Ipoh World

This panoramic photograph by Rex Photo Studio, taken from the vicinity of the Lam Looking Building, built by Towkay Lam look Ing, shows the view of Yau Tet Shin's New Town market, at Laxamana Road. A typical market scene the photograph shows the people, a group of schoolgirls, the occasional car, bicycles and trishaws. To the left is a three pump Shell Petrol Station with its two Shellubrication bays. To the right can be seen the street sign for Yau Tet Shin Street which runs up to Cowan Street.

The Yau Tet Shin market was built in 1909 by YTS as part of his New Town development and as a gift to the town to replace the first market on the river bank at the far end of Market Street in Old Town. Yau Tet Shin, was a very successful miner, property owner and a good friend of E W Birch (The Resident of Perak).

Wong Kap Soot, Yau Tet Shin's long time business manager and member of the Ipoh Sanitary Board supported him in constructing Ipoh New Town of some 350 houses, which was laid out over the Datoh Panglima Kinta's padi fields. This New Market, (with a structure very like the Old Market in Ipoh Old Town's Market Street), a Mandarin school and theatre were all included as anchor attractions. New Town mirrored the Old Town across the Kinta River, but was built according to better standards, and with more regular streets wide enough for motorcars.

The market suffered a seious fire in 1965.

To read more about Towkay Yau Tet Shin, click here.

To read more about The Celestial Hotel & Dance Hall & Lam Looking Bazaar, click here.

To read more about Towkay Lam Look Ing, click here.

To read a brief history of the Trishaw, click here.

To read more about E W Birch click here.

To go to the next panorama, click here.