SUNGAI LEMBING

Sungai Lembing mining town 42 km northwest of Kuantan.



(extracts from wikipedia)

Why it was named Sungai Lembing? Lembing is Malay for spear, and "sungai" means river. Based on local legend, the local ruler then saw a vision of a spear in the nearby river and thus named his town after this vision.



Until the 1970s, Sungai Lembing was a major producer of underground tin. Sungai Lembing town developed in the 1880's when the British set up the tin mining industry, although the history of mining in this area extends much further back. A British company PCCL (Pahang Consolidated Company Limited) managed the mine from 1906 until its liquidation in 1986 when world tin prices collapsed.



The pit mines were closed in 1986 due to high operational costs and low yields, but during their heyday they were among the largest and deepest in the world. The total tunnel length is 322 km, with a depth of between 610 m and 700 m.


Today the town of Sg Lembing is in decline although it was once the richest town in Pahang, known as El Dorado of the East. In the 1940's about 1400 people worked in the mine. Today many of the wooden shoplots are closed and people are moving away.



The town straddles the river, and the main street on the right bank is split by an avenue of majestic trees. At the end, an old wooden building overlooks the padang where games of cricket and other social activities were held.




I have always wanted to go to Sungai Lembing by bicycle. DS and I have been talking about it many times but we never got to ride the 40km stretch – gentle undulating and very do-able – on our overprized bikes.



Recently, dring one of my frequent trips to Kuantan, I couldn’t resist it any more. My curiosity drove me all the way to Sungai Lembig before checking on my regular hotel in Kuantan for weekly Tuesday meeting in Kuantan office.



I brought the whole camera gear but what I did’t found is Sungai Lembing interesting enough for my to set up the tripod and wait for the sun and start shooting. Nope.



I felt quite sad because it seemed like the population have left, log before I came. So I just took my camera phone and recorded these images.