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Kuala Lumpur, known more commonly as KL is
the focal point of new Malaysia. The capital city of Malaysia, it bustles with
commercial and business activities during the day and transforms into an
entertainment capital when the sun sets. Literally means ‘muddy estuary’, KL is
the fastest growing city in the region and offers travellers an interesting
mixture of old-world charm and metropolis glitz.
The old British colonial buildings and structures amidst the many modern
skyscrapers and cosmopolitan projects is a blend of the city’s rich past and
its unhesitating progress with the tides of change.
As the entry point for most visitors and the meeting point of the country's
many attractions, Kuala Lumpur is a grand gateway to a fascinating destination.
The city brings together Malaysia's past and present, its many constituent
cultures and remarkable natural treasures that allow first-time visitors an
invaluable opportunity to see Malaysia as a whole before setting off to explore
its parts. One is treated to the unsurpassed beauty and variety of Malaysia's
plants and animals at the botanical and bird parks of the Lake Gardens. Music,
crafts, and cultural practices can be explored and experienced at the vibrant
Central Market and the country’s cultural history comes into focus at the
National Museum.
Situated midway along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, at the confluence
of the Klang and Gombak rivers, Kuala Lumpur is approximately 35 km from the
coast and sits at the centre of the Peninsula's extensive and modern
transportation network. The largest city in the nation, Kuala Lumpur possesses
a population of over one and a half million people drawn from all of Malaysia's
many ethnic groups.
Near the centre of Kuala Lumpur, the Klang and Gombak rivers flow and converged
quietly, barely noticeable amid the dwarfing skyline of gleaming new hotels and
office buildings. A few feet from the place where the rivers meet, the Jamek
Mosque rests in the middle of it all. The rivers’ point of convergence lies at
the southernmost corner of a small grassy field at the rear of the mosque,
overshadowed by the crowded skyline.This is where it all began in 1857.
A group of 87 Chinese miners poled their way up the Klang in search of tin,
which was in huge demand, especially by America and the British Empire for its
durability and lightness to fuel industrial revolutions. Huge tin reserves were
found few miles to the east in Ampang, the highest point where the prospectors
could land their supplies. They named it "muddy confluence," built a ramshackle
and a thatched-roof village. Within a month all but 17 of them had died of
malaria - a devastating beginning to what would become one of Asia's richest
cities.
More tin prospectors, however, soon followed, and within a few years the
village thrived. Like all booming mining towns, it was a raucous place,
populated almost exclusively by men. They spent their days in grueling labour,
crouching over tin pans or digging the earth, returning to the town at dusk to
console their loneliness in bars, gambling halls and brothels. Few got rich,
but throughout the peninsula the mania for tin inspired fierce rivalries and
claim disputes. The Chinese miners organised themselves into clans and warring
factions called secret societies. Without a centralised Chinese authority
keeping peace, order in the mining areas was nearly impossible. Needing a
solution to the chaos, the headmen of the local clans elected a man named Yap
Ah Loy as "Kapitan Cina," or leader of the Chinese community in 1868. With the
support of the local sultan, he built prisons and squelched revolts, quickly
establishing an infamous reign over the entire Kuala Lumpur mining area.
Loy had barely established control, however, when the Malay Civil War broke out
a few years later. Local sultans were fighting for the throne of Perak. KL,
swept up in the conflict, was burned to the grounds. The merchants of the
Straits Settlements, concerned that the war would ruin their prosperity, asked
for British intervention. Britain, though initially reluctant but feared losing
its tin interests in Malaya to Germany, sent in a new territorial governor,
Andrew Clarke, to apprise the situation. Clarke gathered the feuding princes
aboard his ship off the island of Pangkor, and convinced them to sign an
agreement, which came to be known as the Pangkor Agreement. The Agreement ended
the war, established a new Sultan of Perak, and most significantly called for
the presence of a British Resident who must be asked and acted upon on all
questions other than those pertaining to Malay religion and customs. This was
the beginning of a dramatic increase of British involvement in Malaya, one that
eventually place Kuala Lumpur at centre of history.
The British residential system spread quickly. Frank Swettenham, the Resident
of Selangor, chose Kuala Lumpur as his administrative centre and oversaw the
rebirth of the city, ordering the construction of new buildings using brick. In
1896, Swettenham convinced the Sultans of four states to unite under the
umbrella of the Federated Malay States (FMS) and Kuala Lumpur was chosen as the
capital. The city became a classic centre of British colonialism. Sharply
uniformed officers and bureaucrats administered the FMS from beneath the
distinctive copper domes of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building. In the off-hours,
they played cricket on the field of the Padang and sought liquid comfort in the
Selangor Club, where only whites were allowed. Unsurprisingly, the club became
a symbol of British imperialism and oppression and fueled the ever-growing
dreams of independence. At midnight on August 30, 1957, amidst a crowd of tens
of thousands, British soldiers finally lowered the Union Jack for the last time
in front of the Selangor Club. Interestingly, the old British watering hole
becomes the meeting place of the new Malaysian elite.
With independence, KL was poised for its greatest transformation ever. One of
the city's darkest days came in 1969, when civil unrest - spawned by racial
tensions - swept through the city, sparking a state of emergency that lasted
two years. Bolstered by a growing economy and a sincere desire for cooperation
among Malaysia's ethnic groups, the tensions subsided, and in 1974 the city’s
status was elevated to that of Federal Territory. The last decade saw Kuala
Lumpur undergo phenomenal growth, with a population explosion of almost 50
percent and development on a monumental scale. The world's tallest buildings,
the Petronas Towers, now rise above the city of 2 millions.
Shopping
Malaysia is a premier shopping destination in
Southeast Asia. Shops, bazaars and shopping centres throughout the country
offer a staggering variety of clothing, cosmetics, shoes, handbags, household
conveniences and electronic apparatus. From the antique and the exotic to
modern electronic and audio-visual equipment, the constantly changing product
range includes an extensive collection of designer labels from the fashion
capitals of the world.
The Golden Triangle, an area bounded by Jalan Bukit Bintang and Jalan Imbi, has
the best shopping complexes in the city and they are all well within walking
distance from each other.
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