The tiny, yet historic, Perak town of Gopeng, is easily bypassed. Travellers speed down the highway, stopping, briefly, at tolls, then race onwards to the north. Other travellers, not so concerned with haste, drive cautiously through the main Gopeng thoroughfare, unaware of streets and avenues spreading outward towards the forest and back in time to its own heritage.

Lying dormant within Perak’s silvery Kinta Valley, Gopeng is a town awakening from a sleepy recent past. Historically it has variously been a tin town and a rubber town, but is now girding itself to move onto its next incarnation, that of tourist town.

Uniquely standing at the Cameron Highland foothills, and within easy reach of Ipoh to the north, Gopeng is perfectly situated to appeal to vacationers seeking sumptuous rivers (ideal for white water rainforest resorts. It is a wonderful starting point for adventure and eco-tourism, and for the traveller wishing to visit the pungently magnificent rafflesia flowers.

The growth in enthusiasm for adventure holidays, in and around the area, has caused Gopeng to reappraise itself, and in so doing has realised that it is a town which has much to offer, not just within the realm of adventure and eco-tourism, but of its own heritage too.

Gopeng has a recorded history of at least 150 years, shared by Malays, local Semai tribes people, Rawa and Mandailing from Sumatra, Chinese from southern China and Indians from their Tamil homelands. It is this mixture of diverse peoples which makes Gopeng town distinctive, and gives it such a rich history.

It’s a history that’s well worth preserving. One entrepreneurial former son of Gopeng, Bernard Yaw, teamed up with local historian, SK Phang, to do just that, by creating a centre to display some of that exceptional history and they have, in turn, constructed a springboard for further historical research into the town.

The centre’s opening was planned to co-inside with World Heritage Day (18 April), and was the only venue in Malaysia where Malaysians, and foreign visitors could get together to celebrate, with the rest of the world, the crucial act of heritage conservation.

Heeding the call for conservation and preservation from organisations like UNESCO, a few heritage societies have sprung up in Malaysia. Law Siak Hong presides over the Perak Heritage Society which had an interest in the birthing of the new Gopeng History centre, and had helped bring Papan, the home and clinic of Sybil Kathigasu, back to life as a museum dedicated to her and her Second World War work.

Together, the interested parties have enabled the general public to share in Gopeng’s history. Visitors may now mull over antique watches, historic currency, latex mangles and tin weighing machines. Thanks to people like Bernard Yaw, S.K.Phang and Law Siak Hong, Gopeng’s past is being preserved for future generations to further understand their own histories. The Gopeng History Centre now provides a focus for further heritage preservation and conservation, and a stop off point for visiting adventure and eco-tourists.

Outside the heritage centre, a marquee had been constructed to keep the heat off guests for the opening event. But more poignantly, on the road adjacent to the marquee, stood a man who had been selling ice cream from his wooden cart, for over 30 years. He, his cart and the bell he has used to summon customers for decades, were a fitting tribute both to World Heritage Day, to those who put in the effort and cared enough to bring the concept of heritage, and to the history centre in Gopeng.