Lemggong Perak: LOOKING BACK

Lenggong Perak: LOOKING BACK

By Peter Yong Swee Onn

After more than 60 years a retiree reflects on his working career at the age of 17 years.

Due to financial constraints caused by the untimely early demise of my beloved father in 1953 I gave up my 6th Form study in ACS ,Ipoh, my Alma Mater, to start my working career as a teacher at the tender age of 17 years in 1956. I was posted to the Government English School, Lenggong and had to report on the first Monday of March 1956. Though a born Perakian I had no idea where Lenggong was then. Fortunately, a distant cousin knew the place and drove me there. 

After two hours of driving along a narrow, winding road that took us past several small villages, hills clad with verdant forests and a picturesque, serene lake, we finally arrived at the gated New Village of LENGGONG. We were met on arrival by armed security guards as the Emergency was still on and Lenggong was declared a " black area". 

A short distance from the gate, on the left side of the road leading to the town, the words , " GOVT ENGLISH SCHOOL LENGGONG" was prominently displayed on a signboard and behind it was the school; a longish, semi concrete and wooden structure.  I reported to the headmaster, Mr Arthur Muthiah and was later introduced to the other members of the school staff: Ismail Rashid, Rashid Salim, Lee Kong Ming, Yap Chai Tong, Subramaniam and Sarjit Singh. The school was a co-ed primary school with Primary5, the highest level then.

Mr. Peter Yong  with his Primary 5 pupils

After school that day, I was brought to the school hostel in town; an orange coloured concrete building which was within walking distance from the school. The twenty four residential students had to share the twelve double decker beds and I had to share a double decker bed with Manan, the hostel head boy.  

Another concrete building in town was the two storeyed Lenggong Administrative Building which also housed the Police Station. In the evening some policemen would play badminton in an an open air court in front of the building. The entire township of Lenggong consisted of a main road flanked mostly with wooden shophouses, behind which stood clusters of wooden shacks. 

Lenggong Government English School Badminton Team with Mr. Peter Yong and Mr. Subramaniam

At 5.30 pm the gates at both ends of the town would be closed and guarded by security guards to prevent exit and entry of residents and vehicles. Lenggong was totally locked in. Though curfew in the town was not imposed, most shops were closed by 7.30 pm. By 9.0 pm the place resembled a ghost town as the dimly-lit Main Road was completely deserted. Daily life activities resumed early the next morning when the gates were opened at 6.00 am. Time slipped by unnoticed and by 1957 I had grown accustomed to the slow and carefree life in Lenggong. 

Then came the announcement of MERDEKA for the then Malaya. The announcement was greeted with a sense of euphoria by the simple local folks  who felt they had finally achieved independence and freed from colonial rule. The whole town was in joyous mood as they enjoyed  their new found freedom. There was no more lock-in and the people were able to move freely around outside Lenggong Town after 5.30 pm. 

In the midst of the joyous celebration, at the end of 1957, I had to bid farewell to Lenggong, as I had been offered a place at MTC, Penang , to continue with my teacher education. I left the place with mixed emotion. I was happy that I was able to fulfill my father's final wish, that is a promise I would pursue a college education. At the same time I felt very sad to part with Manan, Yee Siew Yin( the head girl), the hostelites, the school children, my teaching colleagues and close friends in the community after having established a strong bonding of warm camaraderie with them over a period of two years. The thought of never seeing them again caused tears to well up in my eyes. They had been an integral part of my life. I went there as a young, naïve. still wet behind the ears, seventeen year old kid, but the two years of struggle and hardship turned me into a matured man , ready to face the future challenges of life with full confidence. GOODBYE LENGGONG.

Lenggong Main Road today

The orange coloured building, next to Maybank was the hostel where Peter used to stay with the boys