Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Anuwar Ali, Malaysia's top economist & academician who is currently the Chairman of Minimum Wage Technical Committee under the Ministry of Human Resources, responding to my story about “Yik Mun in Tanjung Malim is historically significant as Malaysia's oldest and most iconic Hainan iconic coffee house” published by Newswav on 30 May, 2026 (https://newswav.com/A2605_ZrfvbM?s=A_gubwosf&language=en) stated, “TQ very much Prof Zul for this well written article. Bring back memories for me because I did tell you sometime back, my early school days pre-Merdeka were spent in Tg Malim as my late father, Allahyarham Ali bin Bulat, was a lecturer @Sultan Idris Training College 1951-1957. U bring back memories.”
I remember Prof Tan Sri Anuwar, former Vice Chancellor of UKM (National University of Malaysia) & President of Open University Malaysia for 12 years revealed that “Former Deputy Prime Minister, Allahyarham Tun Ghaffar Baba was my dad's contemporary as a student @SITC. As a lecturer, one of his students was Allahyarham Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Dr. Awang Had Salleh, a towering national figure of top universities in advanced educational policies.”
SITC established in 1922, was the first higher education and teacher training institution in Malaya. It produced prominent pre-independence nationalist intellectuals and writers. Evolving from SITC, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) is Malaysia's premier education university. It anchors the town status as an “Education Town”. National Education Museum housed the iconic Suluh Budiman building (built in 1919), this museum preserves Malaysia's rich teaching legacy and is a major landmark. I have visited UPSI and engaged in conversations with its former Chairperson, Puan Sri Rohani Abdullah.
Alongside education, this border town of Perak with Selangor, serves as a vital dual-engine for the Malaysian economy. The development of Proton City established Tanjung Malim as a major manufacturing automotive hub. Automotive High Technology Valley (AHTV) is transforming into a national Next -Generation Vehicle (NxGV) & New Energy Vehicle (NEV) hub, aiming to become an advanced “Motor City”. It is set to emerge as a global automotive hub.
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