Muzium Darul Ridzuan, Ipoh

Muzium Darul Ridzuan, Ipoh, Perak (9 November, 2015)

Muzium Darul Ridzuan (GPS: 4.60456, 101.07796) is the main museum in Ipoh documenting the history of Perak. It is located on Jalan Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab. This is not to be confused with the Perak Museum, which is not in Ipoh, but rather in Taiping.

Muzium Darul Ridzuan was originally the mansion of Ipoh tin miner Foo Choong Nyit¹. Born in Ying Dong in Fujian Province, Foo migrated to Malaya, arriving in Penang in 1874, and relocated three years later to Ipoh, where he was an apprentice in the tin-mining industry. He established his own tin-mining business in Batu Gajah in 1890, at the age of just 30 years old, and was a shareholder of other mines in Pusing, Tanjung Tualang, Ipoh and Menglembu. As he rose in stature within the local society in Perak, Foo held various positions, among them, as a committee member of the Perak Chinese Protectorate. He passed away in 1937.

Foo Choong Nyit's mansion was built in 1926, and has a sprawling compound that is still maintained to this day. The building was sold to the Perak state government in 1950. For many years it was used as a government department building, housing the Department of Works.

Updates on Muzium Darul Ridzuan

March 2018
I have been attempting to visit this museum several times, but each time, I found that it is closed. On my latest visit in March 2018, it was once again closed but I am told it might reopen "at any time".