Here are some links that you may find useful:
Wikipedia for Kampar
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman College
Pejabat Daerah & Tanah Kampar
Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah Kampar
Balai Bomba Perak
Hospital Kampar
Kedai Tenaga TNB Kampar
Lembaga Air Perak
Telekom Malaysia Perak
Below are also some previous articles and letters in relation to Kampar:
MRCB to build Giant hypermarkets in Danau Kota in Setapak and Kampar
By: Starproperty
Date: 4 October 2013
Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) via wholly-owned subsidiary Gelanggang Harapan Construction Sdn Bhd has acceptaed an award from GCH Retail (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd to construct Giant hypermarkets in Danau Kota, Setapak and Kampar, Perak on a design-and-build basis on a contract sum of RM80.8 mil.
The breakdown of the total is RM45.8 mil for Giant Danau Kota and RM35 mil for Giant Kampar.
Giant Danau Kota will be constructed within 12 months and to be completed by October 2014. The Giant Kampar will be constructed within 10 months and to be completed by August 2014.
Read more here
Westlake - Security pitfalls await the unwary
By: Goh Kae Min (J-On)
Date: 17 July 2013
In recent years, as the Westlake population grows inexorably due to the business of education, rumor has it that the crime rate in the region has soared to threatening levels and the security of student hostels is no longer as promising as it was. Living is perceived to have been much safer and secured back in the good old days when stories of bag-snatching or serial underwear theft were never heard of.
Unsure of whether the deteriorating security is merely a rumor or as serious as it purports, an investigation is specially conducted in order to provide information which can be helpful in clearing the rumor while assisting students to prevent crime.
First of all, we have the Danish House Management to answer a few questions. According to Chang Yoke Meng, head of security department, about 80% of the cases are actually petty crimes such as theft and committed by students themselves. Plenty of theft cases have been solved and the offenders are often students.
Read more here
Student by day, thief by night: Accounting student in Kampar nabbed breaking into house
By: Cheryl Hew (the Star)
Date: 16 July 2013
Undergraduates normally concentrate on studying and nothing else, but one such student here apparently moonlights as a thief.
The student would go to class in the mornings just like his peers but would transform himself into a slick housebreaker when night falls.
Following cases of break-ins at the Westlake residential area in Bandar Baru Kampar beginning early this year, police had stepped up surveillance of the area. Their efforts were rewarded when they nabbed the 20-year old first-year accounting student at a private university here.
Read more here
A town called Precious Gold
By: Chang Yi (Borneo Post Online)
Date: 3 February 2013
Driving out of Kuala Lumpur along the highway, one could see limestone hills framing the scenic countryside. If occasional industrial chimneys and machinery did not punctuate the hilly contour, one could actually imagine a legendary princess flying through the air in the misty morning!
We were making our way towards Kampar just as the sun rose a little higher above the hills. Would there be gold as its name suggests in Chinese - Kam Pou or Precious Gold?
"It's always a delight to drive to Kampar," our friend exclaimed chirpily. She loves driving up and down the peninsula for as many years as she can remember. She could be in KL in the morning, Ipoh in the afternoon and Penang in the evening! But Kampar will always be in her heart because that's where her beloved late husband came from.
A much travelled Kampar man, he had taught her all the best things in life - and especially food in the secret corners of not only Malaysia but Asia as well. "He really loved food and friends," she recalled.
In no time we were in Kampar to soak up its pristine beauty - the large expanses of water, the legacy of the mining era and the greenery-covered hills. We had left the scarred limestone hills behind.
Kampar awakened after new businesses sprang up recently with the setting up of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and Kolej TAR.
Read more here
Peaceful no more
By: Clifford Lee (J-On)
Date: 9 September 2012
It was supposed to be a happy study session yet ended up a nightmare for two University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) undergraduates.
Wong (guy), 20, and Huam (girl), 18, were robbed at about 3.30am morning on their way back home from Jalan Hala Timah (Newtown).
Wong, a year two student of Computer Science in UTAR, said that two young Chinese men of about age of 25 came with a car and 'hit' them at Jalan Batu Hijau (the road between Newtown and Westlake).
"They (robbers) stopped their car in front of me and forced me to emergency brake, and they rushed down from the car with knives in their hand," he said, adding that he was riding a motorcycle.
Read more here
Kampar's landscape changes with new private school
By: Foong Pek Yee (the Star)
Date: 2 July 2012
Year 2013 is set to mark another milestone for Kampar - an education hub in Perak - when its international school welcomes its pioneer batch of students.
Westlake International School (WIS) arrives some 10 years after University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) which changed the landscape of Kampar.
Now, Kampar is also known as a university town.
UTAR, Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman (KTAR) and WIS are located next to one another in Taman Bandar Baru, Kampar.
Of the 18,000 tertiary students in Kampar at present, 15,000 are from UTAR and the rest from KTAR.
Co-chairman of WIS board Tan Sri Hew See Tong said international schools would help to nurture more talents who could meet the demands of a rapidly changing environment at home and abroad.
"Education is very important for our younger generation; and a good command in languages, particularly Chinese and English is an asset," he said.
Hew pointed out that there were few international schools which were affordable to the ordinary folks, and WIS was aimed at providing more of such opportunities to the people.
Read more here
Kampar residents look forward to a new hospital in two years
By: Elween Loke (the Star)
Date: 4 June 2012
Folks are hopeful of Kampar Hospital's promise to bring about better quality healthcare services while waiting for the town's new hospital to be completed.
Commending the Health Ministry's effort to upgrade the old hospital, Kampar resident Lee Chun Li said the move was important since it would be another two years from now before the new hospital was ready.
"I am grateful the existing hospital has not been neglected and standards have not dropped even as they get ready to shit into a new building. The nurses and doctors have remained as friendly and helpful as they were before," said the 45-year-old housewife.
Lee added that it would greatly benefit Kampar folks to have their own physiotherapy unit instead of having to go all the way to Ipoh to seek treatment.
Read more here
Used condom found in female student's hostel
By: Yap Suan Zi, Lee Chi Leong (J-On)
Translation: Yvette Yeow (J-On)
Date: 28 June 2012
The J-On student journalists of UTAR got a tip off that a used condom still containing semen was found in an all girls' student dorm in the Harvard dormitory at Westlake this afternoon.
J-On reporters went to the scene at 3.20pm after receiving the tip off to better understand the story. The room's owner who wishes to be identified as Tan said that the used condom was found in her bathroom's basin which was situated on the second floor.
The room's only residents were Tan and her sister who was away in campus at that time.
Tan said that she and her sister both used their bathroom in the morning before going to class but there was no sign of any suspicious object.
There were also 5 other residents who stay in the same dorm, they were all Tan's close friends. Tan said that all her friends went for their classes at 12pm and there were no signs of suspicious activity or person. Still at 12.40pm when Tan return, she found the condom sitting there.
Tan told the reporters that she suspects it was either a cruel joke or an intruder broke into their dormitory. But it was quite impossible because Tan's bathroom is situated on the second floor and if there was really an intruder, what was his or her motive? Tan reported that none of their belongings were stolen or missing.
Tan: "The window's opening is very narrow, it would take a lot of effort just to open it without falling down."
Recently, there were a few reported cases about UTAR's students being raped, but there is still no official news release from the police, the university or the dormitory's security.
Read more here
Danish House student committee voices out
By: Ashwin Kumar (J-On)
Date: 16 June 2012
The first Danish House student committee meeting was deemed "a step forward" as a number of important issues, including safety, security, and unstable Internet speed was discussed earlier today.
The meeting was held at the Grand Kampar Hotel and was formally conducted by the official moedrator, Mr. K. Ravinther. The main objective of the dialogue is to address the various problems faced by the Danish House residents. According to Ravinther, there is no point in dragging these issues for months and it is good to have student representatives as they can give feedback as both students and residents of Danish House point of view on unstable internet connection and security issues.
Read more here
Ministry to build two lifts at Kampar Railway Station
From: the Star Online
Date: 19 May 2012
The Transport Ministry will build two lifts at the railway station here to make it easier for the disabled to take the train.
Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said the project would start next month and was expected to be completed early next year.
The lifts will be constructed near the overhead bridge so that they can cross easily to the opposite platform and back again, he said after a working visit to the station here yesterday.
He said the project, which also included the construction of other disabled-friendly facilities like toilets, parking bays and ramps, costs about RM2.1 million.
Read more here
Immigration office now in Kampar Perdana
From: the Star Online
Date: 18 November 2011
The Immigration Department in Kampar has moved into its new office in Taman Kampar Perdana, one month ahead of schedule.
The new office is proving to be a great convenience for locals, who previously had to travel all the way to Ipoh to apply for and renew their passports.
State Immigration Department director Mohamad Shukri Nawi said the branch office had on Monday moved out of its premises shared with the Kinta Selatan National Registration Department in Jalan Idris, in the old section of town.
Read more here
Westlake's decadent night culture
By: Calyn Ong, Chester Chin, Chong Kah Yuan, Song Sook Kin, Ting Zhao Song (J-On)
Date: 29 October 2011
Kampar, 29 October (J-on) – The Westlake township in Kampar is known for its serene lake and beautiful park, but when dusk falls, all hell breaks loose.
Smashed beer bottles, cigarette butts and torn junk food packets.
Walk through the lakeside promenade and Beijing precinct at Westlake on a Saturday morning and chances are you'll be greeted by these items strewn across the pavement.
Moved by this filthy sight, our reporting team decided to look into the matter and discovered a debauched night life culture at the Westlake housing area in this quaint town.
During one of the team's midnight stakeouts at Seksyen 1/1 in Westlake, we came across a group of young people who were engaging in rowdy behaviour. They were shouting and screaming in ecstasy.
The team tried to approach the group but were stopped by a female member who said in Mandarin, "Don't come near! War is starting."
Minutes later, they started giving chase and threw a white powdery substance at each other while laughing hysterically.
On the same night, about 100 metres away from this group of students, a black Proton Wira was seen parked across the row of houses along the road. What sets this particular vehicle apart from the other cars there was the fact that it was blasting loud music from the stereo.
The shocking thing was that all this transpired at the wee hours of the morning when most people are fast asleep.
Driven by this course of events, our reporting team approached Danish House Sdn. Bhd. at their office in Manchester. The company manages the majority of student accommodations at Westlake.
Not only that, their company is also responsible for providing neighbourhood security within this housing vicinity.
When asked for comments regarding these night activities in Westlake, the representative at the Customer Service desk declined to answer. When pressed further by one of our reporters, she hesitated before finally saying that the company can't divulge such information to the public.
Read more here
Furniture shop at Taman Kampar Perdana set ablaze
By: Edmund Lee Tatt Weng (J-On)
Date: 15 September 2011
Kampar, 15 September (J-on) – The series of arson attacks in Taman Kampar Perdana over the past few weeks has now given way to bigger and bolder fires.
This time around, it involved a furniture shop in Jalan Perdana which was almost burnt down.
After a spate of arson attacks in Taman Kampar Perdana, the culprit is still at large. It could not be verified if the series of arson attacks had anything to do with the fire at the furniture shop.
However, the police has yet to conclude the cause of the fire and further investigations are pending.
This is the 16th case of deliberate fire in Taman Kampar Perdana and is the most serious incident thus far.
The fire allegedly started around 7 pm after the glass behind the back door of the furniture shop had been broken into.
Read more here
Date: 12 September 2011
Kampar, 12 September (J-on) – Barely 24 hours after the last attack, the arsonist strikes again. This time, an empty unit of a flat is the new target.
The incident took place late evening today at one of the four blocks of the four-storey flat at the end of Taman Kampar Perdana.
A policeman who saw the smoke from afar alerted the fire and rescue department. He then rushed to the empty house which is located at the fourth floor of the flat. He broke the door down and put off the fire in the room.
According to a reliable source who does not wish to be named, he suspects the culprits are students staying here and they might be in a group as they know this area so well and have managed to escape from the police.
Read more here
Date: 11 September 2011
Kampar, 11 September (J-on) – After a peaceful one week, an arson attack took place again at Taman Kampar Perdana or known as Eastlake, the place where many of University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) students stay.
The flood rose as high as 2 feet which threatened the safety of road users, fortunately there was no road accident being reported so far.
However, a Y2S3 Public Relation student from UTAR, Choo Chong Khan was much affected by the heavy rain, where his room in Westlake residential area was flooded with water leaked from the ceiling.
Despite the tight security, a bicycle was torched at midnight while everyone was sleeping.
The UTAR student who stays in the house ran out to the police post at 4 am yesterday upon seeing the fire. However, the policemen were not there as it rained heavily. Therefore, he called the RELA personnel.
“When I reached here, the fire was already put off. I asked the student to make a police report but he declined. I suspect the attack was done by the local residents here," said Kampar RELA platoon leader Captain Ng Kim Meng.
Read more here
Photos: Chiang Chee Keat, Chiew Zhi Wey
Date: 28 April 2011
Kampar, 28 April (J-on) – Kampar was hit by flash flood this evening due to unusual heavy downpour, causing drains to overflow.
The flood rose as high as 2 feet which threatened the safety of road users, fortunately there was no road accident being reported so far.
However, a Y2S3 Public Relation student from UTAR, Choo Chong Khan was much affected by the heavy rain, where his room in Westlake residential area was flooded with water leaked from the ceiling.
“This was the first time it happened to me, but my housemate had also experienced ceiling leakage during heavy rainfall in the past” said Choo.
“When I felt water dripping from the ceiling, I was stunned for few seconds, next thing I did was calling for help from my housemate” he said.
“We could not do anything but putting pails on the floor and sweeping the water into the bathroom” he added.
Choo also mentioned that he spent more than 2 hours to clean up the mess in his room.
Choo has uploaded a video showing the disastrous leakage in his room on Facebook.
More pictures here
Date: 2 March 2011
I HOPE my letter will be published because it is for the betterment of our young generation who seek quality and affordable education.
Their only hope is Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) if they fail to secure a place in the public universities.
Utar existed due to the effort of MCA.
The organisation has contributed greatly to the education of our young generations. Many thanks to MCA.
Sad to say, while the course fees are still affordable to the masses, the cost of living for students has increased tremendously.
One particular campus I want to mention is the Kampar campus.
Hostel fees keep increasing and bus fares to the campus are a bit high.
Most students there come from middle income families.
Please have a heart.
I appeal to those people managing the hostels like Danish Homes to try to keep the rentals low so that students can continue to enjoy quality education with peace of mind without burdening their families.
Read more here
Date: 6 October 2010
Human nature is such that there are two kinds of human behaviour when it comes to charity - the pretentious and the altruistic donor. I have always doubted the sincerity of those who give to charity by proclaiming it under the flashbulbs of press photographers. In these amusing photo ops, you see the donors posing with an enormous mock cheque to emphasize the size of the donation. If you're truly charitable, why not dispense with the fanfare and write the amount on a normal cheque?
Having said this, I can now tell you about the truly altruistic gesture of philanthropist Koon Yew Yin. He made an offer of RM30 million, quite gratuitously, for the building of hostels for University Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) students in Kampar.
Ever since the university was founded, its students have had to find their own accommodation outside campus. In many cases, they have to pay exorbitant rents far beyond the means of poor or even middle- class students.
The generosity of Koon was brought to my attention by the unflattering headline 'Tycoon wanted seat on council' in theSun (Sept 3, 2010). The article's sub-headline was 'Koon also wanted Utar residential village named after him, says MCA division chief'.
The MCA division chief in question, Ipoh Timur's Thong Fah Chong, had said Koon's requests were not acceptable as they had "exceeded the university's jurisdiction and [could be] deemed an interference in the management of the university". Thong added that hostels could not be named at one's whim and fancy.
In his immediate response, Koon countered that although it was correct that while the facility was to be named after him, what he had specified was that the hostel blocks should be named after the fundamental rights such as Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Freedom, or the qualities of integrity such as honesty, justice, etc.
Koon also categorically denied he had ever requested a seat on the Utar council, clarifying instead that he had agreed to Utar's counter-proposal for a task force to oversee the construction of the hostels.
He said his requests, including for a seven-man task force (four from Utar and three to be nominated by him) to oversee the construction of the hostels, and for all construction contracts exceeding RM10,000 to be open to competitive tenders, were to ensure everything was done in the interest of the students. He said it was not meant to interfere with the management of the university.
Date: 15 September 2010
Students of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) in Kampar have expressed hope that the monthly rent for off-campus rooms can be reduced to a more affordable RM150.
Read more here
"RM30m offer to UTAR turned down"
By: Kong See Hoh (Sun2Surf)
Date: 31 August 2010
PETALING JAYA (Aug 31, 2010): DAP MP for Taiping Nga Kor Ming disclosed yesterday that MCA had, more than once over the past year, turned down a RM30 million offer by a philanthropist to build hostels for Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman’s (Utar) Kampar campus, Nanyang Siang Pau and Oriental Daily News reported today.
Nga said this was revealed to him in a recent email by 77-year-old Koon Yew Yin, the founder of three listed construction companies, IJM Corporation Bhd, Gamuda Bhd and Mudajaya Group Bhd.
Koon, a retired chartered civil engineer who stays busy with charity work, has provided more than RM1 million in scholarships for needy Utar students.
“Koon said in the email that because Utar’s Kampar campus had no hostels, its some 13,000 students were forced to find off-campus accommodation, paying as much as RM420 for a twin-sharing room,” Nga said.
He said to alleviate the burden of these students, Koon offered RM30 million for the university to build hostels.
“Koon had one condition, i.e. the donation must be used to build hostels and the returns from the hostels are to be used to build more hostels. But MCA and the university’s management rejected the offer.”
Nga said MCA had acquired 1,300 acres from the state government at a minimum cost for the Utar Kampar campus. It also raised funds for the project from the Chinese, but only 250 acres had been developed so far.
Contacted by Oriental Daily, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek urged Nga to arrange for a meeting with Koon on the offer.
Read more here
Greed can blind one's vision...
By: Koon Yew Yin
Date: 20 August 2010
After receiving confirmation that UTAR has no plans to build hostels, exactly one year ago, on 20th Aug last year, I offered a RM 30 million donation to UTAR to build hostels with all the net profit to go towards building more hostels. (But) for the last one year, it appears as if the Board of Trustees of UTAR has been using various methods to delay or reject my donation offer. Various stakeholders whose names I shall not divulge who own land outside the university campus and are reaping windfall gains from the booming student rental market do not want me to disturb their fantastically profitable real estate business.
Every past issue of the Ipoh Echo during the past several months has carried an advertisement of my offer of scholarships to help poor students whose family income is less than RM 2,000 per month. In the last three and half years, I have given scholarships to about 70 really poor students and most of them are studying in UTAR Kampar.
Before the end of the year, my first scholarship holder will be graduating as an accountant. This student had 10A1 for his SPM but failed to receive a scholarship from anywhere. Moreover, his father died soon after he completed his SPM. He is one of many thousands of bright but poor students who do not have the resources to continue their higher education.
My assistance on its own can only make a small dent in this large scale phenomenon of deserving Malaysian students who cannot further their studies and realize their potential unless the government, private sector and the well-to-do step in to provide assistance.
Direct financial assistance by sponsors is one way to reach out to the poor and deserving students. There are other ways, including more structured approaches that are available, especially to higher educational institutions that can play such an important role in ensuring equity of access to poor bright students.
Let me explain one of these structured approaches. There are currently 12,500 students in UTAR and 2,100 students in TAR College. The student population is increasing by 2,000 a year and is expected to hit well above the 20,000 mark soon. As reported the Perak Government has allocated 520 ha of land and UTAR has utilized less than 100 ha. for the current development.
After receiving confirmation that UTAR has no plans to build hostels, exactly one year ago, on 20th Aug last year, I offered a RM 30 million donation to UTAR to build hostels with all the net profit to go towards building more hostels. I have openly declared that my intention is to help the students and I do not want any part of the profit for myself.
For the last one year, it appears as if the Board of Trustees of UTAR has been using various methods to delay or reject my donation offer. Various stakeholders whose names I shall not divulge who own land outside the university campus and are reaping windfall gains from the booming student rental market do not want me to disturb their fantastically profitable real estate business. Needless to say, whist they are making hay while the sun shines, the tens of thousands of UTAR students and parents supporting them are the big losers.
Frequently my scholarship holders complain that the amount of money I give them is not sufficient because the room rentals continue to go up. Moreover, they have the constant fear that they might not get a place to stay on their return from the university break period. According to the last check I did, the monthly rental of a twin sharing room was RM 420 some months ago. It may have gone up more since then.
Read more here
Date: 7 January 2010
KUALA LUMPUR – Plans by renowned philanthropist Koon Yew Yin, who has offered scholarships to Utar students to further alleviate their problems have hit a caveat.
Koon made a RM30mil donation offer in August this year to build hostels at the Utar Kampar campus to help students “because all the poor students who have taken my scholarships have been complaining that their room rental keeps going up and up.”
According to Koon, there are about 10,000 students in Utar Kampar and the university has no plan to build any accommodation for students.
In a letter to the media, Koon vented his frustration saying the Utar “was not willing to accept my RM30mil donation and to allow me to have control of a task force to oversee the spending of my money for building hostels within the Utar campus.”
“The housing developers are making hay while the sun shines. They just cannot build fast enough to meet the rapid increase of about 2,000 students per year,” said Koon.
As a result, room rentals in the campus town are going up with a twin sharing room going at RM420 a month, he claimed.
Koon who met MCA president Ong Tee Keat during a meeting earlier, said that the MCA leader was shocked that Utar was not willing to accept his RM30mil donation and to allow him to have control of the task force.
Koon said that Utar has 1,300 acres of land and he only requires 30 acres to build the hostels.
He alleged that Utar had insisted that he could build hostels to accommodate only 5,000 students so as not to “upset the current property rental market outside the campus.”
Koon also said that he had accepted all terms by Utar, including donating the money directly to the university account.
However, Koon said in his letter that now, the Utar board of trustees chairman, Lau Yin Pin has written to him saying that they were willing to forego my RM30mil if he (Koon) insists on having control over the task force to manage the money he has donated.
“Their letter of rejection is disingenuous to say the least. In the first place, they are willing to accept my proposed donation (according to all except one) on the basis of the conditions that I have set out,” he said.
Koon said that the letter to him states that “the Trustees and the Council will ensure that your donation will be utilised specifically for the purpose stated by [me]” and “the returns from the hostel will also be utilised according to [my] wishes.
Koon wants 50 % of the returns to go to the Koon Yew Yin Scholarship and Loan Fund to be managed by Utar and the balance 50% of the returns for new hostel construction at Utar.
“However, in the same letter they state that ‘from the date of its inception on Aug 13, 2002, Utar has been receiving donations from various people and organisations including a launching grant of RM50mil from the Federal Government.
None of these donors have imposed any terms or conditions on Utar," said Koon.
Koon said that just because past donors have not insisted on conditions on their donations should not be used to reject his offer.
“This so-called tradition is being used to reject my condition for control of the task force and is quite frankly, absurd and unacceptable. It is clear to any observer that if the Utar management agrees to the other conditions I have set out, they are already breaking the so-called “practice and tradition” of unconditional donations.”
Read more here
Bright future for Kampar
By: Foong Thim Leng (the Star)
Date: 4 June 2009
KAMPAR in the Kinta Valley in Perak has been proclaimed a full-fledged district, paving the way for greater development.
The proclamation was made by the Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah on May 21 following a Perak State Gazette on April 23 to upgrade the Gopeng-Kampar subdistrict into a district.
Kampar MP Datuk Lee Chee Leong sees a faster pace in the growth of the town with the new status.
“We can apply for more federal and state government funds to upgrade infrastructure to attract investments and to improve the quality of life for residents.
”There are about 9,000 students in Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman and Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman in Bandar Baru Kampar,” he said.
Lee, who is also deputy Foreign Minister, said housing development in the new township had been rapid with over 5,000 houses and shops built in the past ten years and more would be coming up soon.
He said better administration was expected as the state government would be gazetting a 50ha site in Batu Putih near the town centre to be the district’s new administrative hub.
Lee said there were plans to built a new hospital near Batu Putih.
He also sees great potential in tourism development in the district.
”We have tropical fish breeders in Lawan Kuad and Sungai Itek.
”The fish farms there are expected to produce 75 million of fish worth about RM30mil by next year. About 85% of the fish are exported to Singapore and Europe,” he said.
He said the famous Gua Tempurong caves in Gopeng, Sungai Gopeng Recreational Area and the Batu Berangkai waterfalls about 2.5km from Kampar town could be further developed to attract tourists.
Lee said better sales for Kampar’s favourite food items like chicken biscuits, curry chicken bread, claypot chicken rice, choy yuen (a cross between sawi and kailan), prawn noodles, and loh shee fun (rice noodles) could be expected.
Lee said the district would be working towards attaining municipal status.
“We have a population of 93,000 residents and the yearly revenue of Kampar was about RM12 mil last year.
“We need to have a population of 100,000 and a revenue of RM20mil to attain municipal status,” he said.
The new district has an area of 920sq km. Villages under its jurisdiction include Malim Nawar, Mambang Diawan, Jeram, Kopisan, Lawan Kuda and Kota Bharu.
During the proclamation ceremony, former Inspector-General of Police Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar who is a grandchild of Kampar founder Ngah Jabor @Iman Prang Jabor was given the honour to hand over the proclamation deed to Sultan Azlan Shah.
According to local historian Chye Kooi Loong, French mining engineers Brot de Saint Paul-Lias and Errington de la Croix visited Perak in 1880 and found that the area could be the richest tin ore field in the world.
Chinese miners from Lahat, Pusing, Gopeng and Batu Gajah then poured in and set up camp along the banks of Sungai Kranji, a tributary of Sungai Kampar.
At the same time, Ngah Jabor, an enterprising Sumatran penghulu, established himself in the area with his followers.
The Chinese miners and the Malay group eventually came together to form a settlement known as Mambang Diawan (Fairies among the Clouds) in 1886.
According to a Malay legend, the fairies among the clouds came down from the mountain and pointed out where tin was located to the early Malay prospectors.
(This Mambang Diawan, named after the mountain that overlooks the village, is located at Jalan Tokong and is not to be mistaken for the Mambang Diawan new village near Kampar which was set up during the Emergency.)
Later, district officer J.B.M. Leech felt that Mambang Diawan was too long a name for the fast growing town and renamed it Kampar after Sungai Kampar.
However, the Chinese tin miners called it ‘Kam Poh’ which means ‘precious as gold’.
Ngah Jabor’s former house can still be seen in Kampung Abdullah, a village named after his eldest son. The house though is in a state of disrepair.
The legacy of the early pioneers includes over 20 Chinese clansmen guilds and associations found along Jalan Gopeng, and various temples around town.
Chye remembered that the European and local miners would gather at the three liquor shops in town in the 1950s to celebrate every time the sluices at the mines were cleaned for the tin ore to be collected and sold.
”Kampar was a busy town, especially during the Chinese New Year and festivals.
“A day after the Mooncake Festival, you could see piles of mooncakes being sold at the restaurants in town at a special discount of a dollar each,” he said.
He said the people of Kampar had gone through tough times during the Great Depression in the 1930s and then the Japanese occupation during World War II.
The famous battle of Kampar was fought between the 11th Indian Division and the Japanese 5th Division from December 30, 1941, to January 2, 1942, at the Green Ridge outside Kampar town.
The Emergency and collapse of the tin industry in 1984 were other dark periods.
It took Kampar about 20 years to regain its shine as the hub of education with the setting up of Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman followed by Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman.
Read more here
Wikipedia for Kampar
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman College
Pejabat Daerah & Tanah Kampar
Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah Kampar
Balai Bomba Perak
Hospital Kampar
Kedai Tenaga TNB Kampar
Lembaga Air Perak
Telekom Malaysia Perak
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Below are also some previous articles and letters in relation to Kampar:
MRCB to build Giant hypermarkets in Danau Kota in Setapak and Kampar
By: Starproperty
Date: 4 October 2013
Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) via wholly-owned subsidiary Gelanggang Harapan Construction Sdn Bhd has acceptaed an award from GCH Retail (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd to construct Giant hypermarkets in Danau Kota, Setapak and Kampar, Perak on a design-and-build basis on a contract sum of RM80.8 mil.
The breakdown of the total is RM45.8 mil for Giant Danau Kota and RM35 mil for Giant Kampar.
Giant Danau Kota will be constructed within 12 months and to be completed by October 2014. The Giant Kampar will be constructed within 10 months and to be completed by August 2014.
Read more here
Westlake - Security pitfalls await the unwary
By: Goh Kae Min (J-On)
Date: 17 July 2013
In recent years, as the Westlake population grows inexorably due to the business of education, rumor has it that the crime rate in the region has soared to threatening levels and the security of student hostels is no longer as promising as it was. Living is perceived to have been much safer and secured back in the good old days when stories of bag-snatching or serial underwear theft were never heard of.
Unsure of whether the deteriorating security is merely a rumor or as serious as it purports, an investigation is specially conducted in order to provide information which can be helpful in clearing the rumor while assisting students to prevent crime.
First of all, we have the Danish House Management to answer a few questions. According to Chang Yoke Meng, head of security department, about 80% of the cases are actually petty crimes such as theft and committed by students themselves. Plenty of theft cases have been solved and the offenders are often students.
Read more here
Student by day, thief by night: Accounting student in Kampar nabbed breaking into house
By: Cheryl Hew (the Star)
Date: 16 July 2013
Undergraduates normally concentrate on studying and nothing else, but one such student here apparently moonlights as a thief.
The student would go to class in the mornings just like his peers but would transform himself into a slick housebreaker when night falls.
Following cases of break-ins at the Westlake residential area in Bandar Baru Kampar beginning early this year, police had stepped up surveillance of the area. Their efforts were rewarded when they nabbed the 20-year old first-year accounting student at a private university here.
Read more here
A town called Precious Gold
By: Chang Yi (Borneo Post Online)
Date: 3 February 2013
Driving out of Kuala Lumpur along the highway, one could see limestone hills framing the scenic countryside. If occasional industrial chimneys and machinery did not punctuate the hilly contour, one could actually imagine a legendary princess flying through the air in the misty morning!
We were making our way towards Kampar just as the sun rose a little higher above the hills. Would there be gold as its name suggests in Chinese - Kam Pou or Precious Gold?
"It's always a delight to drive to Kampar," our friend exclaimed chirpily. She loves driving up and down the peninsula for as many years as she can remember. She could be in KL in the morning, Ipoh in the afternoon and Penang in the evening! But Kampar will always be in her heart because that's where her beloved late husband came from.
A much travelled Kampar man, he had taught her all the best things in life - and especially food in the secret corners of not only Malaysia but Asia as well. "He really loved food and friends," she recalled.
In no time we were in Kampar to soak up its pristine beauty - the large expanses of water, the legacy of the mining era and the greenery-covered hills. We had left the scarred limestone hills behind.
Kampar awakened after new businesses sprang up recently with the setting up of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and Kolej TAR.
Read more here
Peaceful no more
By: Clifford Lee (J-On)
Date: 9 September 2012
It was supposed to be a happy study session yet ended up a nightmare for two University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) undergraduates.
Wong (guy), 20, and Huam (girl), 18, were robbed at about 3.30am morning on their way back home from Jalan Hala Timah (Newtown).
Wong, a year two student of Computer Science in UTAR, said that two young Chinese men of about age of 25 came with a car and 'hit' them at Jalan Batu Hijau (the road between Newtown and Westlake).
"They (robbers) stopped their car in front of me and forced me to emergency brake, and they rushed down from the car with knives in their hand," he said, adding that he was riding a motorcycle.
Read more here
Kampar's landscape changes with new private school
Date: 2 July 2012
Year 2013 is set to mark another milestone for Kampar - an education hub in Perak - when its international school welcomes its pioneer batch of students.
Westlake International School (WIS) arrives some 10 years after University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) which changed the landscape of Kampar.
Now, Kampar is also known as a university town.
UTAR, Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman (KTAR) and WIS are located next to one another in Taman Bandar Baru, Kampar.
Of the 18,000 tertiary students in Kampar at present, 15,000 are from UTAR and the rest from KTAR.
Co-chairman of WIS board Tan Sri Hew See Tong said international schools would help to nurture more talents who could meet the demands of a rapidly changing environment at home and abroad.
"Education is very important for our younger generation; and a good command in languages, particularly Chinese and English is an asset," he said.
Hew pointed out that there were few international schools which were affordable to the ordinary folks, and WIS was aimed at providing more of such opportunities to the people.
Read more here
Kampar residents look forward to a new hospital in two years
Date: 4 June 2012
Folks are hopeful of Kampar Hospital's promise to bring about better quality healthcare services while waiting for the town's new hospital to be completed.
Commending the Health Ministry's effort to upgrade the old hospital, Kampar resident Lee Chun Li said the move was important since it would be another two years from now before the new hospital was ready.
"I am grateful the existing hospital has not been neglected and standards have not dropped even as they get ready to shit into a new building. The nurses and doctors have remained as friendly and helpful as they were before," said the 45-year-old housewife.
Lee added that it would greatly benefit Kampar folks to have their own physiotherapy unit instead of having to go all the way to Ipoh to seek treatment.
Read more here
Used condom found in female student's hostel
Translation: Yvette Yeow (J-On)
Date: 28 June 2012
The J-On student journalists of UTAR got a tip off that a used condom still containing semen was found in an all girls' student dorm in the Harvard dormitory at Westlake this afternoon.
J-On reporters went to the scene at 3.20pm after receiving the tip off to better understand the story. The room's owner who wishes to be identified as Tan said that the used condom was found in her bathroom's basin which was situated on the second floor.
The room's only residents were Tan and her sister who was away in campus at that time.
Tan said that she and her sister both used their bathroom in the morning before going to class but there was no sign of any suspicious object.
There were also 5 other residents who stay in the same dorm, they were all Tan's close friends. Tan said that all her friends went for their classes at 12pm and there were no signs of suspicious activity or person. Still at 12.40pm when Tan return, she found the condom sitting there.
Tan told the reporters that she suspects it was either a cruel joke or an intruder broke into their dormitory. But it was quite impossible because Tan's bathroom is situated on the second floor and if there was really an intruder, what was his or her motive? Tan reported that none of their belongings were stolen or missing.
Tan: "The window's opening is very narrow, it would take a lot of effort just to open it without falling down."
Recently, there were a few reported cases about UTAR's students being raped, but there is still no official news release from the police, the university or the dormitory's security.
Read more here
Danish House student committee voices out
By: Ashwin Kumar (J-On)
Date: 16 June 2012
The meeting was held at the Grand Kampar Hotel and was formally conducted by the official moedrator, Mr. K. Ravinther. The main objective of the dialogue is to address the various problems faced by the Danish House residents. According to Ravinther, there is no point in dragging these issues for months and it is good to have student representatives as they can give feedback as both students and residents of Danish House point of view on unstable internet connection and security issues.
Read more here
Ministry to build two lifts at Kampar Railway Station
From: the Star Online
Date: 19 May 2012
Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said the project would start next month and was expected to be completed early next year.
The lifts will be constructed near the overhead bridge so that they can cross easily to the opposite platform and back again, he said after a working visit to the station here yesterday.
He said the project, which also included the construction of other disabled-friendly facilities like toilets, parking bays and ramps, costs about RM2.1 million.
Read more here
Immigration office now in Kampar Perdana
Date: 18 November 2011
The Immigration Department in Kampar has moved into its new office in Taman Kampar Perdana, one month ahead of schedule.
The new office is proving to be a great convenience for locals, who previously had to travel all the way to Ipoh to apply for and renew their passports.
State Immigration Department director Mohamad Shukri Nawi said the branch office had on Monday moved out of its premises shared with the Kinta Selatan National Registration Department in Jalan Idris, in the old section of town.
Read more here
Westlake's decadent night culture
Date: 29 October 2011
Kampar, 29 October (J-on) – The Westlake township in Kampar is known for its serene lake and beautiful park, but when dusk falls, all hell breaks loose.
Smashed beer bottles, cigarette butts and torn junk food packets.
Walk through the lakeside promenade and Beijing precinct at Westlake on a Saturday morning and chances are you'll be greeted by these items strewn across the pavement.
Moved by this filthy sight, our reporting team decided to look into the matter and discovered a debauched night life culture at the Westlake housing area in this quaint town.
During one of the team's midnight stakeouts at Seksyen 1/1 in Westlake, we came across a group of young people who were engaging in rowdy behaviour. They were shouting and screaming in ecstasy.
The team tried to approach the group but were stopped by a female member who said in Mandarin, "Don't come near! War is starting."
Minutes later, they started giving chase and threw a white powdery substance at each other while laughing hysterically.
On the same night, about 100 metres away from this group of students, a black Proton Wira was seen parked across the row of houses along the road. What sets this particular vehicle apart from the other cars there was the fact that it was blasting loud music from the stereo.
The shocking thing was that all this transpired at the wee hours of the morning when most people are fast asleep.
Driven by this course of events, our reporting team approached Danish House Sdn. Bhd. at their office in Manchester. The company manages the majority of student accommodations at Westlake.
Not only that, their company is also responsible for providing neighbourhood security within this housing vicinity.
When asked for comments regarding these night activities in Westlake, the representative at the Customer Service desk declined to answer. When pressed further by one of our reporters, she hesitated before finally saying that the company can't divulge such information to the public.
Read more here
Furniture shop at Taman Kampar Perdana set ablaze
Date: 15 September 2011
Kampar, 15 September (J-on) – The series of arson attacks in Taman Kampar Perdana over the past few weeks has now given way to bigger and bolder fires.
This time around, it involved a furniture shop in Jalan Perdana which was almost burnt down.
After a spate of arson attacks in Taman Kampar Perdana, the culprit is still at large. It could not be verified if the series of arson attacks had anything to do with the fire at the furniture shop.
However, the police has yet to conclude the cause of the fire and further investigations are pending.
This is the 16th case of deliberate fire in Taman Kampar Perdana and is the most serious incident thus far.
The fire allegedly started around 7 pm after the glass behind the back door of the furniture shop had been broken into.
Read more here
Flat becomes new arson target
By: Oh Chin Eng (J-On)Date: 12 September 2011
Kampar, 12 September (J-on) – Barely 24 hours after the last attack, the arsonist strikes again. This time, an empty unit of a flat is the new target.
The incident took place late evening today at one of the four blocks of the four-storey flat at the end of Taman Kampar Perdana.
A policeman who saw the smoke from afar alerted the fire and rescue department. He then rushed to the empty house which is located at the fourth floor of the flat. He broke the door down and put off the fire in the room.
According to a reliable source who does not wish to be named, he suspects the culprits are students staying here and they might be in a group as they know this area so well and have managed to escape from the police.
Read more here
Bicycle torched in 13th arson attack at Taman Kampar Perdana
By: Oh Chin Eng (J-On)Date: 11 September 2011
Kampar, 11 September (J-on) – After a peaceful one week, an arson attack took place again at Taman Kampar Perdana or known as Eastlake, the place where many of University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) students stay.
The flood rose as high as 2 feet which threatened the safety of road users, fortunately there was no road accident being reported so far.
However, a Y2S3 Public Relation student from UTAR, Choo Chong Khan was much affected by the heavy rain, where his room in Westlake residential area was flooded with water leaked from the ceiling.
Despite the tight security, a bicycle was torched at midnight while everyone was sleeping.
The UTAR student who stays in the house ran out to the police post at 4 am yesterday upon seeing the fire. However, the policemen were not there as it rained heavily. Therefore, he called the RELA personnel.
“When I reached here, the fire was already put off. I asked the student to make a police report but he declined. I suspect the attack was done by the local residents here," said Kampar RELA platoon leader Captain Ng Kim Meng.
Read more here
Flash flood in Kampar
By: Ting Zhao Song (J-On)Photos: Chiang Chee Keat, Chiew Zhi Wey
Date: 28 April 2011
Kampar, 28 April (J-on) – Kampar was hit by flash flood this evening due to unusual heavy downpour, causing drains to overflow.
The flood rose as high as 2 feet which threatened the safety of road users, fortunately there was no road accident being reported so far.
However, a Y2S3 Public Relation student from UTAR, Choo Chong Khan was much affected by the heavy rain, where his room in Westlake residential area was flooded with water leaked from the ceiling.
“This was the first time it happened to me, but my housemate had also experienced ceiling leakage during heavy rainfall in the past” said Choo.
“When I felt water dripping from the ceiling, I was stunned for few seconds, next thing I did was calling for help from my housemate” he said.
“We could not do anything but putting pails on the floor and sweeping the water into the bathroom” he added.
Choo also mentioned that he spent more than 2 hours to clean up the mess in his room.
Choo has uploaded a video showing the disastrous leakage in his room on Facebook.
More pictures here
Rising cost of living for students
From: the Star Online Date: 2 March 2011
I HOPE my letter will be published because it is for the betterment of our young generation who seek quality and affordable education.
Their only hope is Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) if they fail to secure a place in the public universities.
Utar existed due to the effort of MCA.
The organisation has contributed greatly to the education of our young generations. Many thanks to MCA.
Sad to say, while the course fees are still affordable to the masses, the cost of living for students has increased tremendously.
One particular campus I want to mention is the Kampar campus.
Hostel fees keep increasing and bus fares to the campus are a bit high.
Most students there come from middle income families.
Please have a heart.
I appeal to those people managing the hostels like Danish Homes to try to keep the rentals low so that students can continue to enjoy quality education with peace of mind without burdening their families.
Read more here
Why should MCA interfere with UTAR?
By: NH ChanDate: 6 October 2010
Human nature is such that there are two kinds of human behaviour when it comes to charity - the pretentious and the altruistic donor. I have always doubted the sincerity of those who give to charity by proclaiming it under the flashbulbs of press photographers. In these amusing photo ops, you see the donors posing with an enormous mock cheque to emphasize the size of the donation. If you're truly charitable, why not dispense with the fanfare and write the amount on a normal cheque?
Having said this, I can now tell you about the truly altruistic gesture of philanthropist Koon Yew Yin. He made an offer of RM30 million, quite gratuitously, for the building of hostels for University Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) students in Kampar.
Ever since the university was founded, its students have had to find their own accommodation outside campus. In many cases, they have to pay exorbitant rents far beyond the means of poor or even middle- class students.
The generosity of Koon was brought to my attention by the unflattering headline 'Tycoon wanted seat on council' in theSun (Sept 3, 2010). The article's sub-headline was 'Koon also wanted Utar residential village named after him, says MCA division chief'.
The MCA division chief in question, Ipoh Timur's Thong Fah Chong, had said Koon's requests were not acceptable as they had "exceeded the university's jurisdiction and [could be] deemed an interference in the management of the university". Thong added that hostels could not be named at one's whim and fancy.
In his immediate response, Koon countered that although it was correct that while the facility was to be named after him, what he had specified was that the hostel blocks should be named after the fundamental rights such as Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Freedom, or the qualities of integrity such as honesty, justice, etc.
Koon also categorically denied he had ever requested a seat on the Utar council, clarifying instead that he had agreed to Utar's counter-proposal for a task force to oversee the construction of the hostels.
He said his requests, including for a seven-man task force (four from Utar and three to be nominated by him) to oversee the construction of the hostels, and for all construction contracts exceeding RM10,000 to be open to competitive tenders, were to ensure everything was done in the interest of the students. He said it was not meant to interfere with the management of the university.
Students want reduced room rent in Kampar
By: Humayun Kabir (Malaysiakini)Date: 15 September 2010
Students of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) in Kampar have expressed hope that the monthly rent for off-campus rooms can be reduced to a more affordable RM150.
Read more here
"RM30m offer to UTAR turned down"
By: Kong See Hoh (Sun2Surf)
Date: 31 August 2010
PETALING JAYA (Aug 31, 2010): DAP MP for Taiping Nga Kor Ming disclosed yesterday that MCA had, more than once over the past year, turned down a RM30 million offer by a philanthropist to build hostels for Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman’s (Utar) Kampar campus, Nanyang Siang Pau and Oriental Daily News reported today.
Nga said this was revealed to him in a recent email by 77-year-old Koon Yew Yin, the founder of three listed construction companies, IJM Corporation Bhd, Gamuda Bhd and Mudajaya Group Bhd.
Koon, a retired chartered civil engineer who stays busy with charity work, has provided more than RM1 million in scholarships for needy Utar students.
“Koon said in the email that because Utar’s Kampar campus had no hostels, its some 13,000 students were forced to find off-campus accommodation, paying as much as RM420 for a twin-sharing room,” Nga said.
He said to alleviate the burden of these students, Koon offered RM30 million for the university to build hostels.
“Koon had one condition, i.e. the donation must be used to build hostels and the returns from the hostels are to be used to build more hostels. But MCA and the university’s management rejected the offer.”
Nga said MCA had acquired 1,300 acres from the state government at a minimum cost for the Utar Kampar campus. It also raised funds for the project from the Chinese, but only 250 acres had been developed so far.
Contacted by Oriental Daily, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek urged Nga to arrange for a meeting with Koon on the offer.
Read more here
Greed can blind one's vision...
By: Koon Yew Yin
Date: 20 August 2010
After receiving confirmation that UTAR has no plans to build hostels, exactly one year ago, on 20th Aug last year, I offered a RM 30 million donation to UTAR to build hostels with all the net profit to go towards building more hostels. (But) for the last one year, it appears as if the Board of Trustees of UTAR has been using various methods to delay or reject my donation offer. Various stakeholders whose names I shall not divulge who own land outside the university campus and are reaping windfall gains from the booming student rental market do not want me to disturb their fantastically profitable real estate business.
Every past issue of the Ipoh Echo during the past several months has carried an advertisement of my offer of scholarships to help poor students whose family income is less than RM 2,000 per month. In the last three and half years, I have given scholarships to about 70 really poor students and most of them are studying in UTAR Kampar.
Before the end of the year, my first scholarship holder will be graduating as an accountant. This student had 10A1 for his SPM but failed to receive a scholarship from anywhere. Moreover, his father died soon after he completed his SPM. He is one of many thousands of bright but poor students who do not have the resources to continue their higher education.
My assistance on its own can only make a small dent in this large scale phenomenon of deserving Malaysian students who cannot further their studies and realize their potential unless the government, private sector and the well-to-do step in to provide assistance.
Direct financial assistance by sponsors is one way to reach out to the poor and deserving students. There are other ways, including more structured approaches that are available, especially to higher educational institutions that can play such an important role in ensuring equity of access to poor bright students.
Let me explain one of these structured approaches. There are currently 12,500 students in UTAR and 2,100 students in TAR College. The student population is increasing by 2,000 a year and is expected to hit well above the 20,000 mark soon. As reported the Perak Government has allocated 520 ha of land and UTAR has utilized less than 100 ha. for the current development.
After receiving confirmation that UTAR has no plans to build hostels, exactly one year ago, on 20th Aug last year, I offered a RM 30 million donation to UTAR to build hostels with all the net profit to go towards building more hostels. I have openly declared that my intention is to help the students and I do not want any part of the profit for myself.
For the last one year, it appears as if the Board of Trustees of UTAR has been using various methods to delay or reject my donation offer. Various stakeholders whose names I shall not divulge who own land outside the university campus and are reaping windfall gains from the booming student rental market do not want me to disturb their fantastically profitable real estate business. Needless to say, whist they are making hay while the sun shines, the tens of thousands of UTAR students and parents supporting them are the big losers.
Frequently my scholarship holders complain that the amount of money I give them is not sufficient because the room rentals continue to go up. Moreover, they have the constant fear that they might not get a place to stay on their return from the university break period. According to the last check I did, the monthly rental of a twin sharing room was RM 420 some months ago. It may have gone up more since then.
UTAR Kampar turns down RM 30 million
From: Malaysian MirrorDate: 7 January 2010
KUALA LUMPUR – Plans by renowned philanthropist Koon Yew Yin, who has offered scholarships to Utar students to further alleviate their problems have hit a caveat.
Koon made a RM30mil donation offer in August this year to build hostels at the Utar Kampar campus to help students “because all the poor students who have taken my scholarships have been complaining that their room rental keeps going up and up.”
According to Koon, there are about 10,000 students in Utar Kampar and the university has no plan to build any accommodation for students.
In a letter to the media, Koon vented his frustration saying the Utar “was not willing to accept my RM30mil donation and to allow me to have control of a task force to oversee the spending of my money for building hostels within the Utar campus.”
“The housing developers are making hay while the sun shines. They just cannot build fast enough to meet the rapid increase of about 2,000 students per year,” said Koon.
As a result, room rentals in the campus town are going up with a twin sharing room going at RM420 a month, he claimed.
Koon who met MCA president Ong Tee Keat during a meeting earlier, said that the MCA leader was shocked that Utar was not willing to accept his RM30mil donation and to allow him to have control of the task force.
Koon said that Utar has 1,300 acres of land and he only requires 30 acres to build the hostels.
He alleged that Utar had insisted that he could build hostels to accommodate only 5,000 students so as not to “upset the current property rental market outside the campus.”
Koon also said that he had accepted all terms by Utar, including donating the money directly to the university account.
However, Koon said in his letter that now, the Utar board of trustees chairman, Lau Yin Pin has written to him saying that they were willing to forego my RM30mil if he (Koon) insists on having control over the task force to manage the money he has donated.
“Their letter of rejection is disingenuous to say the least. In the first place, they are willing to accept my proposed donation (according to all except one) on the basis of the conditions that I have set out,” he said.
Koon said that the letter to him states that “the Trustees and the Council will ensure that your donation will be utilised specifically for the purpose stated by [me]” and “the returns from the hostel will also be utilised according to [my] wishes.
Koon wants 50 % of the returns to go to the Koon Yew Yin Scholarship and Loan Fund to be managed by Utar and the balance 50% of the returns for new hostel construction at Utar.
“However, in the same letter they state that ‘from the date of its inception on Aug 13, 2002, Utar has been receiving donations from various people and organisations including a launching grant of RM50mil from the Federal Government.
None of these donors have imposed any terms or conditions on Utar," said Koon.
Koon said that just because past donors have not insisted on conditions on their donations should not be used to reject his offer.
“This so-called tradition is being used to reject my condition for control of the task force and is quite frankly, absurd and unacceptable. It is clear to any observer that if the Utar management agrees to the other conditions I have set out, they are already breaking the so-called “practice and tradition” of unconditional donations.”
Read more here
Bright future for Kampar
By: Foong Thim Leng (the Star)
Date: 4 June 2009
KAMPAR in the Kinta Valley in Perak has been proclaimed a full-fledged district, paving the way for greater development.
The proclamation was made by the Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah on May 21 following a Perak State Gazette on April 23 to upgrade the Gopeng-Kampar subdistrict into a district.
Kampar MP Datuk Lee Chee Leong sees a faster pace in the growth of the town with the new status.
“We can apply for more federal and state government funds to upgrade infrastructure to attract investments and to improve the quality of life for residents.
”There are about 9,000 students in Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman and Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman in Bandar Baru Kampar,” he said.
Lee, who is also deputy Foreign Minister, said housing development in the new township had been rapid with over 5,000 houses and shops built in the past ten years and more would be coming up soon.
He said better administration was expected as the state government would be gazetting a 50ha site in Batu Putih near the town centre to be the district’s new administrative hub.
Lee said there were plans to built a new hospital near Batu Putih.
He also sees great potential in tourism development in the district.
”We have tropical fish breeders in Lawan Kuad and Sungai Itek.
”The fish farms there are expected to produce 75 million of fish worth about RM30mil by next year. About 85% of the fish are exported to Singapore and Europe,” he said.
He said the famous Gua Tempurong caves in Gopeng, Sungai Gopeng Recreational Area and the Batu Berangkai waterfalls about 2.5km from Kampar town could be further developed to attract tourists.
Lee said better sales for Kampar’s favourite food items like chicken biscuits, curry chicken bread, claypot chicken rice, choy yuen (a cross between sawi and kailan), prawn noodles, and loh shee fun (rice noodles) could be expected.
Lee said the district would be working towards attaining municipal status.
“We have a population of 93,000 residents and the yearly revenue of Kampar was about RM12 mil last year.
“We need to have a population of 100,000 and a revenue of RM20mil to attain municipal status,” he said.
The new district has an area of 920sq km. Villages under its jurisdiction include Malim Nawar, Mambang Diawan, Jeram, Kopisan, Lawan Kuda and Kota Bharu.
During the proclamation ceremony, former Inspector-General of Police Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar who is a grandchild of Kampar founder Ngah Jabor @Iman Prang Jabor was given the honour to hand over the proclamation deed to Sultan Azlan Shah.
According to local historian Chye Kooi Loong, French mining engineers Brot de Saint Paul-Lias and Errington de la Croix visited Perak in 1880 and found that the area could be the richest tin ore field in the world.
Chinese miners from Lahat, Pusing, Gopeng and Batu Gajah then poured in and set up camp along the banks of Sungai Kranji, a tributary of Sungai Kampar.
At the same time, Ngah Jabor, an enterprising Sumatran penghulu, established himself in the area with his followers.
The Chinese miners and the Malay group eventually came together to form a settlement known as Mambang Diawan (Fairies among the Clouds) in 1886.
According to a Malay legend, the fairies among the clouds came down from the mountain and pointed out where tin was located to the early Malay prospectors.
(This Mambang Diawan, named after the mountain that overlooks the village, is located at Jalan Tokong and is not to be mistaken for the Mambang Diawan new village near Kampar which was set up during the Emergency.)
Later, district officer J.B.M. Leech felt that Mambang Diawan was too long a name for the fast growing town and renamed it Kampar after Sungai Kampar.
However, the Chinese tin miners called it ‘Kam Poh’ which means ‘precious as gold’.
Ngah Jabor’s former house can still be seen in Kampung Abdullah, a village named after his eldest son. The house though is in a state of disrepair.
The legacy of the early pioneers includes over 20 Chinese clansmen guilds and associations found along Jalan Gopeng, and various temples around town.
Chye remembered that the European and local miners would gather at the three liquor shops in town in the 1950s to celebrate every time the sluices at the mines were cleaned for the tin ore to be collected and sold.
”Kampar was a busy town, especially during the Chinese New Year and festivals.
“A day after the Mooncake Festival, you could see piles of mooncakes being sold at the restaurants in town at a special discount of a dollar each,” he said.
He said the people of Kampar had gone through tough times during the Great Depression in the 1930s and then the Japanese occupation during World War II.
The famous battle of Kampar was fought between the 11th Indian Division and the Japanese 5th Division from December 30, 1941, to January 2, 1942, at the Green Ridge outside Kampar town.
The Emergency and collapse of the tin industry in 1984 were other dark periods.
It took Kampar about 20 years to regain its shine as the hub of education with the setting up of Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman followed by Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman.
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