Turning Gopeng around, one chalet at a time: KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 — Armed with a passion for cooking, a piece of land up in the mountains and a vision, a single mother started a one-chalet “resort” in a fading, old Perak mining city with just RM5,000. Nine years later, Adeline Kuo’s one chalet is now 23 and draws up to 1,000 tourists into Gopeng every month, where she wows people from all corners of the world with her simple yet delicious village-style cooking, and her jovial and gregarious personality. Kuo is just one of about five other such small operators in the little town, offering not only accommodation in middle of the jungle, but also various adventure activities such as white water rafting, caving and abseiling. With a small boost from the state government, Kuo believes Gopeng has the potential to go from sleepy town to a top tourist destination. “I can see that in five years time, the amount of people who would come into Gopeng would triple, and with the government’s help, things would move along faster. “I look at tourism in Penang and Malacca, both are popular among foreigners but Perak is not there yet because the government is not doing enough to promote. “Look at us, we have the best pomelos, white water rafting activities, the best food in Malaysia and even Ipoh leng luis (pretty girls),” she joked. On a more serious note, Kuo said she was in the midst of opening up an antique-themed cafe in Gopeng town, which will be ready within the next six months. “I also plan to set up an educational camp for children, maybe like an Outward-Bound type but with a focus on teaching them traditional games, like the ones I used to play. “But there is not enough land, not enough finance. I was told that you need at least RM1 million to build such facility. “I have lots of plans in my head, but one step at a time,” she lamented. The 54-year-old said that should the town thrive, it could create jobs for the 3,000 Orang Asli as well as about 3,000 people who live in the nearby villages. Her own journey started in June 2004. When her son was then about to graduate high school, she thought she would do something that she loved: cooking. “I told my mum that I want to open a resort on her piece of land. I told them I have RM5,000, my siblings laughed at me. “They also said there are so many mosquitoes up in the jungle, that nobody would go. They didn’t encourage me, but I still insisted on opening. “Of course it was hard initially, but I love to cook. So I got some Orang Asli to help me build a kitchen and a toilet,” she said. There were random people on bicycles asking her what she was doing up there and if there were any accommodation, Kuo said. “I’d say, ‘oh, no house, wait till I have money’,” she said, adding that started buying petai and river fishes from the local Orang Asli to add to her dishes. “I’d go to the market at 4am in my little Kancil and be back by 6am, in time to bring a group of people to a nearby waterfall and jungle trekking. “One day was better than the next, and six months later, I realised I need to start hiring staff and there were a lot of Orang Asli women with kids who were willing to work for me,” she said. In 2009, with business thriving at five-acre rest house, she bought an adjoining seven acres to build Adeline’s villas, for RM48,000. “I designed the concept on my own, building one villa at a time. “I never had a plan. I go to bed at 8, and usually at about 3 or 4 am, I’ll wake up and take a look around, see which location is good, that’s when I get my inspiration,” she said. Kuo said her villa was now about 70 per cent complete, and in about two years time, it would be 100 per cent done up, with her son’s help. “Of course it’s been hard but I don’t think of it that way, but last time when I took care of my two kids, it was even harder. “But I just keep working, now I’m happy because I get to met all kinds of friends internationally, in every country, I really enjoy my life in jungle,” she said. She said the Gaharu Tea Plantation at the bottom of the hill helped attract a lot of people to the area, and most of them would want to go up the hill to check out her resort ― if the roads were not so bad. “Once the roads are fixed, more people will come up,” she said, reiterating hopes that the local government would help maintain the condition of the windy road that leads to her resort. She foresees that it will take about three years for Gopeng to be thriving, with businesses creating traffic, during the day and at night. “Gopeng is a dead town at night, it is really quiet but I hope after my cafe is open, more people will want to open businesses here at night as well. “I never see the money, but I enjoy my work, I enjoy doing this. “Happiness; that, money can’t buy,” she said. dlvr.it/4Byz5F
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 02:06:41 +0000
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