All the hustle and bustle in Gopeng
Perak town is ready for the next level of development and Wanita MCA chief Datuk Heng Seai Kie is geared up to lead the way.
THE news stand at the entrance to Gopeng town is the place to watch the world go by. Rain or shine, its owner Wong You Heng will be there by 6am every day.
“We start our day here very early,” says Wong.
At 62, he is proud to tell his listeners that the news stand, set up by his mother, is three years his junior.
Some local folk like to drop by at the stall for a chat and keep him company until he calls it a day about 2pm.
The current hot topic is the upcoming general election.
While Wong appears reserved on his political inclination, he reckons that tourism will help give Gopeng a new lease of life.
Thanks to social media, the culturally rich former mining town has slowly but surely found its way to the world outside in recent years.
“Tourists like my stall. A group of Singaporeans lined up to snap photos at my stall recently,” he says.
Malaysia has grown as a favourite Asean destination for tourists in recent years. It ranks second after Thailand in terms of popularity for tourists from China.
The entire world is eyeing the 800 million Chinese projected to travel abroad for holidays in the next five years.
Datuk Heng Seai Kie initiated cooperation with Hunan TV to promote Gopeng to viewers in China as early as a year ago.
The 56-year-old Wanita MCA chief is upbeat that Hunan TV, which is going big in its tourism business, also wants to make Gopeng its Asean hub.
Gopeng is naturally blessed for tourism with its natural beauty and rich heritage – from hills and streams, local fruits, exotic ornamental fish to exotic Chinese delicacies.
It is no surprise that Heng, who is contesting the Gopeng parliamentary seat, has made tourism a top item in her manifesto.
She has been working hard to promote Gopeng. In fact, she says Hunan TV has already completed its filming in Gopeng and is ready to broadcast it in China and worldwide.
There are five new villages in Gopeng: Ampang Baru, Gunung Rapat, Simpang Pulai, Lawan Kuda and Kopisan Baru.
The villagers, generally a resilient lot, have come up with their own identity to attract tourists over the years, ranging from fruits, exotic Chinese dishes to traditional biscuits. Social media in recent years has given them the much-needed exposure.
But Heng also knows well that there are hurdles for Gopeng to become a big player in tourism, especially in agro-tourism and ecotourism.
Topping her list is farmers’ grievances of toiling on land without a lease or title in and around Ampang Baru New Village.
According to village chief Tan Soong Keat, the village is famous for fruits like guava, star fruit and durian, but 60% of the fruit farms are on land without a lease or title and the farmers face eviction any time.
Heng says she has started tackling the farmers’ woes and is confident of resolving them very soon. And once the land issues are resolved, the farmers will be able to go into agro-tourism.
She points out that developement for Gopeng – just 15 minutes drive from Ipoh city centre and about two hours’ drive from Kuala Lumpur – is overdue.
Gopeng, built on tin, saw its fortune plunging overnight when the world’s tin market crashed in 1985. The people, especially the young, moved to the cities – some overseas – to look for work.
People just did not know what to do at that time, recalls Wong, who also joined the exodus in search of
a livelihood.
His first stop was Kuala Lumpur, he says, where he was sometimes so broke that he did not even have enough money to eat.
“A mamak stall was kind enough to give me a plate of rice with an egg and some gravy, on condition that I would pay for the food when I got my pay the next day,” he says.
Wong then went to work in Singapore, but returned home for good some 10 years ago because of a heart ailment.
He says doctors had advised him that it was time to take it easy.
When he first returned to Gopeng, it was only him and his wife at home, as their three children were working and living outside the town.
Wong believes his experience in life is why he is all for the efforts to develop Gopeng and give the local population job and business opportunities.
“Gopeng is greying very fast. We see less people returning for Chinese New Year because their elderly parents or grandparents had passed away. But the Qing Ming crowd remains big because the young come back to pray for their ancestors,” says Wong.
The Gopeng people are certainly ready for the next level of development and Heng offers herself to lead them.
Her immediate hurdle is to unseat two-term Gopeng MP Dr Lee Boon Chye from PKR.
The cardiologist from a private hospital in Ipoh has endeared himself to his constituents by helping the needy ones with health, especially cardiac problems.
In Gopeng, it is set to be a fight between MCA and PKR. The Teja and Simpang Pulai state seats in Gopeng are held by PKR’s Chang Lih Kang and Tan Kar Hing respectively.
Chang is leaving Teja to contest in the Tanjung Malim parliamentary seat.
PKR’ Sandrea Ng, 36, is set to contest against MCA’s Datuk Albert Chang, 65, for Teja.
Simpang Pulai incumbent from PKR, Tan Kar Hing, 36, will face a challenge from MCA’s Liew Yee Lin, 46.
The other state seat is Sungai Rapat. Talk is rife that its incumbent Ustaz Radzi Zainon from PAS will face a challenge from Parti Amanah Negara’s Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin.
It is speculated that the former Perak Mentri Besar will vacate the Changkat Jering state seat he won in the last election.
Gopeng will certainly see some hustle and bustle in this election season.