Details of the Day Perak Took Over Reman

Following the visit

E. W. Birch (son of J. W. W. Birch)

to the mines at Kian Intan Mines for the first time, he conducted a second visit under the instructions of Sir John Anderson, who was the High Commissioner for the Federated Malay States.

The second visit by E. W. Birch there was intended to take over

the territory of Reman

which at that time was under the Siamese government. The Anglo-Siamese Treaty was signed to take over part of the Reman territory to become part of the state of Perak in 1909. This visit was also accompanied by

Hubert Berkeley

who held the position of District Officer of Hulu Perak. He was also called the White Raja of Hulu Perak by the Malays because he was respected for his humble attitude. There were 10 Indian police officers accompanying E. W. Birch's visit to the station in Klian Intan and 6 Malay police officers to the Tasik station. Inspector Simpson also followed this entourage along with 26 elephants and a large party.

Ernest Woodford Birch

They began their journey from Gerik on July 14, 1909, by following the road along the Kenderong River. By late afternoon, the party had reached a quarter of the way to their destination. The next day, they all departed at exactly 7 a.m. and reached the Rui River at approximately 10:45 a.m. After crossing two rivers, they finally arrived at Kampung Pahit. E. W. Birch described the Kampung Pahit area at that time as a place that was quite beautiful and fertile, with vast rice fields and coconut trees growing around the paddy area. There were many farmers busy plowing the rice fields with buffaloes there. While in Kampung Pahit, an announcement was made regarding the transfer of power from Siam to the British for the Reman section, and it was here that it was read aloud for the first time. Immediately after that, notice was given to the village head. Not stopping there, the party continued their journey to Klian Intan. After an hour of travel, they finally stopped at a small village called Kepayang for lunch. According to E. W. Birch's written records, the Kepayang area at that time was inhabited entirely by Siamese people. They rested there for half an hour before continuing their journey. After resting, the party continued their journey to Klian Intan, and on the way, they had to pass through the valley at the Kepayang River. The area was quite difficult and tiring for everyone involved in the party to continue the journey because it was quite hard for the elephants to pass through the endless valley area. When they reached Ulu Kali, they had to cross several mountainous areas known as Dusun Pawang by the local residents. Their journey to reach Klian Intan was quite challenging. After two days of traveling through rivers, forests, trails, valleys, and mountains, E. W. Birch's party finally arrived at Klian Intan at 6 p.m. J. D. Kemp, who was the manager of the Rahman Tin Co, welcomed their arrival and provided special treatment to the party. E. W. Birch, as the British Resident in Perak at that time, arranged a meeting with Wan Husein (Amphoe Betong, Second Level Siamese Administrative Subdivision) in Klian Intan through Hubert Berkeley.

Hubert Berkeley

He arranged the meeting to discuss the problem of the mixed population between the Siamese and the Malays there, which was a very important matter to discuss for the new territory. On July 16, 1909, at approximately 10 a.m., Wan Husein arrived, and Hubert Berkeley picked him up at the Police Station. The meeting between E. W. Birch and Wan Husein was held at the house of J. D. Kemp (manager of Rahman Tin Co), and Dato Sri Adika Raja was also present at the meeting. At exactly 1:45 p.m., the Siamese police and the Perak Indian Police under Inspector Simpson were ready at the square in front of the Police Station located on the hill.

On the opposite side of the small square, there was a flagpole flying the Siamese flag. E. W. Birch, along with several other Europeans, was present at the square at exactly 2 p.m. Wan Husein, who was wearing a Siamese police uniform, also accompanied E. W. Birch to the top of the hill. Both police teams surrendered their weapons and then saluted each other.

Once everyone was ready, Wan Husein headed towards the flag and gave a speech in Malay to all those present in the area in a loud voice. Wan Husein stated in his speech that he had received a letter from Prince Damrong, which stated that a Peace Treaty had been made between the King of England and the King of Siam. In his statement, it was mentioned that Siam had surrendered and was under the protection of England. All territories were divided by the flow of rivers, where it was then described that areas where rivers flowed into the Gulf of Siam would remain under Siamese territory, and areas where rivers flowed into the sea on the other side would become English territory. Wan Husein also voiced Prince Damrong's concerns regarding the Patani territory because the Perak territory area was actually not much different from

the original Perak border area

. The territory handed over to the state of Perak consisted of 2,624 residents in total. 1,296 of them were Malays, 975 were Chinese, 346 were Siamese, and 8 were Europeans.

After finishing his speech, Wan Husein then lowered the Siamese flag that was flying there. Tungku Menteri, along with Dato Seri Adika Raja, then raised the flag of the state of Perak. Then, the guards began to change their positions to take over the station there. Wan Husein then shook hands with E. W. Birch while taking pictures before the ceremony of handing over the Reman area to the State of Perak ended.

E. W. Birch's party left Klian Intan on Sunday, July 18, 1909, to head to Betong, and the journey took 1 day. On July 21, 1909, they left Betong to return to Gerik following the same road they came by. E. W. Birch arrived in Gerik on July 23, 1909. This event is quite important in the history of Perak, where if this takeover had not happened at that time, part of the Hulu Perak area might have been within the territory of Thailand. References:

• JMBRAS, No. 54, The taking over from Siam of Part of Reman or Rahman, E. W. Birch