Mention the word castle, and you’d be forgiven for thinking of magnificent castles dotting the European countryside. Members of royalty, nobility and aristocrats all built colossal castles that exist to this today.
However, there is one castle in Malaysia that was not built by a king nor was it built as a show of strength of a kingdom. The castle is known as Kellie’s Castle in the state of Perak.
Kellie’s Castle was built by a Scottish by the name of William Kellie Smith back in 1915. He was a planter who first came to Malaya (as Malaysia was known then) as a civil engineer.
He joined a survey firm and with the money he earned, bought a parcel of land for the purpose of planting rubber.
He then married his girlfriend back in Scotland before returning to Malaya with her.
Kellie’s Castle was supposed to be his Taj Mahal to his wife, built to symbolise his undying love and devotion to her.
The castle was supposed to be a six-storey tower, with an indoor tennis court and a rooftop courtyard apart from what was supposed to be Malaya’s first elevator.
Nevertheless, Smith died at 56 during a short trip to Lisbon, Portugal. His wife returned to Scotland with their children and the castle was never completed.
Looking at the castle, it is unique in its own way, with Indian, Moorish and Scottish architectural influences.
Today, it is one of the tourist attractions in Malaysia with many claiming that Kellie’s Castle is haunted by the ghost of Smith himself.
Khai and wife Amira are Malaysian travel bloggers who blog at Kaki Jalans. Their travels have taken them to almost all the countries in Asean and five countries in Europe. They are still actively travelling and adding to this list.
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