An ode to a town unifier

Say the name ‘Leaning tower of Teluk Intan’ and it would automatically invoke an image of a pagoda-like building, leaning off to one side. A tourist attraction, a reason to visit the once bustling port town of Teluk Intan (formerly Anson Bay) which may otherwise have faded in memories with the passage of time. The building, however, was never intended as a tourist spot at its inception.

It was the year 1885, and Malaysia was still under British occupancy. It was in this time that Leong Choon Cheong and an unnamed Ceylonese contractor set out to build a water tower for the town of Teluk Intan to see them through long periods of drought and hot weather. Aside from water storage, the building was to function as a clock tower, and thus named ‘Tall Clock’.

The beautiful golden clock perched atop this tower was the first symbol of unity between the townspeople.

The key clock was made by J.W Benson-Ludgatehill, London and was afforded through donations from the people of Teluk Intan. This clock still stands till today, and is manually wound and maintained every Wednesday by local resident Hisham Sahak.

“The clock at the tower also symbolizes unity of the people of Teluk Intan because it was built with contributions and donations from local residents then.”

As time went on, the functionalities of the tower have shifted from water tower and time keeper, to a beacon for the port, and even as a watch tower for the Japanese in the 1940s before turning into the icon it is today.

The tilt that changed a town.

The tower was built on soft land structures which could not support the weight of the water tank. Over time and through two great floods from Sungai Perak in 1889 and 1985, the building structure sank. But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining, and the floods, although tragic, led to the tilted look of the ‘Tall Clock’.

Without its lean and thus, resemblance to the Leaning tower of Pisa, we wonder if the tower would have been relegated as a relic of the past and demolished in time to make way for modernisation.

To preserve the building and safety of the townspeople, it has long stopped functioning as a water tower, with the outer pipes disconnected to prevent further damage to the structure. Instead, it stands proud and strong as timekeeper and icon for Teluk Intan, with its bells chiming twice every 15 minutes and sounds that keeps the town on time can be heard at distances as far as 8km on quiet nights.

“The Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan looks beautiful on a weekend night, from afar, it looks like a golden tower.

The area surrounding the tower has flourished for townsfolk and tourists alike. A myriad of vendors and street stalls peddle their wares on the beautifully patterned cobblestone plaza in the day, whilst nights would be lit up with gorgeous light displays from the tower.

The preservation of history

Although the tower has suffered damages throughout the years, it continues to stand strong as a living testament to the will and determination of the people. From the commerce that has sprouted in the areas surround the tower, to the maintenance and modifications made to the tower, the Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan is deeply embedded in the daily lives of the town.

In the past, there were plans to relocate and evacuate the town due to concerns of soil erosion and land stability. However, the plan was never executed due to the deep attachment that the residents felt for the township.

“As a resident of Teluk Intan, The Leaning tower represents an aspect of us. Our fore-fathers poured their time, blood, sweat, and tears into building that tower”

In 2015, the Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan was declared a National Heritage by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (then Deputy Prime Minister) at a Chinese New Year Open House event at the site of the tower. There are also on-going efforts to have this 135-year old tower included in the UNESCO World Heritage list.

As defined by UNESCO, cultural heritage is “the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations.”

By that definition, we should all strive towards the preservation of this piece of history for the sake of our future generations.

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It is with pride that we celebrate gorgeous structures of Perak in the BFM ‘Pride of Malaysia’ series in conjunction with Merdeka and Malaysia Day.

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