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As the names of the towns sound further inland, they gave the impression that they are so remote! The town of Raub is one such example. It is only less than 2 hours of slow driving from Kuala Lumpur, made much easier by the new expressway.
Raub Town
This town has 2 main streets running parallel to one another. The main street where all the out of town traffic passes through housed the commercial area. That was when this place was more or less like a cowboy town. Development to change the town have transformed the internal road into a more modern shopping area.
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Talking about development, first there is now an alternative road to reach the east coast Kelantan State. This is not an entirely new stretch but a road that by-pass more frontier towns of Benta and Kuala Lipis. The end of this by-pass will re-join the regular trunk road north of Kuala Lipis. |
This possibility of a by-pass did increase the importance of Raub as a junction town.
| Back to the scene in town, this is the main road with a narrow divider to partition the traffic rushing through town. |  |
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The rows of shop houses along the main road are still elegantly fitted with windows of the contemporary design. Giving the town the nostalgic feelings. |
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The local branch of the MCA, a political party, perch on a low hills behind the shophouses. It looks majestic with the "Spanish Steps" to adorn the old building. |
| Away from the main road, this adjoining side road is co-incidentally occupied a row of shops, all dealing in the same trade- photography. |  |
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On the street where the town "square" and bus terminal are, this restaurant became the talk of town. A branch of the famous curry chicken. |
The Sempalit New Village
Just a kilometer and a half out of town, there remains the new village of Sempalit. This is a relic from those days of Communist insurgence.
| For this village, time has almost stood still. We are lucky to find a sustantial part of the original village intact. There are developments and changes taking place and very soon this image of new villages will be just a memoy. |  |
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People staying here had to continue living and innovative. Among the more successful entrepreneur was this curry house. The brothers had expanded the bussiness out to Bentong and Kuala Lumpur. |
| Another family found a niche in the sale of ground nuts. |  |
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People from the outside had also invaded this obscure village. Direct sales company found the rural folks more brand loyal and stable customers. Urban folks who are better exposed and targets for new products. |
For those interested:- Sempalit is a dense and large new village shadowed only by the larger ones found in Jinjang or Serdang in Selangor. Most new villages near urbans area had transformed their images beyond recognitions, last chance to see an authentic colony before the century turns!
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