Gopeng is a town located in Mukim Teja, District of Kampar, Perak, Malaysia. It is situated approximately 20 km south of Ipoh, the state capital. The town is located on the west side of the North-South Expressway stretch of Tapah-Simpang Pulai. The limestone hills and the Titiwangsa Mountains are clearly visible; the expressway penetrates between them and the view of the Tapah-Gopeng stretch is one of the most picturesque areas on the west side of Peninsular Malaysia. Due to its strategic location, locals are indeed very fortunate[says who?] to have major towns approximately half an hour from Gopeng, Batu Gajah to the west, Ipoh to the north and Kampar at the south.
Gopeng is classified under the newly-created District of Kampar, the 10th district of Perak. Previously Gopeng was inside the Kinta district. The two Mukims under District of Kampar are Mukim Kampar and Mukim Teja. According to the official website of PDT Kampar, the whole area of Gopeng, along with Teja and Kota Baharu are grouped together under Mukim Teja which is now administered by the Penghulu, Mr. Mohd Helmi Jamaludin.
Once this town was bustling with tin miners and locals who busied themselves with the great tin mining industry of Malaysia until the collapse of the tin empire in 1980s. According to locals, there were once French, British and local tin mining companies developing tin mine industry there. Among them was called the Osbourne & Chappel which opened its franchise here in one of Gopeng's rich tin mine. Both locals and immigrants worked there. People started to flee the town and seek better opportunities in neighboring towns and cities soon after the collapse of the 1980s.
However, the love towards the town has never been faded and now Gopeng already flourished with heritage, cuisine and eco-tourism attractions developed by the locals themselves. Gopeng is also well-known for limestone caves such as the Gua Tempurung, located approximately 5 km from the town centre. Gua Tempurung has become a popular weekend getaway for many local and overseas visitors eventually became one of the tourist hot spots.
Gopeng often affiliated with the old mine giant water pipes stretching above the trunk road, Jalan Gopeng, between the Shell Gas Station and Masjid Baru Gopeng. The rusty pipes channeled the water all the way from the hill slopes into the tin mines in the low lands which is now, Gopeng. Locals called it, Paip Besar (Malay), literally, Huge Pipes in English. Although there are no more mining activities, the giant pipes remained intact on the original stilts and became a very significant landmark of recognizing Gopeng. However in July 2010 most of the pipes were removed for scrap metal, leaving just a small section at the side of the main road - the ones that crossed over the road were removed.
No comments:
Post a Comment