, army exercises and sonic boom caused by supersonic jets as causes of the noise.
Animal encounters
There were also several incidents that saw human-wildlife conflicts.
These included encounters with the critically endangered Malayan tiger, with two of them killed on the road after getting hit by vehicles in separate incidents.
The first incident in July saw the discovery of the carcass in a drain at KM314 of the North-South Expressway near Tapah.
The second incident occurred at KM67 of the Gerik-Jeli East-West Highway near the Titiwangsa Rest and Service area in Gerik in November.
The tiger was believed to have been hit by a lorry, as the carcass was found dismembered.
Perhilitan believed that some parts of the animal, including teeth, claws, whiskers and skin were stolen.
In another encounter on Oct 15, a tiger is believed to have mauled a 54-year-old man while the victim was heading to an outdoor toilet in Bersia, Gerik. It was caught by Perhilitan four days later in Kelantan.
The same animal is also believed to have killed a Myanmar man on Oct 17 near a chilli farm at Batu Melintang, Jeli, Kelantan.
Perhilitan also caught two other tigers – first near Kampung Ulu Kuang, Chemor in February and the second in Jalong in July after receiving reports of livestock being attacked and eaten.
Encounters with elephants were also reported.
On Oct 25, drivers and passengers in four cars were left shaken after wild elephants damaged their vehicles at KM11 of the East-West Highway near Gerik at about 9.15pm.
Upon reaching the location, they saw the elephants and stopped. While some of the pachyderms left the road, others pushed the cars first before entering the forest.
In April, a young elephant calf was mowed down in a road accident involving two vehicles at KM50 of the Gerik-Jeli road.
In Lumut, there were reports of a crocodile being sighted in the waters near Teluk Batik beach on Dec 12. A video of the animal in the waters went viral.
Efforts to track down the reptile proved elusive.
Financial matters
A RM1.52bil budget for 2025 was approved during the state legislative assembly in November, the highest in Perak’s history.
About RM981mil is for management expenditure while RM538mil will go to development.
Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad said Perak was expected to generate about RM1.4bil in revenue next year from tax, non-tax revenue and royalties generated from the non-radioactive rare earth element mining industry.
In April, Saarani also announced a new water tariff for domestic use in Perak at 75sen per cubic meter starting from May. The last revision was in 2006.
A recent property valuation exercise conducted by Ipoh City Council (MBI) saw the proposed rate revised from 16.5% to 9% for residential property owners.
Despite the proposed rate being lowered, the council said tax to be paid next year would still increase, which raised objections from ratepayers.
Following this, on Dec 26 Rumaizi said the assessment tax rate for MBI will be reduced by between 0.25% and 2%.
Major projects
The country’s first mineral analysis laboratory, Terra Mineral Lab, and the Centre of Excellence for Mineral Research (CoE) were launched in Gopeng in October.
In August, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the Kerian Integrated Green Technology Park.
Construction for the Sunway Ipoh Mall project in Tambun, which is slated to be the largest shopping centre in Ipoh upon its completion in 2027, also began this year.
The RM1bil mall will be the first in the state to have an ice-skating rink and about 500 shops, among other attractions.
In November, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad announced that Hospital Seri Iskandar would commence operations on Dec 11.
The construction of the RM153.2mil hospital began on Jan 29, 2021, and was completed on Oct 28.
Among the services are emergency medicine, general medicine and surgery, paediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics, gynaecology and radiology.
It would replace Hospital Changkat Melintang, which would be turned into a non-lead hospital and possibly, a haemodialysis centre.
