Kellie Castle @ Batu Gajah

Unfinished Majestic


Looking Up




Centre Courtyard

I have passed this eerie majestic unfinished castle many times way back in 1986 when I was serving as Harbour Master of Perak. Finally in April 2008 on my way to Universiti Teknologi Petronas at Sri Iskadar, I made up my mind to stop over, look at it closely and feel the mystic of the place. As I made my way up to the castle the caretaker was busy telling mysterious story of the castle to a group of tourist. He was talking about voices in the middle of night and foot steps following lone visitor. It was midnight and I could not down load the last three photos due to system errors. I felt the chill in my spine and decided to abandoned the fourth attempt until daylight. Let me shared with you on some of the shots I have taken, while Lorraine Brecht write up below enlighten you on the unfinished Kellie’s Castle

About 40 kms south of Ipoh along the road that leads to Batu Gajah, a 'castle' suddenly appears on a ridge which slopes down to a river that borders the road. If you're just a passerby & not specifically looking for it, you may not believe your eyes. But yes, it IS a castle (sort of), and yes, you ARE in rural Malaysia. The impressive and unique structure of apricot brick & white stucco, with its variety of arches, a square tower, bay, & semi-circular bastion, actually gives one a sense of displacement.

Inside Rooms

The unfinished Italianate style 'castle' which stands against a background of densely planted rubber trees, was commissioned in 1915 by Wm Kellie Smith, an English rubber baron who was born in Scotland.
Some time after arriving In Malaysia, he purchased 900 acres of land just south of Ipoh and cleared the jungle for his rubber plantation and homely estate which he named Kinta Kellas. The 'castle' was to be their family wing, an addition to their first house on the property. Just behind the unfinished wing are the crumbling ruins of their first Manor home which was built of brick & wood more than 120 years ago. Because the new wing was rather grandiose, by local mansion standards of the time, it was nicknamed "Kellie's Castle" as well as "Kellie's Folly".

Two different design windows

In the middle of its construction, which to this point had already taken 10 years, Smith returned to England. It is speculated that he went to England with his daughter to reunite with his wife & son, and then went to Portugal to buy a lift for his new wing where he got sick and died of pneumonia in Lisbon Portugal in 1926. He is buried there in the British cemetery. His family sold the estate & never returned. Shrouded in romance, mystery, & historical inaccuracies, the 'castle' was never completed.

View behind the fan

Today, a company has taken over the management of the castle and has converted it into a tourist attraction. Admission is only RM4 for adults & RM2 for children. They have an excellent brochure for sale at RM3. They also offer a package tour of Batu Gajah town.

Orang Utan .... Orang Bandar

Orang Bandar






Orang Utan




MIRA enjoying the attraction ....



MAX .... relax ...and dreaming




ESAH ..... in cage "Meroyan"





Sampan V Dragon Boat



Waterfront Kuching







Kuching oh Kuching

Kuching was cloudy and rainy when we gathered to start off our teambuilding trip to Matang Wild life Centre. There were three bus loads of nature lovers rearing to go despite the threatening weather. We are going to the Orang Utan rehabilitation and conservation centre at Matang Wild Life Centre in the Kubah National Park about 1.5 hour bus ride from Kuching. The 2,230 hectors National Park is part of the Sarawak State government initiative in the conservation of wild life and nature.

By joining the trip I improved my basic knowledge on the endangered species orang utan. In fact orang utan can only be found in two parts of the world i.e. Borneo and Northern Sumatra (Acheh). Its populations was 8,000 in 1989 but now reduced to 2,000 only. Its lifespan is about 40 yrs in nature and 60 yrs in captivity. Its DNA is 97% same with human, making it our closest relatives. Very slow in breeding with 8 to 9 yrs between each pregnancy. The pregnancy period is 8 – 9 months and the baby will stick to its mother between 2 – 3 years before roaming free. They feed on plants shoot with durian as one of the favorite diet. The orang utan nest is made of tree branches & twigs and is 40 – 50 ft above the ground. They change their nest every night????

At the Matang Wild Life Centre we were taken for a short jungle tracking before reaching the orang utan sanctuary. We were first introduced to “Mira” – a three years old orphan that looks very much at home at the sanctuary. She was free to play around and enjoyed the attention given to her. Next was “Esah” with her two years old baby clinging and playing around with her in the cage. She was not allowed to roam freely because of her depression that caused her to act aggressively to female visitors. We were told she was ok with male visitors though!!! Maybe she was having “ sakit meroyan “ like some unfortunate women did after delivery. There was another 19 yrs old male orang utan named “ Max “. They could not set him free because he is very aggressive and unable to survive in the jungle. So used to captivity life – food and lodging provided !!!. Actually the centre acts as an orphanage, training and treatment centre for the orang utan.

Looks like even orang utan have their problems either because of their own doing or caused by human reducing their roaming territories. Despite the close DNA between orang utan and human, they were never close to us in term of intelligence and capability. Capability to do good deeds or destroying the world we are living in. It make me realized the truth reminder given to us by God Almighty that human is a very special creation that can be like an Angel when following the humanly nature but worst then the animal when overcome by animal desires.