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Forest Lodge (Eu Chateau), Ipoh
Forest Lodge was built (in the early 1900's) by two of Ipoh’s mining millionaires - Eu Tong Sen and Chung Thye Phin. Both towkays shared common passions for motorcars, racehorses, country houses and so on. Thus this led them to build an impressive mansion, a ‘weekend retreat’, just off Gopeng Road.
Forest Lodge was then known for the lavish parties thrown for the town’s VIPs; it also boasted a large stable which housed thoroughbred champions, which Eu and Chung occasionally entered into the races. Both were English-educated ‘Anglophiles’, who had distinct English tastes and valued the fineries of the upper society.
In 1911, Eu Tong Sen visited England. At that time, Eu was the acting Chinese Member of the Federal Council (in place of Towkay Leong Fee, who had taken leave). Hence, Eu was treated well at the homes of England's rich and famous - even attending the Coronation of King George V, while meeting old friends from Malaya such as Sir John Anderson, Sir Ernest Birch, Sir Frank Swettenham and Colonel Walker. The following year, Eu was appointed the permanent Chinese Member of the Federal Council (following Leong Fee’s death).
With his elevated status, Eu Tong Sen decided to restyle Forest Lodge (built at the cost of $ 60 000) to that of the majestic English country homes he saw in England. Chung Thye Phin sold his half to Eu, and bought a 50-acre estate in Taiping. This estate was none other than Drummonds Hill, the former residency of Sir Hugh Low. Eu Tong Sen began working on the new Forest Lodge, which when complete came to be known as Eu Chateau.
The Times of Malaya reported, in 1913, that Forest Lodge :
“...will be a magnificent mansion fit to compare in style and luxury with some of the finest country houses in England. It will contain a smoking room, library, gymnasium and other appurtenances of the up-to-date dwelling place of a modern man of wealth. The house is built immediately behind Mr Chung Thye Phin’s present residence, which is to be pulled down and the carriage drive will go over the site.”
During the Japanese Occupation in Malaya, Eu Tong Sen’s Chateau became the residence of Mr. Kubota, the Japanese military governor of Perak. It was said that the Chateau became a place of ‘many sadistic orgies’. After the Japanese left, the place became the quarters for British servicemen and their families. By 1957, the troops had left (following Malaya’s Independence) and the Eu family sold the land to a rich Malay who later formed a syndicate to develop the property. During this time the Assistant Planner of the Ipoh Town Council, Mr F Watkinson, suggested that the Chateau be taken over by the Government - to be turned into a faculty of the University of Malaya, or converted into a museum. The idea was not taken up.
About a year later, the syndicate which owned Eu Chateau put the building up for sale / rent. The Straits Times (in 1958) reported that the building and the land was estimated at $ 300 000; and that the syndicate was selling the place (Eu Chateau) to partly fund the construction of 200 modern homes within the estate. This area is now known as Chateau Gardens (Taman Chateau), named after ‘Eu Chateau’.
Initially it was intended to demolish the main building but after a suggestion was made by Watkinson (of the Town Council) to Mr Liew Why Hone, a well known architect in Ipoh, that the building should be saved, that was accepted by the syndicate. Consequently, while the area around it would be subjected to development, the mansion itself would be left untouched; In September 1960, the Straits Times quoted Mr Liew (the architect) as saying that Chateau Gardens housing scheme would be ‘of low density’, while the houses would not necessarily have a uniform design. By that time (1960) construction on the first phase of the housing project had begun - it was also reported that the cheapest house (4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms) cost about $ 15 000 (excluding cost of the land).
In 1961, it was learnt that Eu Chateau and its grounds were taken over by the Perak branch of the All-Malaya Muslim Missionary Society. With money from the Perak State Government and the United Kingdom Charitable Trust, an anti-vice vocational training school for girls was to be set up. In June 1961 Mr M Y Hussein, a trustee of the All-Malaya Muslim Missionary Society, told the Straits Times that the first batch of ‘students’ (75 of them) would be enrolled in August. The girls would live at the Chateau and would be taught vocational and house-keeping skills; such as tailoring, embroidery, knitting, cooking, basketry, poultry farming and laundry work - so as to earn ‘a decent and honest living’.
Years later, as enrollment increased, an extension was added towards the back of the mansion. Besides being a vocational school, there was also a kindergarten, which still runs today. Sometime in 2002, a medical centre moved into the mansion (Pusat Rawatan Islamar-Ridzuan). At an unknown date during the early days of the school, a crescent moon and star (symbolising Islam) was fixed onto the main gable wall of the mansion, thus the building became known as the Bulan Bintang Building. The mansion and the vocational school still stands today (2010), at Jalan Chin Hwa.
The three pictures shown here were taken recently. The picture on the left and centre show the front and side view respectively, of the Bulan Bintang Building. The picture on the right is a close up of the crescent moon and star on the main gable wall.
To read about Eu Kong and Eu Tong Sen, click here.
To read more about Chung Thye Phin click here.