KUALA PILAH HISTORY 13 NOSTALGIA PICTURES
THE JALAN ULU MUAR STORY 1955-2013The Ulu Muar road in KP was perhaps a later addition to the town of Kuala Pilah in its over a century old history and probably built around 1927. The reasons for this are many fold.
Kuala Pilah itself started as Ulu Pilah (pekan Lama near present police station) facing the Muar River which was the main access to Kuala Pilah when in the late or mid 1980s there was discovery of tin. There was no credible road link to KP from Seremban or Bahau although there may have been a track to Bahau via villages such as Kepis and Juasseh . Those were the days of river transport and even boats were pulled from one river system to another when it was convenient to drag or carry the boat itself across. from one river systen to another to continue the journey. Such crossing points were called "bukit penarik" and one between the Serting and Jempol and Muar rivers was well known as recently as the late 1980s. The advent of the new communicator the railway changed all that as rail lines in the form of the FMS railway in 1910 connected Bahau to KP for transport of goods - especially the lucrative tin discovered and mined in Parit Tinggi and Betis.
As the Ulu Pilah out grew its narrow base near the banks of the Ulu Muar the town by now under colonial administration expanded westwards to where Lister Road is now The Main Road or Cart Road was there at least by 1898 as the Temple of the Three Gods was built by that year. the Lister Memorial was up by 1900 and the Pangung wayang or Sun Talkies (later Pearl Theatre) is clearly dated 1916 .The towkay Tan Puan mansions on Jalan Yam Tuan opposite the Bus Station today and nearby shops are dated 1927 as are several shops on the 3rd street of the town Jalan Tung Yen.
The Ulu Muar road of 1955 - picture taken from 196 Jalan Tung Yen rear balcony
Note several long gone structures
Lamp post with curved lamp holder in the middle of the road
A real Bullock Cart near the entrance to the old bus stand
A luxuriant angsana tree which blossomed fragrant yellow every April to May
The barely visible Shell petrol pump, folowed by one of 2 post boxes in KP
And the Standard Oil(later Mobil, Later Esso) station with a Morris Minor car
Pangung wayang 1916 Clearly marked - on Jalan Yam Tuan
1990 KP Bus Station on Jalan Ulu Muar
2013 Bus Station on Jalan Ulu Muar
cars cars cars everywhere
No Lamp Post in the middle of the Street
No fragarant Angsana tree
No Standard oil or Shell or Post Box and
NO BULLOCK CART !
more to follow
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