Bercham ( Jawi: برچم) is a suburb of

Ipoh Ipoh (, ) is the capital city of the Malaysian States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Perak. Located on the Kinta River, it is nearly north of Kuala Lumpur and southeast of George Town, Penang, George Town in neighbouring Penang ...

next to the North–South Expressway in

Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. It is located between the Ipoh South Interchange of North–South Expressway and

city. It is near Ipoh Garden, Tasek,

Tambun Tambun ( Jawi: تمبون; ) is a town and a suburb of Ipoh in Perak, Malaysia. The Lost World of Tambun, a waterpark, is located there, as is the prehistoric Tambun rock art Tambun rock art, is a series of Neolithic-era cave paintings at t ...

and

Tanjung Rambutan Tanjung Rambutan ( Jawi: تنجوڠ رمبوتن; ) is a small town in Kinta District, Perak, Malaysia. It is on the Ipoh to Butterworth railway line, at the now-defunct Tanjung Rambutan railway station. It is located approximately 12 kilometers ...

. There are a number of

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...

s in Bercham. Bercham began as a

tin mining Tin mining began early in the Bronze Age, as bronze is a copper-tin alloy. Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth's crust, with approximately 2 ppm (parts per million), compared to iron with 50,000 ppm. History Tin extraction and use ca ...

town but later evolved to its present status when the tin deposits dwindled. It covers 8,877 hectares of which 56% of the land is utilized for housing, industry and agriculture. As at 2009, the population of Bercham was 150,000 that would be about 20% of the Ipoh's population of 702,464 in the same year. A short drive to the end of the town near to Taman Ramai, lies two unexplored tourist attractions - Gunung Bercham (Kuan Yin Hill) and a Thai

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhism, Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat, khurul and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in B ...

. The temple existed as a shed some 15 years ago and the founder is a woman called Wan Yee, the caretaker of the temple. In 1990 the cashier of the temple Ting Cheong Meng was given the authority to rebuild the place. A hill track was built on the slope of Kuan Yin Hill, allowing visitors to climb up the hill top which offers the amazing skyline view of Bercham and Tasek. Bercham had two other small hills, including the Gunung Tambun Tengah (at Bercham Heights) which is the largest and tallest hill in Bercham, known to host a number of interesting wildlife including the

red junglefowl The red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), also known as the Indian red junglefowl (and formerly the bankiva or bankiva-fowl), is a species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the a ...

dusky langur The dusky leaf monkey (''Trachypithecus obscurus''), also known as the spectacled langur or the spectacled leaf monkey, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is found in Peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand, and can occas ...

white-rumped shama The white-rumped shama (''Copsychus malabaricus'') is a passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. Native to densely vegetated habitats in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, its popularity as a cage-bird and songster ...

, blue rock-thrush,

bat hawk The bat hawk (''Macheiramphus alcinus'') is a raptor found in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia to New Guinea. It is named for its diet, which consists mainly of bats. It requires open space in which to hunt, but will live anywhere from dense ra ...

, Tickell's blue flycatcher, owls, squirrels, eagles, etc. Some temples are located here, such as the Huat Tian Keong temple and the Sukhavana Meditation Monastery. Another small hill, Gunung Temlang (located near Bandar Baru Putra) is being mined and only half of the hill is present today. Bercham police station is the winner of best practices among police stations, scored the highest among the participating stations from

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. It shows that Bercham police station is the best in community orientation, physical conditions, equal treatment, transparency and accountability as well as detention conditions categories. This programme was surveyed by

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

-based Altus Global Alliance.

History

Present-day Bercham is located between what were once known a
Kampung Tanjung Rangkong and Kampung Kuala Tekan
two ancient Malay settlements in Kinta that witnessed the exploits of '
ex-Panglima Kinta Zainal Abidin
'', who had orchards and paddy fields somewhere in the vicinity. A mysterious Malay mining tycoon who hid behind the alias '
Kulup Lembang
'' (well known in

) also had mining properties somewhere nearby.SAS, second great-grandson of Kulup Lembang

Gardens

*Kampung Baru Bercham *Taman Ramai *Taman Mujur *Taman Restu *Anjung Bercham Megah *Taman Bercham Cahaya *Taman Bercham Sinar *Taman Desa Kencana *Taman Utama *Taman Bercham Raya *Taman Medan Bercham *Taman Pakatan *Taman Pakatan Jaya *Taman Mewah *Gerbang Bercham Selamat *Anjung Bercham Elit *Taman Seri Dermawan *Taman Seri Gaya *Taman Ria *Taman Tasek Indra *Kampung Tersusun Tasek *Taman Bercham Idaman *Taman Sri Kurau *Taman Shukur *Taman Bercham Permai @ Ridgewood *Taman Rima Gamelan *Taman Seri Bercham *Taman Suria

Popular food

Claypot chicken rice Claypot rice (), sometimes translated as "rice casserole", is a Chinese traditional dinner eaten widely in Guangdong in Southern China as well as the Chinese communities of Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. The rice is presoaked, or i ...

(瓦煲鸡饭) *

Dim sum Dim sum () is a large range of small Chinese dishes that are traditionally enjoyed in restaurants for brunch. Most modern dim sum dishes are commonly associated with Cantonese cuisine, although dim sum dishes also exist in other Chinese cu ...

(点心) *

Fish head curry Fish head curry ( Malay : ''kari kepala ikan'') is a dish in Malaysian and Singaporean cuisines with mixed Indian and Chinese origins. The head of a red snapper is stewed in a Kerala-style curry with assorted vegetables such as okra and eggplan ...

(咖哩鱼头) *''Dou fu fa'' (豆腐花) *Ipoh shredded chicken hor fun (鸡丝河粉) * Namzai Charsiew (腩仔叉烧)

Schools

* SMK Bercham, secondary school * SRJK (C) Bercham, Chinese mainstream primary school * SMK Jalan Tasek, secondary school near Bercham * SK Tasek Dermawan

References

{{coord, 04, 38, 30, N, 101, 07, 40, E, type:city_region:MY, display=title Perak Ipoh