Perak Tong on new Malaysian stamp

In Nov 2016 Pos Malaysia issued a new series of stamps, Places of Worship. There are 5 stamps of 60 sen in the set, and one of them features Perak Tong cave temple in Ipoh.

From Pos Malaysia :

Places of Worship

Date of Issue 21 November 2016

Date Of Sale 21 November 2016 Sales at all Pos Offices, nationwide

16 November 2016 Sales started for First Day Cover (without stamps) at all Pos Offices, nationwide

Unfortunately the leaflet that comes with the FDC has wrongly translated the name of the cave and also gives the wrong location!! It should be called Perak Tong or Perak Cave, not Tong Temple, and it is located in Gunung Tasek, not Gunung Rapat.

Perak Tong cave temple murals

Perak Tong cave temple, near Ipoh in Perak, Malaysia, is one of the oldest temples, established in 1926. It is also known for its beautiful wall murals and Chinese calligraphy. Famous artists from overseas came to the temple to do the artwork. In 2009 there was a major rockfall in the cave, and some of the murals and statues were lost. These photos were taken in Aug 2009, when the temple was open again after the January rockfall.

Looking in the entrance

Calligraphy above entrance

See more on the Perak Tong rockfall and views from top of Perak Tong.

Perak Tong register number Prk 34/02.

© Liz Price No reproduction without permission

Perak Tong, views from the top

Perak Tong is one of the best known cave temples in the Ipoh area, Perak. There is a staircase up through the cave which comes out at an upper entrance. Steps then continue up the hill to view points at the top.

2001 views

2004 view looking towards Tasik Cement

Looking towards the Kledang range

The steps up

2008 sign at the base of the steps inside the cave

2009 sign after the rock fall

See more on the Perak Tong rockfall and the Perak Tong murals.

© Liz Price No reproduction without permission

Perak Tong after the 2009 rockfall

Perak Tong is one of Malaysia's most famous cave temples, located north of Ipoh.

In Jan 2009 there was a disastrous rockfall there, which killed one person. Although the tragedy was covered for several days in the press, there was no mention of what had really happened, or suggestions as to the cause.

The collapsed area can be seen from the road. It covers a much larger area than I expected.

Statue at the base of the stairs.

In August 2009 I managed to visit the cave for the first time since the rockfall. The cave was already "back to normal" in the sense that the staircase up through the cave to the top of the hill had been rebuilt.

This pillar wasn't damaged

There is now a new staircase up through the cave to the back entrance. This area is now much brighter as the top chamber (presumably where the collapse occurred) now allows a lot of light to enter. As we left the chamber with the 3 large statues, on the left we saw 2 new pillars which seemed to be supporting a massive rock.

Hong translated the Chinese writing and said the pillars had just been constructed, that summer. I was stunned - were these pillars meant to hold up the rock, or were they just for 'decoration'.

As we neared the top, we could see parts of the old staircase - white block on top is remains of old staircase wall, tilted.

This huge boulder appears to have fallen.

Looking down, presumably this huge boulder fell down

From here it looked as if there were 3 enormous rocks which had moved, but they are so large, I couldn't believe that the place has been rebuilt and reopened in around 6 months. One man told Hong that these 3 rocks had moved, but were now wedged naturally in place. We could see a lot of fresh cement joining and covering various rocks.

Looking down

Inside the main cave construction work was ongoing.

Damaged statue base on right

New floor in front of damaged statue

Unfortunately I have no photos taken prior to the collapse of the inside of the affected areas of the cave, so cannot compare my photos of before and after. But I remember some of the statues that were missing, such as the big laughing Buddha.

However there was no obvious sign of what happened and most visitors will probably remain unaware of the rockfall.

I was quite stunned at the enormity of the collapse - although of course I am not 100% of what actually happened. I really wonder how safe the place is now, have the huge boulders already stabilised themselves....? What are they actually resting on....? I heard unofficially that no proper safety check was done as it would have been too expensive.
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Perak Tong register number Prk 34/02.

See more on Peratk Tong murals and Perak Tong views.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Perak Tong cave temple after the 2009 rockfall

Perak Tong is one of Malaysia's most famous cave temples, located north of Ipoh. In Jan 2009 there was a disastrous rockfall there, which killed one person. Although the tragedy was covered for several days in the press, there was no mention of what had really happened, or suggestions as to the cause.

In August 2009 I managed to visit the cave for the first time since the rockfall. The cave was now "back to normal" in the sense that the staircase up through the cave to the top of the hill has been rebuilt.

Inside the cave there is still construction work ongoing. However there is no obvious sign of what happened and most visitors will probably remain unaware of the rockfall.

I was very curious to see what had happened. I went there with my friend Law Siak Hong. Firstly I took some photos of the outside of the hill where the collapse is clearly visible. It covers a much larger area than I expected. 

Then we went in the cave. There is now a new staircase up through the cave to the back entrance. This area is now much brighter as the top chamber (presumably where the collapse occurred) now allows a lot of light to enter. As we left the chamber with the 3 large statues, on the left we saw 2 new pillars which seemed to be supporting a massive rock.

Hong translated the Chinese writing and said the pillars have just been constructed, this summer. I was stunned - were these pillars meant to hold up the rock, or were they just for 'decoration'.

As we neared the top, we could see parts of the old staircase.

One section was on a huge boulder which appeared to have fallen. From here it looked as if there were 3 enormous rocks which had moved, but they are so large, I couldn't believe that the place has been rebuilt and reopened in around 6 months. One man told Hong that these 3 rocks had moved, but were now wedged naturally in place. We could see a lot of fresh cement joining and covering various rocks.

I was quite stunned at the enormity of the collapse - although of course I am not 100% of what actually happened. I really wonder how safe the place is now, have the huge boulders already stabilised themselves....? What are they actually resting on....? I heard unofficially that no proper safety check was done as it would have been too expensive.

notice at top

Unfortunately I have no photos taken prior to the collapse of the inside of the affected areas of the cave, so cannot compare my photos of before and after.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission