Peaceful idyllic living in Sungai Siput

SUNGAI Siput was well known for its extensive cultivation of rubber during the British colonial era in the 1930s.

But it was not its vast rubber estates that actually put the town in the limelight but the murder of three European plantation managers by communist guerillas in 1948 following which the Emergency was declared.

While peace was restored after Malaysia achieved Independence, many estate companies were hit by the decline of global rubber prices in the 1960s.

Vast tracts of land were then replaced with oil palm plantations, as oil palm was a more profitable investment.

To this day, the landscape of the Sungai Siput parliamentary constituency, which consists of the Lintang and Jalong state seats, has remained more or less the same with the exception of a convention centre and an upcoming new township in Sungai Siput town.

D. Muthusamy, 44, said while the oil palm plantations still exist, most locals, whose parents or grandparents were labourers in estates, had moved out to housing areas near Sungai Siput town.

He said many of the younger generation were not keen to work in estates or plantations any more because other better paying jobs were aplenty in Ipoh and towns elsewhere.

He said his life story was a prime example of the exodus.

“I did not follow my parent’s footsteps in becoming rubber tappers because I wanted a life outside the estate.

“I moved out from the estate in Lintang when I was 20 years old.

“Though life was tough, I have no regrets,” said Muthusamy, who now helps a friend run his sundry shop in Kampung Rimba Panjang.

Muthusamy added that some of his childhood friends had moved out to Kampung Kanthan in Chemor, a former tin-mining town located about 14km from Sungai Siput, as they had found jobs in the industrial area there.

As for youngster K. Chandru, 29, he still enjoys going back to Ladang Dovenby though his family has shifted to Taman Muhibbah near Sungai Siput.

“I come back almost each day during lunch break to meet up with my friends who live here,” he said.

Recalling his childhood days, Chandru said the Dovenby community, made up of about 300 households, was a united lot.

“We treated our neighbours like our family members.

“In the past, we worked together to nab thieves who tried to steal things from our neighbours,” he said when met at the Arulmigu Kallumalai Sri Ongkara Kaliamman temple.

Chandru, a landscape maintenance contractor, said the estate’s Hindu temple was the uniting agent that brought people together.

“People come here to pray and spend time catching up with one another.

“This is also the usual place of gathering for my friends and I,” he said, adding that the temple was unique as it was built on a slope by a rock hill.

One of the most iconic landmarks in Sungai Siput is the Lion Hill, or better known as Xi Ji San in Cantonese.

C.S. Lee, 60, said the Lion Hill, which sits between Sungai Siput and Kuala Kangsar, was once a popular tourist attraction in the old days.

“People used to hike up the hill, which was then an oil palm plantation, to get a magnificent bird’s eye view of Sungai Siput.

“It was also a famous spot for school outings,” she said, adding that a few of her daughter’s class trips were going up the hill.

Nonetheless, the lack of a hiking trail hindered visitors from heading to its top.

“Some do not go there for fear of bumping into robbers,” she said when met at the Taman Tun Sambathan Mutual Aid Association centre, where many elderly people from around Sungai Siput mingled to pass time.

In Kampung Sungai Buloh, Lee Seng Chun, 55, said the landscape of village shophouses had remained unchanged although a portion of the village’s farmlands, which were occupied by farmers without land titles, had been converted into housing areas.

At the Sungai Siput Waterfront Commercial Centre, Lai Yee Moon, 34, said restaurants there enjoyed brisk business.

“The commercial centre is vibrant at night as many youngsters come here for their meals, especially supper,” she said.

Nonetheless, as a boutique owner, Lai said her business earnings were minimal.

“The township is new and most of the housing projects here have yet to be completed.

“Perhaps my business will improve once the population here increases in the next one to two years,” she opined.

In Kampung Jalong, Norhafiza Mohd Ariffin, 28, said the village was no longer prone to flooding as it was before.

“Three years ago, the authorities widened and deepened the stream that flows from the hill in Kampung Kenang to our village, while villagers who lived on low-lying areas have shifted to higher ground,” she said.

Norhafiza, who runs her family’s sundry shop in the village, said many young people had left the village for jobs in bigger towns and cities.

“The older generation has also stopped organising inter-village telematches, which used to attract villagers from all over Sungai Siput and Kuala Kangsar.

Kampung Lintang resident Sakimah Sallehuddin, 58, said the village located about 15km away from Sungai Siput town was a “1Malaysia wireless village”.

“We do not have computers to access the internet but our children can do so at school.

“They are able to explore educational websites and improve their knowledge through the internet,” said Sakimah.

Sakimah also hoped that more streetlights could be installed along the long and winding road connecting Sungai Siput and Kampung Lintang.

“It is dangerous to travel along the road at night as there could be cows and goats wandering,” she said.

Felda Lasah resident Jayuni Abdullah, 45, also wished for more streetlights to be put up along the main road in Lasah.

“Though no major accidents have occurred here, I fear for the safety of children who cycle to school,” she said.

On the outskirts of Sungai Siput lie the Chior, Korbu and Sungai Pelus forest reserves.

Sungai Siput is also where the famous Pagoda brand groundnuts and Mei Heong Yuen (fisherman brand) groundnuts are produced.

The incumbent MP for Sungai Siput is Dr Michael Jeyakumar (Parti Sosialis Malaysia) who contested under a PKR ticket while the Jalong state seat is occupied by Leong Mee Meng of the DAP.

Datuk Ahamad Pakeh Adam of the Barisan Nasional holds the Lintang state seat.