Kinta Valley

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Kinta River Kinta River.JPG
Kinta River
The Kinta Valley is karstic in nature, as shown by the prevalence of mogotes throughout the area. Taken near Gopeng. Gopengroadoverlookingthemountains.JPG
The Kinta Valley is karstic in nature, as shown by the prevalence of mogotes throughout the area. Taken near Gopeng.

The Kinta Valley is a conurbation in central Perak, Malaysia, surrounding and including the state capital Ipoh. Historically the Kinta Valley was very rich in tin, and their mines have been among the most productive in the world. The valley is formed by the Kinta River, a tributary of the Perak River, which flows between the Titiwangsa Mountains and the Kledang Range.

Contents

It forms the largest tin field along the Siamese-Malayan peninsula tin belt. It has been mined since ancient times by indigenous peoples but more intensively mined by the Chinese and Europeans since the end of the nineteenth century. Today, the modern Kinta district is one of the ten administrative districts of Perak. [1] In 2018, the valley was declared Malaysia's second national geopark. [2]

Geographical definition

Ipoh, the anchor city of Kinta Valley Ipoh 1.jpg
Ipoh, the anchor city of Kinta Valley

The Kinta Valley consists of the city of Ipoh and the municipality of Batu Gajah in the Kinta District and also the towns of Gopeng and Kampar in Kampar district.

It borders the town of Sungai Siput located in the Kuala Kangsar District to the north, Parit (Central Perak region) to the west, the Batang Padang valley to the south, and Lojing (Kelantan) and Cameron Highlands (Pahang) to the east.

Politics

The Kinta Valley covers the parliamentary constituencies of Ipoh West and East, Tambun, Batu Gajah, Gopeng and Kampar.

Local government in the Kinta Valley includes, from north to south:

History

The Kinta Valley was occupied for thousands of years by the ancestors of the Orang Asli. Prehistoric remains include the Tambun rock art. The Kinta Valley has been visited for tin by Indian traders since ancient times. Buddhist bronze artefacts have been excavated in Kinta in 1931. [3]

Mining

Early mining methods

An early method of indigenous mining was the Lombong Siam, meaning Siamese mines. [4] Malay miners used ground sluicing or the lampan method by cutting ditches from the nearest river. [5] In the nineteenth century, Mandailing migrants from Sumatra were observed using the tabuk mine, which is an excavated pit from which water is removed by cantilevered baskets. [6]

Chinese mining

The first tin rush to Kinta lasted from 1884 to 1889 where new land was taken up by Chinese miners using labour-intensive methods. Hailing from the farmlands of Guangdong, the Chinese mining workers at first used agricultural implements such as hoes, rakes and baskets to excavate the earth. The Chinese also introduced the water wheel to dewater the mines. The second tin rush lasted from 1889 to 1895, and was characterised by small gangs of tributers using the wooden sluice box (lanchut kechil). [7] Around the turn of the twentieth century, two of the most famous large Chinese mines were the Tambun Mines, owned by Leong Fee, and Tronoh Mines, owned by Foo Choo Choon. [7] There were many successful Chinese miners too like Eu Tong Sen, Chop Thai Lee, Chung Thye Phin, Au Moh Yi, Yau Tet Shin, Khi Ho Nin, Shak Yin Fuk, [8] Lam Look Ing and Aw Kong. Up till the late twentieth century, Chinese women miners could be commonly observed panning tin with wooden trays (dulang) from stream-beds and tailing dumps of tin mines.

European mining

The longest operating European mine in the Kinta Valley was the French Société des Etains de Kinta [9] better known as SEK, which started operating in 1886 and only closed down in 1985. [10] Foo Choo Choon's Tronoh Mines was floated in London and became a European concern. Several opportunities arose for Osborne, founder of the Gopeng tin mining Company, who expanded his business by forming the famous professional partnership of Osborne & Chappell in 1901. [11]

Dredging

Tanjung Tualang No. 5 (TT5), a former dredge near Batu Gajah TT5 Tin Dredge - panoramio.jpg
Tanjung Tualang No. 5 (TT5), a former dredge near Batu Gajah

In 1913, dredging was put into practice by Malayan Tin Dredging Ltd. (MTD), which later became the largest tin dredging company in the world. It had a significant impact on Kinta in terms of technological advancement. The bucket dredge was introduced and was the final breakthrough of the Malayan tin mining industry. [12]

The last surviving dredge can be found at Batu Gajah along Jalan Tanjung Tualang. It belongs to Southern Malaya Tin Dredging.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perak</span> State of Malaysia

Perak is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's Yala and Narathiwat provinces both lie to the northeast. Perak's capital city, Ipoh, was known historically for its tin-mining activities until the price of the metal dropped, severely affecting the state's economy. The royal capital remains Kuala Kangsar, where the palace of the Sultan of Perak is located. As of 2018, the state's population was 2,500,000. Perak has diverse tropical rainforests and an equatorial climate. The state's mountain ranges belong to the Titiwangsa Mountains, which is part of the larger Tenasserim Hills system that connects Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. Perak's Mount Korbu is the highest point of the range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ipoh</span> City and state capital in Perak, Malaysia

Ipoh is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Perak. Located by the Kinta River, it is nearly 200 km (120 mi) north of Kuala Lumpur and 150 km (93 mi) southeast of George Town in neighbouring Penang. As of the 2020 census Ipoh had a population of 759,952, making it the eighth-largest city in Malaysia by population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gopeng</span> Town in Perak, Malaysia

Gopeng is a town located in Mukim Teja, Kampar District, Perak, Malaysia. It is situated approximately 20 km (12 mi) south of Ipoh, the state capital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teronoh</span> Town in Malaysia in Perak

Teronoh is a small tin-mining town in Kinta District, Perak, Malaysia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batu Gajah</span> Town and district capital in Perak, Malaysia

Batu Gajah is the seat of Kinta District, Perak, Malaysia. It is administered by the Batu Gajah District Council, formerly known as Kinta West District Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kellie's Castle</span> Castle in Perak, Malaysia

Kellie's Castle is a castle located in Batu Gajah, Kinta District, Perak, Malaysia. The unfinished, ruined mansion, was built by a Scottish planter named William Kellie-Smith. According to differing accounts, it was either a gift for his wife or a home for his son. Kellie's Castle is situated beside the Raya River, which is a small creek to the Kinta River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinta District</span> District of Malaysia in Perak

The Kinta District is a district in Perak, Malaysia. It contains the state capital Ipoh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kampar, Perak</span> Town in Perak, Malaysia

Kampar is the largest town of the eponymous Kampar District, Perak, Malaysia. Founded in 1887, the town lies within the Kinta Valley, an area rich with tin reserves. It was a tin mining town which boomed during the height of the tin mining industry. Many tin towns were established in the late 19th century, flourished in the 1900s, only to stagnate and decline after World War I, with the exception of an exhilarating boom in the 1920s. Most have closed down following the collapse of the industry, especially in the late 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinta River</span> River in Perak, Malaysia

Kinta River is a river in Perak, Malaysia. It gets its name from the Kinta Valley, which surrounds Ipoh, the capital of Perak. Ipoh sits along this river. There are many limestone hills in the area surrounding the river, and there used to be many tin mines. The supposedly largest tin field in the world was discovered in 1876 in the Kinta Valley. The river was also well known for its wide variety of freshwater fish. The fisheries department reported a greater abundance of fish from the Intake Dam to Tasek, and from a secluded fish pool, 0.75 miles (1.21 km) down from Tanjung Rambutan. Fishing in this area used to be a major local activity until the fisheries gradually closed down.

Tanjung Tualang is a mukim in Kinta District, Perak, Malaysia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eu Tong Sen</span>

Eu Tong Sen was a leading businessman in Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong during the late 19th and early 20th century. He was vice-president of the Anti-Opium Society and a member of the Kinta Sanitary Board.

Pusing is a small town in Kinta District, Perak, Malaysia. It is located in the western part of Perak, approximately 18 kilometers southeast of Ipoh, the state capital. It is surrounded by scenic landscapes and is known for its lush greenery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foo Choo Choon</span> Malaysian businessman (1860–1921)

Foo Choo Choon, a Hakka tin miner, revenue farmer and businessman from Penang and Perak was, in his time, said to have been the richest Chinese man in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leong Fee</span> Malaysian businessman

Leong Fee is the Hakka name for Liang Pi Joo (1857–1912), a worker from Guangdong in China who emigrated to Malaya in 1876.

Leong Sin Nam 梁燊南, alias Leong Sin, Leung Sin, Leong Sin Hee, was a Malaysian businessman. He migrated and settled in British Malaya in 1898. From humble beginnings, he worked hard to become a wealthy tin mine owner in Perak. He was a businessman, an active community leader and a philanthropist. He was a Chinese revolutionary with similar aspirations as Dr. Sun Yat Sen and a strong supporter of the Chinese war efforts during the Sino-Japanese war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kampar railway station</span>

The Kampar railway station is a Malaysia train station located and named after the town of Kampar, Perak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sikhism in Malaysia</span>

Malaysian Sikhs are known to be the fourth largest Malaysian Indian ethnic group. It is estimated that there are around 100,000 Sikhs in Malaysia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kampar District</span> District of Malaysia in Perak

The Kampar District (Kinta South) is a district in Perak, Malaysia. It was a district on 21 May 2009 after the Sultan of Perak declared Kampar the state's 10th district, which is the smaller district in the state. Its local government is Kampar District Council based in the town of Kampar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanjung Tualang Tin Dredge No. 5</span> Former dredge in Kinta, Perak, Malaysia

The Tanjung Tualang Tin Dredge No. 5 (TT5) is a former tin mining dredge in Batu Gajah, Kinta District, Perak, Malaysia.

References

  1. ↑ Kinta Valley. 2015. Encyclopædia Britannica.
  2. ↑ Bunyan, John. "Kinta Valley declared Malaysia's second national geopark". Malay Mail. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  3. ↑ Evans, Ivor H. N., 'Buddhist Bronzes From Kinta, Perak', Journal of the Federated Malay States Museums, Vol. XV, Part 3, August, 1932: 135-6
  4. ↑ Hale, A., 'On Mines and Miners in Kinta, Perak', Journal of Malayan Branch Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 16, 1885: 304
  5. ↑ Everitt, 'Fifty Years of Tin Mining in Malaya', Malaya, November 1952: 50-51
  6. ↑ Hale, A.,'On Mines and Miners in Kinta, Perak', Journal of Malayan Branch Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 16, 1885: 315
  7. 1 2 Khoo Salma Nasution and Adbur-Razzaq Lubis, 2005. Kinta Valley: Pioneering Malaysia's Modern Development. Ipoh: Perak Academy. ISBN   983-42113-09
  8. ↑ Tak Ming Ho. 'Generations: The Story of Batu Gajah'. 2005.
  9. ↑ The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884–1942), Société des Etains de Kinta, 20 March 1908, Page 5.
  10. ↑ Wong Lin Ken, The Malayan Tin Industry to 1914 with special reference to the states of Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Pahang, Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1965: 146
  11. ↑ Palmer, David; Joll, Michael, Tin Mining in Malaysia, 1800-2000: The Osborne & Chappel Story, Muzium Gopeng, 2011.
  12. ↑ Ingham, F. T. and E. F. Bradford, The Geology and Mineral Resources of the Kinta Valley, Perak, Kuala Lumpur: Government Printer, 1960.

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