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A Former British Army Mess, Tambun Road
The picture shows a bungalow, which we believe was built during the British rule in Malaya (early 20th Century). This home once belonged to a rubber estate manager; it was later bought by Eu Tong Sen - a famous Chinese Miner. In January 1960, the Perak Local Defence Force used it as its base. Today, this bungalow is the HQ for the Markas Rejimen 503(Regiment 503 of the local Armed Forces). This bungalow is at Tambun Road - next to the Ipoh Specialist Hospital (now KPJ Hospital).
Harchand Singh, whose father once worked as a watchman at this bungalow from 1929-1946, gave us the following information :
“It was a German Hospital before the 1st World War. German priests/monks lived there and practiced medicine. Just before the war broke out, they sold it to the famous miner - Eu Tong Sen - and they went back to Germany. The mansion was left vacant for some time; it was well equipped with silver ware, carpets and costly furniture. But all this disappeared over time, as units of the British and Japanese army occupied the place before moving to Singapore. When the Japanese Fighter Pilot Unit occupied the bungalow, there were rumours of the place being ‘haunted’ (some of the pilots had ’seen’ a creature trying to attack them). After the war, Mr Adams (Chief Justice) stayed at the bungalow for a month (he lived alone and occupied the room upstairs); later, the bungalow was used by the Perak P V R Force.”