Present day:
my two big kids are now working,
and we still have this little one to bring along everywhere we go!
Please read this article in New Straits Times by Low Mei May
Travel: Castle of love and tragedy 
The castle stands majestically in the backwaters of Batu Gajah Its grandeur, legends and secrets have not failed to draw the curious over the years. LOW MEI MAY goes inside Kellie’s Castle
DARK dungeons, secret tunnels, wine cellars, narrow stairways, a lift shaft, bar room and an open rooftop for games and parties. All these tell the story of one man’s love for life in colonial Malaya.
But it’s a story tragically cut short by the sudden death of William Kellie Smith, a Scotsman.
What stories Kellie’s Castle would have told if it had been completed and Smith and his family lived in it!
But it was not to be as Smith died when he went back to Europe to buy an elevator (it would have been the first for Malaya!). The (closed) lift shaft is a clue of the grandeur that would have been if the Smiths had lived in it.
The unfinished Kellie’s Castle stands majestically over Kinta River near Batu Gajah (a 20-minute drive from Ipoh).
Beside the castle lie the ruins of Smith’s first family home, Kellas House. Even these ruins tell stories of yesteryear, when it had also served as a clinic for the rubber planter’s hired hands from India.
Mystery Unsolved
The castle, with its four-storey tower (legend has it that it was supposed to be six storeys high) was an ambitious project undertaken by Smith who had intended to make it the hub of social life for the area’s wealthy colonial planters and administrators.
Evidence of this lies in a bar room adjacent to a wine chiller room with special wine racks. Spiralling down from the chiller room is a tunnel. But what was the purpose of this tunnel, and where was it supposed to lead to? Could it have been planned as a secret passage for Smith’s guests to come and go as they please? Or was it an escape route?
Unfortunately, we will never know as the answers died with Smith. We don’t even know where the tunnel ended as it was sealed by the museum authorities in 2003 for security reasons.
If the wine cellar and bar were for the men, then the rooftop garden must surely be for family events. It’s so huge that it can house a tennis court and space for helicopters to land on it.
What great parties the castle would have witnessed!
Smith obviously wanted to share his good fortune with friends. His plan to install a lift to the rooftop for the convenience of his guests said it all. But there are many narrow stairways running throughout the castle and a spiral stairway that leads to a dark dungeon.
This basement room is said to be for Smith and his family to hide in case of emergencies. It has a “window hole” that looks out to the entrance of the castle.
Moorish arches and walls embellished with Greco-Roman designs give the castle a colonial look. The walls are red bricks and the wooden window arches are of solid wood.
The castle has high stately columns, a grand living room, bedrooms, guest rooms, a worship room, rooms for servants, store rooms and many other rooms whose function can only be speculated upon.
Looking Back
Smith, born on March 1, 1870, came to then Malaya when he was only 20. He was hired by estate owner Alma Baker to build roads in south Perak.
This gave him the capital to buy 960 acres of jungle land in Kinta District, which he converted into rubber plantations. He named his estate Kinta Kellas after his home farm in 1909 and built his first home there.
Five years later, after the birth of his son, he decided to build a grand new home — his castle.
He hired 70 workers from India and imported the bricks and marble from Italy. But halfway through the construction, a mysterious illness broke out and killed many of his workers.
When told that a temple must be built to appease the gods, he stopped work on the castle to build a Hindu temple nearby.
Once that was done, work on the castle resumed, but it was never completed as tragedy struck again. On his visit to Lisbon to buy his lift, Smith caught pneumonia and died. He was 56.
His wife sold the estate and the castle fell into ruins. However, it pulls in visitors drawn to its mystique.
What’s On Today
Kellie’s Castle is now managed by Aqfast Enterprise, which is upgrading the facilities, including the walkway, landscape and entrance. Spotlights will also be placed around the compound to enhance its look.
The company is planning to reopen the entrance to the underground tunnel as Smith’s car is said to be inside it.
Besides tourists and history buffs, Kellie’s Castle is popular with newlyweds for their wedding shots.
Its reputation as a must-see was enhanced after the filming of Anna & The King in 1999. The film had superstars Jodie Foster and Chow Yun Fatt in the lead roles.
Aqfast also conducts rafting and kayaking on Kinta River as well as ghost hunting and treasure hunts.
After visiting Kellie’s Castle, check out the Hindu temple, Sri Mahamariaman Ladang Kinta Kellas (just a kilometre away), which has Smith’s statue among the Hindu deities. There’s also a portrait of Smith here. It is said that the castle tunnel leads to the temple.
Entrance Fees
Adult: RM4 (MyKad holders), RM5 (non-MyKad holders). Students: RM3 Under 6 years old and handicapped: Free For details and bookings, call Tajuddin Yaacob, operations director of Aqfast, at 019-505 0050/05-365 1336.
Source of this article click here
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