The Malay College Kuala Kangsar (Malay College, MCKK, MC or Koleq, Kolek and sometimes dubbed "the Eton of the East") is a residential school in Malaysia. It is an all-boys and all-Malay school located in the royal town of Kuala Kangsar, Perak. In the Malay language, it is called Kolej Melayu Kuala Kangsar or formerly Maktab Melayu Kuala Kangsar.

Coat of Arms

The shield is quartered, coloured white (argent) in the first quarter, red (gules) in the second, black (sable) in the third and yellow (or) in the fourth.

The colors represent the four Houses into which the students are grouped; Idris (white), Sulaiman (red), Mohd Shah (yellow) and Ahmad (black). The Houses are named in honor of the four Sultans who founded the College.

In the middle of the shield is a red kris, a traditional Malay dagger. On top of the crest is a head of a tiger which is the symbol of the Federation of Malaya. Surrounding the left and right side of the shield are laurel wreaths symbolizing excellence. The school motto is Fiat Sapientia Virtus, which is Latin for Manliness Through Wisdom.

Buildings

The most recognizable feature of the school is the Big School (built in 1909), a building with pseudo Greco-Roman architecture fronted by a rugby field. The Prep School, built later in 1912, is smaller but with equally prominent features. In 1955, the West and East Wing, as well as the Administration Block and Clocktower were added. The Administrative Block was opened by High Commissioner for the Federation of Malaya Sir Donald MacGillivray in 1955. The West and the East Wing, together with the Overfloor make up what is now called the Big School. Two more hostel blocks, the Pavilion and New Hostel were built in 1963 and 1972 respectively; the latter houses second formers. Another prominent feature of the school is the Big Tree, a raintree (Samanea saman) in front of the East Wing that is said to be as old as the school itself.

Official Website

Overfloor and Big Tree, Malay College

PS : Taken from Wikipedia

With simple tools and limited machine usage, minor flaws on the jars are to be expected. Indeed, they are the best indication of handmade authenticity.









Labu Sayong is a type of earthenware jug that certain Perak Malays used for the storage of drinking water.

Its burnt-black colour and unique gourd-shape give it the ability to cool its contents quickly and some believe that water stored in such a manner is palliative against many illnesses and disorders.

Labu Sayong is made from very fine clay soil, which is first pounded into extremely fine powder and then separated from coarser remains and wood (from the pounding). Water is then added and the mixture kneaded and shaped into its characteristic "double-bulb" shape, both of which are traditional skills.
The labu is then dried in the sun to ensure even pre-drying, and baked in a kiln to a sufficiently high temperature. When this is done, the labu is removed from the kiln and "roasted" in padi husk, until it turns into a rich black colour.

There is a labu cottage industry centred around Kampung Kelapa Bendang in Sayong, approximately 15 kilometres from Kuala Kangsar. Apart from this, the Malaysia Handicraft Development Corporation, Perak Branch, has opened a Handicraft Centre at Enggor nearby, which also offers a training course in the making of Labu Sayong, apart from selling these useful and attractive items.

Road side stall selling the famous 'labu' pottery jugs from Sayong.

On the former main highway, near Kuala Kangsar.

The oldest railway bridge in Malaya is the Victoria Bridge in Karai, Perak. Built in 1897, it was the most advanced bridge in terms of its engineering in the Far East at that time. This bridge provides a communication link for the growth of the tin mining industry and the development of the mining towns in the Malayan Peninsula. With the opening of this bridge, the whole of the west coast from Perai to Johor Bahru was linked by rail.

Stamp : Historical Bridges of Malaysia

Sultan Abdul Jalil Bridge (Jambatan Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah) is one of two bridges that cross the Perak River in Kuala Kangsar, Perak in Malaysia. Another one is Jambatan Iskandariah.

The bridge connects the town of Kuala Kangsar with Sayong village, spanning 330 meter across the river. It officially opened by the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah in June 2002.

Location of Kuala Kangsar in Perak State.




Kuala Kangsar and Its surroundings...



Kuala Kangsar is a well preserved old Royal Town where the serenity and the well-maintained old palaces stand majestically along the river banks of the Perak River remain until today.
The Sultan of Perak officially resides in Kuala Kangsar, and it has been Perak’s royal seat since the 18th century. It is one of four towns that play a role in Perak’s complex succession system. It was the administrative seat of the first British Resident in the Malay Peninsula, James W.W. Birch, from October 1874 until he was murdered on November 2, 1875.


This place must have had a strange effect on Sultan Yusuf Sharifuddin Mudzaffar Shah of Perak who ruled from 1877 to 1887. Unlike many rulers who protected their royal places and strongholds by selecting their vantage points carefully where they could detect enemy approach from afar, the Sultan had his first royal palace built beside the riverbank. He then named it 'Istana Sri Sayong'.

Apart from being exposed to the impending threat of invasion, the other problem was the force of monsoon seasons, which led to numerous flooding as water gushed down from the jungles above through the many tributaries. The name Kuala Kangsar is believed to be derived from 'Kuala Kurang-Sa', which literally means '100 minus one', usually interpreted as 'the 99th small tributary to flow into the Perak River'.

One flooding was so severe, it almost swept the palace away. Finally, after the Big Flood or Air Bah in 1926, it was decided to move the place further up onto the knoll where stands the current Royal Palace named Istana Iskandariah with its Art-Deco architecture, a rare but significant piece of architectural milestone in Malaysia.

The Sultan of Perak officially resides in Kuala Kangsar, and it has been Perak's royal seat since the 18th century. It is one of four towns that plays a role in Perak's complex succession system. It was the administrative seat of the first British Resident in the Malay Peninsula, James W.W. Birch, from October 1874 until he was murdered on November 2, 1875.

Kuala Kangsar is also known in Malaysian history as the site where the first Conference of Rulers, the Durbar, was held in 1897. By the 1890s, the growth of the tin mining towns of Ipoh and Taiping had eclipsed Kuala Kangsar, but it remains to this day one of the most attractive of the Malay royal capitals.

The town is also the site of the first rubber tree planted in Malaysia. The person responsible was the English botanist Henry Nicholas Ridley. He was the one who helped Malaya and eventually Malaysia become the largest rubber producer in the world. The tree still stands today.

The first Malaysian scout troop was established in Kuala Kangsar. Consequently, its squad number is 001.