Today tin mining in Gopeng is dead and gone were the days of ‘mat sallehs’ and their listed companies. What remains are the memories and the rich histories of the tin mining days. The rich history that also includes the hobbies of the collections of items of yesteryears like wall clocks, wrist watches, old coins, vintage notes, vintage silverware, telecommunications equipments, pens and cigarette lighters.
To commemorate The World Heritage Day on the 18th April last year, Mr Bernard Yaw, Mr Phang See Kong and a few of their friends pooled their resources and efforts, together they assembled their collections and placed under one roof which they named ‘MUSEUM GOPENG’.
Located at 28, Eu Kong Street, the main street of Gopeng town, tucked in between a sweepstakes shop and a medical clinic, the shop lot-turned museum is holding a month long exhibitions of vintage clocks and watches. A splendid array of 97 grandfathers’ clocks, 46 mantelpieces, 28 alarm clocks, assortments of wrist watches, pens, cigarette lighters, photos of important events and personalities of Gopeng history are on display.
Many units of wall clocks with famous German brands of Mauthe, Junghans, Wehrle and Kienzle dating back 100 years ago displayed are still in marvellous condition.
I’m very impressed with many exhibits especially the moon -faced clock and the clock that carry the 31 day calendar. Not so sure where the brands originated though the labels at the museum did indicate that the brand is from USA.
A total of ten wall clocks donated by Mr. Wong Kuan Cheong, the Museum Treasurer, are also available for purchase at RM388 each. All sales proceeds of those clocks go to charity. Incidentally, most of the clocks and watches on exhibit are from Mr. Wong private collections.
The month long exhibition ending 16 March 2010 is without any entrance free.
Two hours at the exhibition seemed such a short time and I definitely recommend that all vintage clock and watch lovers, NOT to give the exhibition, a miss. After all, it’s only an hour and forty minutes drive by the North-South (PLUS) Highway from Kuala Lumpur northbound to Gopeng or from Penang southbound either way. Exiting at the Gopeng interchange, proceed straight till you reach the first traffic light. Take a right turn at that traffic light, proceed 1 km straight further at the second, third and fourth traffic light, thereby straight on for another 400 metres before turning right into Eu Kong Street. The museum is on the right 450 metres straight on from that junction.
For GPS users, the museum is on N 04⁰ 28.433’ E101⁰ 9.997’ coordinates.
The museum committee is planning on organising some programmes which includes vintage cars parade around Gopeng town on its first anniversary. Vintage cars owners please take note, your participations are much appreciated !
Mr Phang, the ever smiling museum curator, available at 05-3597828, would be too happy to entertain all friendly visitors to the museum and entertain any query regarding the proposed anniversary itinerary.
A silver coloured roller ball pen 'CARAN d ACHE' complemented the watch.
Set B with reference code: FC 220SW4S6 comes in a similar lacquered shining brown wooden box containing an ultra thin gold coloured quartz watch fitted with a genuine brown leather strap complemented by a matching gold coloured 'CARAN d ACHE' roller ball pen.
The set is quoted at RM2895 before discount.
Pemeriksaan kesihatan dijalankan oleh Sdr Dr Zakaria, Presiden Kelab, dan Sdr Dr Murshid, Ketua Biro Pelajaran .
Sdr Dato Azmi, ketua Biro Kebajikan yang kelihatan amat gembira dengan sambutan yang sungguh menggalakkan bercadang meningkatkan peruntukan di minggu-minggu akan datang.
Kuala Lumpur, a mining town founded in 1890 was conferred the city status in 1972 before it became a Federal territory. Bank Negara Malaysia issued a commemorative coin to commemorate the event.
Subsequently, to celebrate the occasion of 100 years of Kuala Lumpur establishment, another commemorative coin was released by Bank Negara Malaysia in 1990.
Labuan Island was later approved by the Sabah state government to become the second region of the Federal Territory in 1984.
Putrajaya, the new Malaysian administrative capital, named after the first Malaysian premier, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra was officially added as the third and final region of the Federal Territory in 2001 during the premiership of Tun Dr Mahathir, the architect of Putrajaya and the great visionary Malaysian leader.
To all the Federal Territories folks, have a nice day and thank you for keeping your beautiful environment clean, fresh and green.
We took the watch home only to realise it wasn't what it was claimed to be...In short it was not working. Still we hold no grudge to anyone. Just consider the cost of the watch as a tuition fee for a lesson during the learning curve.
Well, it's properly resuscitated and rehabilitated, albeit at a cost. It's now up and running. How well and how long? Honestly, we don't really know for sure and we cannot guarantee.
We reckon it is now time to bid farewell to this timepiece maybe at a huge discount or... better still, just mark it down as an item for the coming Kelab Keledang charity auction this year. That would definitely be the best parting shot!
Kini jam ini sudah gagah semula, berjalan baik setelah dipulihkan oleh doktor jam dan penukaran beberapa anggota baru. Cuma...takde siapa dalam keluarga yang berminat. Diletakkan dalam kotak koleksi pun bagaikan tiada harmoni dengan kengkawan.
Barangkali sudah sampai masa Bulova ini berubah angin. Mungkin wajar dilepaskan dengan mudah...atau lebih baik direservekan untuk acara lelongan Kelab Bakti Gunung Keledang tahun ini!
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