Kuala Lumpur

History

Kuala Lumpur was founded in 1857 at the confluence of the Gombak and Klang rivers. In Malay, the name literally means "muddy confluence". The settlement started when a member of the Selangor royal family, Raja Abdullah, opened up the Klang Valley for tin prospectors. 87 Chinese prospectors went up the river Klang and began prospecting in the Ampang area, which was then jungle. Despite 69 of them dying due to the pestilential conditions, a thriving tin mine was established. This naturally attracted merchants who traded basic provisions to the miners in return for some of the tin. The traders set up shop at the confluence of the Klang and Gombak rivers. Thus was a city born.

On our visit to Malaysia in 1988

As the town grew, the British, who ruled Malaya at the time, felt the need to appoint a headman (Kapitan Cina, or Captain of the Chinese) to administer the settlement and ensure law and order. The first Kapitan Cina was Hiu Siew. It was the third Kapitan Cina, Yap Ah Loy, who oversaw the rise of Kuala Lumpur from a sleepy little mining town to become the foremost city of Selangor. In the early years, Kuala Lumpur was the centre of the Selangor Civil War, in which two conflicts could be discerned; a fight between Selangor princes over the revenue of tin mines, and the other one a vendetta between Kapitan Yap and Chong Chong, who wanted the Kapitanship. Kapitan Yap and his backer, Tengku Kudin, were successful and it was from then, thanks to Kapitan Yap's able leadership, that Kuala Lumpur became Selangor's biggest city. He rebuilt Kuala Lumpur, which was devastated by the Civil War and repopulated it with Chinese miners from elsewhere in Selangor. He also encouraged Malay farmers to settle near Kuala Lumpur in order to have a steady and accessible source of food.



Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) in central Kuala Lumpur, where the independence of Malaya was declared in 1957It was made capital of Selangor in 1880 due to Kapitan Yap's success. He gave Kuala Lumpur a system of frontier justice which effectively maintained law and order, and ensured that Kuala Lumpur became the centre of commerce in Selangor. After Kuala Lumpur burnt down in 1881, Kapitan Yap decided to rebuild Kuala Lumpur in brick and tile to replace the dangerous attap houses. He set up Kuala Lumpur's first school and a shelter for the homeless. Yap's Kuala Lumpur was very much a rough frontier town as Yap himself was a member of the Hai San triad and gang warfare was common. Kapitan Yap licensed brothels, casinos and drinking saloons. Sir Frank Swettenham was at this time appointed Resident of Selangor and he was the person responsible for making Kuala Lumpur the seat of administration of Selangor. It was under his rule that after Kapitan Yap's death the city continued to prosper. When the Federated Malay States were incorporated with Swettenham in charge in 1896, Kuala Lumpur was made the capital.

The National Monument (Tugu Negara) commemorates those who died in Malaysia's struggle for freedom (principally against the Japanese occupation and during the Malayan Emergency)During World War II Japanese forces captured Kuala Lumpur on January 11, 1942 and occupied the city for 44 months.


Post-Independence Era (1957-1990)
After independence in 1957, Kuala Lumpur was the capital of the Federation of Malaya and continued to be the capital of the renamed Federation of Malaysia in 1963. For the occasion of independence, A large stadium, Stadium Merdeka (Independence Stadium), was built, where Malaysia's first prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, declared Malaya's independence in front of a massive crowd. The Union Flag was lowered from the flagpole at Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) and the Malayan flag was raised. The site symbolized British sovereignty as it was a cricket ground for the colonial administrators and fronted the Royal Selangor Club, Malaya's most exclusive whites-only club.

 

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Batu Caves



The Indian Shrines of Batu caves, near Kuala lumpur
On one of my many many trips around Malaya, I found a visit batu caves, Kuala Lumpur, a must.


Batu Caves is a limestone hill to the north of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which has a series of caves and cave temples. It takes its name from the Sungai Batu or Batu River, which flows past the hill. Batu Caves is also the name of the nearby village.

The 'Orang Asli' (local aboriginal tribes called Jakun) had been aware of the caves for a long time. However, they became famous only after it was discovered by the American Naturalist, William Hornaday in 1878. Of the various cave temples that comprise the site, the largest and best known is the Temple or Cathedral Cave, so named because it houses several Hindu shrines beneath its 100 m vaulted ceiling. These serve as the focus of the Hindu community's yearly Thaipusam festival.


There are 272 steps that a visitor has to climb in order to access the temple at the summit of the hill, The climb is very difficult in the sweltering heat -- and to keep you company are the macaque monkey which GRAB anything out of your hand and can be aggressive if they do not get their banana or choc bar --- these animals cannot be hurt as they belong to the priests on the lower Indian temple who supply food to the altar in the open altar of which the monkeys take as their own.

With me climbing the steps was an Indian couple with their little boy, we entered the massive cavern and the couple and child went to an Indian altar where an Indian priest bare chested with long long hair and a large moustachio spoke to the parent of the child who prayed to the God and present gifts and the priest took the child who was crying with fear of this old man, Who in turn smiled said some prayer's and put a mark of paint on the child's forehead, and blessed the child
 

Noi inside the great cavern

Very deep inside cave

Lesparkin
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