Taiping Things to Do

Just minutes away from the Taiping Zoo, Yes!! you can walk over to the T.E.P. and be embraced with a company of horses! Be it for joy riding or even to take on a short course, the Taiping Equine Park is a beautiful, serene and pleasant new find at Taiping. The venue is also perfect for functions as it has ample areas to host up to 40 pax or so...from birthday parties, to company events to special moments with the family and friends. The horses are so majestical in their ways and are well maintained. It is perfect for a weekend's rendevous and my family and I would definitely be back again and again! The children were captivated. Many many more visits to this place for sure.

The Old Kota Mosque is a unique 6-sided structure at the junction of Jalan Kota and Jalan Masjid near the local bus station. Originally built by the Hanafi sect of Indian Muslims in 1893, the mosque was given over to the Malay community around the turn of the 20th century. From then on, it was regarded as a Malay mosque, even given the name Masjid Melayu.

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King Edward VII School is the oldest English school in the Federated Malay States. It was founded in 1883 and was originally named Central School but, when the present school building was completed in 1905, it was renamed after the British monarch of that time, King Edward VII (reign 1901-1910).

The school excelled in sports, particularly rugby, which was introduced to the school by TJ Thomas in 1923. In 1933, King Edward VII School beat the Penang Free School in the first inter-school rugby tournament, making King Edward VII School synonymous with rugby prowess.

The Second World War was a bleak chapter in the school's history, as it was made the headquarters of the Malayan Kempetai with classrooms converted into torture chambers. Life returned to normal when the war was over and the school reopened with an increased enrolment. In 1954, King Edward VII School became the first school in the district to have a 6th form, and students from the surrounding region came here to attend class.

All Saints Church is a charming wooden church that was the first Anglican Church in the Federated Malay States. It stands on a plot of land donated by W.V. Drummond, an estate owner from Shanghai. The original structure was designed by Australian architect G.A. Lefroy and completed in 1886 and consecrated in 1887. Within its compound are the graves of British officers who died while on duty away from their homeland. Unfortunately, it was shut when I visited in Feb 2009 and so I couldn't get to see inside.

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The Perak Museum is the oldest museum in Malaysia. Sir Hugh Low, the British Resident of Perak, had the museum constructed in 1883 to house the artefacts collected in the Kinta Valley and Lenggong Valley. Due to financial constraints, the construction was delayed, and the Perak Museum was only completed three years later, in 1886. The front and back annexes were added in 1889. Another two-storey wing was added to the museum in 1900, to house the expanding cultural exhibits on the Malays and the Orang Aslis, and also to display zoological specimens. Unfortunately, the museum was shut for renovations when I visited in Feb 2009 but normally it exhibits old fighter jets, steam carriages, a statue of Colonel Walker, the stone marking of the site of Maharaja Lela's Fort, ancient stone slab graves from Sungkai and ancient perahus (canoes).

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This temple is located opposite Taiping Prison and is reputed to be the oldest Chinese temple in Perak even though it doesn't look like it from either the outside or inside. It's nothing special so don't waste your time trying to come here if your time is limited.

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Hardly a tourist destination but I happened to walk past it on my way from the Zoo to the Perak Museum. Taiping Prison is one of the earliest permanent penitentiary institutions in the Federated Malay States. It was built in 1879 to quell further unrest in the wake of the Larut Wars. The original prison could only accommodate 50 prisoners. Its walls were nine feet high and the five buildings within the compound were built of half brick and half timber. It also housed a hospital and an administrative office. In WWII, during the Japanese occupation (1941-1945), the prison was used as a public prison and also a Japanese prisoner-of-war detention centre. It was during this period that all records about the prison and its inmates were destroyed.

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Established in 1961, Taiping Zoo is the oldest zoological gardens in Malaysia. It has 34 acres (140,000 m2) of space and exhibits various animals such as amphibians, mammals and reptiles totalling some 1300 animals of 180 species. These include Tigers, Lions, Elephants, Hippopotamus, Giraffes, Hornbills, Orang Utans, Siamang, Deer, Nilgai, Night Heron and many others. It also has a night safari. I saw a 2ft long lizard walking around on the path in front of me and thought it had escaped only to find out that it was actually wild! Also, they have a large collection of primates who have their own separate islands surrounded by water with no fences which is unusual.

Open: 8.30am-6.30pm daily. Admission: RM12