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Saturday, October 3, 2015

WILL UMNO & RED SHIRTS NEXT 'RECLAIM THEIR LAND': Petaling Street 'originally' inhabited by Malays - historian

WILL UMNO & RED SHIRTS NEXT 'RECLAIM THEIR LAND': Petaling Street 'originally' inhabited by Malays - historian
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia’s capital city, Kuala Lumpur, is rich in nostalgic history but it would not be complete without the iconic presence of Petaling Street, recognised as Malaysia’s Chinatown and renowned for its vibrant markets and numerous delicacies.
According to historian Tan Sri Prof Dr Khoo Kay Kim, Petaling Street came to be the place where early Chinese settlers, mostly Cantonese and Hakka, but including other smaller Chinese communities, came to build their lives during the city’s flourishing tin mining era during the 1800s.
He said that apart from being the centre where the Chinese communities converged and essentially united, the area was a melting pot where the nation’s multiracial and multi-ethnic heritage mixed together and, in part, was the start of the country’s harmonic relationship.
“Originally, the area was inhabited by the Malay community, but when the Chinese people started coming in, the Malays started leaving and sold their land to Chinese and Indian settlers.
“The Chinese were concentrated on trading on land, while the Malays were more focused at the “Y River” of Sungai Gombak as it is known today,” he said when contacted by The Rakyat Post.
The establishment of Chinatown was mainly along High Street, or Jalan Tun H.S. Lee as it is known today, as well as Jalan Cheng Lock due to its strategic location on high ground which was suitable for settlement as it was less prone to the floods which the city was famous for.
Khoo explained that the establishment of Petaling Street, to some degree, begun when Kuala Lumpur was partially destroyed during the conflict between the Hakka and Cantonese clans.
Led by “Kapitans” or Captains the clans were tied in a civil war clashing over economic rights and mining privileges.
The war, known as the Selangor Civil War, essentially led to the destruction of Kuala Lumpur and the abandonment of the mines that became flooded and unworkable due to neglect.
When the war came to an end, the Kapitan of the Hakka community, Yap Ah Loy, rallied the Chinese communities to rebuild their livelihood based on agriculture and trade.
“In 1880, Kuala Lumpur was destroyed in a fire, and at the time, Yap Ah Loy was in part responsible for rebuilding Kuala Lumpur, even though he was not the city’s founder.
While Chinatown was built by miners, traders and farmers, according to Khoo, Petaling Street’s golden age began during the 1930s when changes in the socio-economic landscape brought new development to the city.
“Social development can be seen through the coffee shops, Chinese opera theatres as well as gambling parlours.
“In the 30s, night clubs were opened, catering to the wealthy, as well as cabarets clubs,” he said.
Petaling Street still stands today as one of the nation’s prized jewels where its vibrant history and heritage remains as Malaysia continues forward towards an unforeseen future.
This is the third part of The Rakyat Post’s series on Petaling Street. Stay with us for the remainder of this five-parter. - Therakyatpost

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