There's a lot of people from Ipoh. Michelle Yeoh, the Oscar winning actress is from Ipoh. Because it's a Cantonese speaking city, a lot of people go off to Hong Kong or Mainland China for career reasons.
I have changed trains here before but I don't recall having been inside the city centre (I have taken a bus through it though). It's the main station to connect to the Hiraizumi UNESCO World Heritage sites.