Ipoh Padang Editorial Image

In commemoration of Queen Victoria`s Diamond Jubilee, the Chinese community subscribed over 43,000 pound to create the Ipoh Padang in 1898. Padang is the Malay word for `field`, and this is exactly what it is. In the colonial days, British men were seen wearing whites on the field, hitting a wicket or two in the game of cricket, for the uninitiated. Some were then seen heading back to the exclusive Ipoh Royal Club adjacent to the field, where the rules of `white men only` still applied. The Perak Cricket Association was once based here.