Majuperak Building, Ipoh

Majuperak Building (19 August, 2006)

Majuperak Building (GPS: 4.59757, 101.0808) is a two-storey heritage building along Jalan Sultan Idris Shah (Brewster Road) in Ipoh. It occupies the former Ipoh Fire Station, which was built in 1936 for the Kinta Fire Brigade.

The history of firefighting in Ipoh goes back to the great fire of 1892, when much of the newly established Ipoh was razed. During the early years, firefighting was a voluntary job with each shop sending one or two workers to help whenever the fire alarm sounded.

This proved unsuccessful in saving the town of Papan, which was burned to the ground in 1911. Following the blaze, the Chief of Singapore Fire Brigade N.W. Pett was called upon to help. He proposed the setting up of a new fire station. H.J. Markes became the new Superintendent of the Fire Brigade in charged of all the fire stations in Perak.

The Ipoh Fire Station was used until 1992. Today it houses Majuperak, the office of Maju Perak Development, a joint-venture company between the Perak State Development Corporation and the Urban Development Authority.