The Heavenly Place - Sungai Lembing (I): About Her

I have wanted a holiday to Jakarta next month, but no sign of encouraging response from any of the potential travel mates. I have to either cancel or postpone it to a later date. As one door closes, another one opens. Ah Jin invited me to join their 3 days tour to Sungai Lembing, Pahang which is famous of enchanting view of sunrise sneaking up between the surrounding verdant hills.

Prior to the visit, I’ve had no idea about this place. I did some reading about this place and that assured me the visit was going to be informational, educational and exciting. Sungai Lembing is an old mining town, which once had the biggest tin mine on earth. This was 100 years ago during British colonial days, when Sungai Lembing was founded. During 80 years of mining activities it became the largest, longest and deepest underground tin mine in the world. The total tunnel length is 322 km, with a depth of between 610 m and 700 m.

The tin mine was discovered in 1888 by a London-based mining company. From 1891, the Pahang Consolidated Company Limited, (PCCL), which was under British control, had a 77-year lease to mine the area. PCCL managed the mine from 1906 until its liquidation in 1986 when world tin prices collapsed.

A museum highlighting the tin mining industry was opened in 2003. The museum is housed in an old bungalow once used by the mine manager. The museum houses a collection of mining artifacts. We did not have the time to make a visit to museum or the tunnel. That leaves me incompleteness about this trip.

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The series of old photos below was reproduced from the precious collection of an old resident. While wandering in the town alone, I happened to casually chat with him. He was generous enough to retrive from his archives and shared with me the past beauty of Sungai Lembing. He talked about those glorious days the town was enjoying and the declining days the town is facing. These undated photos are believed to be taken during the 1920s and 1930s.

The image of the Sungai Lembing town. There was once lived 15,000 tin mine workers. At that time when most parts of the country depended on wells and kerosene lamps, folks here enjoyed free electricity and piped water.

Workers and train

Bombs were used in the mining industry

Supporting sturcture using wood frame

The lift bringing the mine workers deep down the tunnel

Train transporting out the mine from the tunnel