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Sungai Lembing today
The mine closed in 1986 when world tin prices fell to an all time low. Sungai Lembing had survived and prospered on the mine for 80years. Suddenly there was no work for residents. They relied heavily on the mine and the company. Now there was only agriculture and fishing. The younger generation found it difficult to eke a living here and left to Kuantan and other towns to start their new life.
For a while, Sungai Lembing faded away. Only the aged were left behind. The town was left to its own. Despite that, the townspeople proudly maintained their town, keeping the shops going and the local chinese association alive. The Malay community lived a little further out of town and carried on with their lives as they has been for generations.
A recent interest in the town through media coverage has sort of, thrown sungai lembing back on track if not too late. Although many have left their hometown and shops along the parallel streets have closed one by one, there remains fire from within. A few younger people have even returned home to carry on family trade and traditions. This, is promising indeed!
You know what’s great about Sungai Lembing? Its people. Sometimes I really wonder what it is all about when government party members maintain this race disparity. In small towns, people of different colour and creed live alongside happily whether in Kota Bahru , Kangar or Sungai Lembing. Chatters with each other in the early mornings at the morning meat and veg market mark more of what Malaysia tries to portray to the rest of the world… racial harmony. What makes it difficult to grasp this ideology of racial harmony in ‘urban civilisation’ makes it all so clear when we leave all that in the cities behind and get down to basics.. friendship. Even the stray dogs running around town look amazingly healthy. They wonder in and out of shops and premises without fear of getting pelted or scalded with boiling water. That’s what’s missing too in the city, humanity.
What to do In town
Mining Museum
The museum is housed in the old Mining Manager’s house up on the knoll. There’s quite a bit on the mining history in Sungai Lembing and also some paraphernalia of the past.
Open everyday except Mondays. Times: 9am to 5pm except Fridays 9am to12nn, 2pm to 5pm
Sungai Lembing Museum, Sg. Lembing, 26200 Kuantan, Pahang Darul Makmur, Tel: +60-9-541-2378, Fax: +60-9-541-2377
Photography Shop
There’s an old fashioned Photography Shop at the corner, right next to the newly erected food court where visitors can purchase black & white copies of old photographs of Sungei Lembing as well as the mines. Interesting copies and nice to have as a little souvenir of the place
Entrances to the mines
Just up the slope, a short distance from the Mine Museum are entrances to the mines.
Although most of them have been sealed, there are 2 small cracks in the wall that shows an interesting story may be woven from this. A cold gust of wind comes gushing through from the deepest bowels of the mines as I standing at the entrance of this tunnel. The walls within are slippery and smooth, having been constantly bathed in water runoffs. One of the reasons why the tunnels are now sealed is because the lower levels of the mines and the shafts have been flooded through. This makes it extremely dangerous to enter.
As I scanned the area.. I could faintly see the rail tracks running from the entrances down to the cliff where the trolleys would have been tipped over and the conveyor belts would have transported the rocks and ore to the plant at the bottom of the cliff.
Panorama Hill
For a 360° view of sungei lembing, the best place will be at the top of Panorama Hill and the best time would definitely be at sunrise. To get to Panorama Hill, drive down past the morning market to the end of the road. Drive up the slope and there’s a path leading up panorama hill. Best to leave at about 5.45am. It’s a 1200m high and takes approximately 1hr. Bring along torchlights for when going up.
Where to Eat
Traditional method of Roasting Pork
This is a Sungei Lembing specialty and it’s really quite an experience but it’s only available on Fridays and Saturday nights. It’s kinda difficult to find the house where it’s sold. But there’s a little sign but of course, written in Chinese that leads the way through a labyrinth of houses. Ask for directions and pretty often, a local will take you there. Just follow the bike. Everyone rides a bike in Sungei Lembing.
The most amazing thing about this house is that it has a little Malaysian styled barn in the gardens, with hardly any walls to prop it up but it houses a huge kiln. This clay and brick kiln is fired by wood at the bottom. At the top of the kiln, some 9 ft from ground, a sinister scene reworks my mind. There were meat hooks hanging off the wall, cleavers on chopping boards and a man standing over a glowing manhole in his full length industrial apron. Aromatic woody smoke wafted out of the manhole. In the manhole hangs an adult sized pig, roasting to perfection. It takes hours to prepare the roast and starts early evening. Some customers even drive all the way from Kuantan some 40km away, just for a few kilos of the roast pork to take home. They’re amazingly tasty pork cracklings and what makes it worth all the more is having a chance to see at least a part of the process. Just try not to stand too close to the manhole…
Hoover restaurant
There are few places to go for dinner and Hoover must be one of the more popular ones as it’s always full but not always with tourists. It thrives on local businesses. The pricing is more than reasonable. We had steamed fish dish, a vegetable dish, a soup, a chicken dish and an egg dish for RM40. If you know the Hakka dialect, all the better. Sungei Lembing has a large Hakka community…
Sungai Lembing Biscuits
The traditional Sungei Lembing biscuits started during the mines period. The biscuits were baked by a cook who worked with an English manager and would bake fresh biscuits everyday for afternoon tea. Although the original recipe died with the cook, the biscuits sold at Sungei Lembing is a close as it gets. If you remember the old schooldays of 40’s and 50’s, these sungei lembing biscuits would definitely would bring back memories.
Mee Java
A mee jawa stall run by Warisah Junus is forever popular bringing folk from Kuantan some 40min drive away for a fill. Located on mainstreet, its not difficult to find
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City Activity 
