Ipoh

When I went home to my beloved home town last weekend for the first time in five months, I noticed that Ipoh is finally showing signs of waking up from a deep slumber. After years and years of neglect from successive governments in charge, I think there's enough evidence that finally somebody somewhere is doing something to unleash the full potential of the place where I grew up.

There are reputable hotels opening up everywhere, malls seem to be springing up at all corners (quite an improvement over Kinta City and Ipoh Parade) and one can actually find stuff like Uniqlo and H&M without having to travel far now. While I accept the fact that the things I mentioned are not the greatest yardstick for development, after years of false starts and unfulfilled promises, I reckon it

counts as something major for Ipoh.

I know some people prefer Ipoh to be a nice and quiet retirement city but that doesn't have to come at the expense of development. Personally, I would like to see it known for something other than being the giant R&R in the middle of people's journeys between Penang and KL. Based on what I saw over the weekend, there's still hope for that.