Swept up by Ipoh’s charms

Ipoh is well-known for the limestone hills that surround it.

A melodious dawn chorus is what usually wakes Dr Ding Lay Ming up in the morning.

The singing and chirping of birds from the nearby greenery surrounding her studio apartment in the heart of the Ipoh city has been greeting her first thing in the morning since she was transferred back to her home state about four months ago.

Ding, 56, says the Silver State is likely to be her last posting before her retirement in a few years time.

“As some born in Perak who has worked 30 years outside the state, it is great to be back to serve in my home state. For me, Perak is the ideal place to retire,” Ding told StarMetro.

Citing Ipoh’s good weather, tasty food, nice people and smooth traffic as some of the attractions, Ding, who was recently promoted to the position of state health director, describes life in Ipoh’s as “nostalgic”.

“Whenever I look out of my window, the green lung of D.R. Seenivasagam Park meets my eyes.

“At night, I usually sleep with the fan on at the slowest speed. Sometimes, it is without the fan or air-conditioning at all.

“This would be unheard of in Petaling Jaya and the Klang Valley,” said Ding who was originally born in Sitiawan. She previously served in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah in Klang and also Hospital Kuala Lumpur.

Experts in the field of retirement living from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were ‘swept away’ in their recent study of Ipoh as a retirement destination for foreigners.

On July 5, StarMetro reported that researchers and experts in the field of retirement living from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were “swept away” during their recent study of Ipoh as a retirement destination for foreigners.

With shared cultural backgrounds and languages, the group all agreed that Ipoh is an ideal place for Asian senior citizens to retire.

They attribute Ipoh’s suitability to its friendly culture, large Chinese community, language, laid-back lifestyle, good air and water, delicious local food, reasonable cost of living, quality healthcare, natural beauty, and plentiful places of interest both on land and at sea.

“It is necessary for us to preserve nature in the Ipoh, instead of constructing more new buildings. It is better to transform or restore old ones because they have so much history.”

“Maybe it’s just my wild idea, but it might be good to let older people relive the past by living in buildings from their time,” added Ding.

Perak State Local Government and Housing Committee Chairman Paul Yong Choo Kiong describes Ipoh as a “balanced city” with natural attractions, good infrastructure and modern facilities.

Yong lauds the idea of making Ipoh a preferred retirement destination for both locals and foreigners as suggested by the international researchers and experts. He agrees that the city’s natural attractions should not be sacrificed for development.

“Ipoh is also known for the many limestone hills that surround it, other than its forests, island and seas. All this should be protected and not exploited any further.”

“It is hard to find a place like Ipoh, where so many natural attractions can be found close to the city. Development is one thing, but we also need to preserve nature and prevent it from being destroyed in the name of development.”

“We should spread development outside of Ipoh, and not have everything focused in the city,” he said, adding that this could also help stimulate economic activity and development in areas outside of the city.”

Yong noted that a new airport is necessary for the state to bring in more tourists and visitors.

“The transportation links are good with trains, the alternative trunk road right next to the North-South Expressway and also flights to Johor Baru and Singapore.”

“However, we still need to upgrade the public transport coverage and frequencies throughout the state to make locations more accessible to people.”

“We need a new airport that is able to handle bigger aircraft, so that more routes can be offered to travellers,” he said, adding that the ideal place for a new airport is Seri Iskandar or Tronoh in Perak Tengah.”

(Source: The Star)