Getting to Know Chemor in Perak

Chemor is a small town located north of Ipoh city, Perak. Nearby towns include Tanjung Rambutan, Sungai Siput, Salak, Kuala Kangsar, and Tasek, Ipoh.

Around the 1970s, there were many tin mines in Chemor. At that time, Chemor was also famous for its cassava cultivation, to the point that the topic of cassava production in Chemor was included in primary school local studies textbooks back then. Besides tin, agriculture such as rubber and vegetables were important activities for the residents of Chemor at the time. Back then, on both sides of the main road from Tasek to Chemor, one could see rubber plantations, which have now been transformed into factories, business centers, and housing estates.

Pig farming was widely practiced in the past, leading to stories linking the origin of the name Chemor to the Chinese term 'Che-Mo'. This is because the pronunciation of 'CEPOH', a Malay village near Chemor, in the Hakka Chinese dialect is 'CHE-MO'. Therefore, the Chinese community does not use the name Chemor; instead, since 1990, they have used the name Che-Bo (CHEPOH), which in Chinese phonetics means 'gem'. Most of the new housing estates around Chemor town, Kuala Kuang Chinese Village, and Tanah Hitam Chinese Village today were formerly vegetable farms and livestock pens. In the mid-1980s, industrial factories began to establish themselves in Chemor, particularly in the Klebang and Kampung Cina Khantan Baru areas.

Until the early 1980s, during the Emergency era, Chemor was listed as one of the 'black areas' in Malaysia. Several military checkpoints were stationed around the entry and exit roads to Chemor; one such post was located in Kampung Che' Zainal, at the junction leading to Tanah Hitam and Ulu Chemor. Operations to hunt down communist terrorists were frequently conducted in the rubber plantations and hills around Chemor. During that time, the residents of Chemor also experienced curfews several times. Military vehicle convoys passing through Chemor town towards Ulu Kuang or Tanjung Rambutan were a common sight for the villagers and would often be cheered on by children at the time. Village children living near the checkpoints would often hang out at the posts and receive ration gifts. At that time, there was also a mini military camp located in Kampung Cina Tanah Hitam.