The Ipoh City Council (MBI) will work with several coffee shop associations to redevelop People’s Park.
The recreational park that is synonymous with the city of Ipoh was said to be ‘alive’ and bustling with business activities around the 80s, but unfortunately, it has now become deserted.
The mayor of Ipoh, Dato’ Rumaizi Baharin @ Md Daud said, although there were initiatives to revive the iconic area before, they were not very encouraging.
“Ipoh actually has a lot of assets that are said to be ‘dead assets’ now. Kinta Riverwalk once sunk but we are rebuilding it.
“What I see is that Kinta Riverwalk is active again with many visitors; we want to develop People’s Park.
“It used to be that in the 80s, it was very active at night, but from the 90s to 2000 it became gloomy. No one came and there was a lot of vandalism,” he said.
He said this at a press conference after attending the Launching Ceremony of the Mid Autumn Festival at People’s Park last night.
Also present were the Director of Chang Jiang International Sdn. Bhd, Foong Choa Mun and MBI Council Members.
Commenting further on the collaboration, Rumaizi said that his party already has a plan to mobilise activities there, in addition to the involvement of associations and private companies.
“I have already planned with Chang Jiang International Sdn. Bhd and several coffee shop associations in Ipoh, why don’t we bring this place to life with various activities. Open until night with a food court, shows and so on, we’ll see what’s appropriate.
“It used to be here when I was a child, this area was like a park, even at night it was lively with restaurant business, but at one time it was gloomy and sunken.
“I’m from Ipoh, so when I become mayor and see this area, I really feel love for this nostalgic place, it should be redeveloped” he said again.
When asked why this area is still gloomy even though it has been developed before, Rumaizi said the main issue is that it is run alone.
“Now we are moving and working with the coffee shop association, hopefully they can help realise this effort,” he added.
Meanwhile, Choa Mun said he started running a coffee shop business in People’s Park at the end of December last year.
“Hopefully this place can become a must-visit location for visitors to Ipoh, especially to enjoy coffee,” he said.
by Rosli Mansor
