Malaysia Then and Now

From about more than 500 years ago, the Melaka Strait was already, and still is, a much used sea lane for intrepid travellers, adventures, and traders. Bounded by the west coast of the Malay peninsula and the island of Sumatera, it is an essential conduit for trade and travel linking South China Sea and Indian Ocean. Thus the Arab and Chinese traders rested at trading posts on either side of the strait until the monsoon winds blow in their favour to either take them home or on to further shores.

Then the Europeans came to these shores. First the Portuguese, then the Dutch and thereafter the British. The Portuguese and then the Dutch took over Melaka. The British developed Penang and Singapore and then took over Melaka. These European powers built forts, godowns, administrative buildings and residences, in the style and architecture of their home countries. They felt the need to not only establish control of their trading ports, they need to remind themselves of "home". Hence the Portuguese have their churches, the Dutch their Stadhuys and red brick buildings, and the British their Victorian architecture.

By the 19th and 20th centuries, we see the Malaya develop to include a plantation and mining economy rather than being just a trading economy. Support services for these ask for more buildings like banks and shops and markets. As the west coast of the peninsula is the more developed starting with the ports of Melaka and Penang, followed by the mining districts in Perak, our calendar will show images from these areas. We also present images of Kuala Lumpur which started as a mining town, and, after the then Sultan of Selangor ceded land to the Federal Administration, it became the business and administrative capital of Malaysia. Today the administration of the nation has been moved to Putrajaya.

Dataran Merdeka
The Sultan Abdul Samad Building, completed in 1906 in Kuala Lumpur housed the government offices. Designed by a British architect who worked in the British Administration, it has a clock tower in the centre, perhaps reminiscent of Big Ben in London. The Tower Hall was built opposite the road on the left of the government offices. The architecture reflects Moorish influence. Opposite the building is the then Selangor Club Padang, now Dataran Merdeka, where Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first Prime Minister declared Merdeka seven times in the ceremony to celebrate the independence of Malaya in 1957.

Masjid Jamek
Masjid Jamek, Jamek Mosque, built in 1907 sits at the confluence of the Gombak and Klang Rivers in Kuala Lumpur. The oldest mosque in Kuala Lumpur, it was designed by Arthur Benison Hubbock, an architectural assistant in the Public Works Department. The architecture is reminiscent of the Mogul style. This view of the mosque was taken in 1920 from the bridge at Market Street looking up the Klang River.


Petaling Street Right in the oldest part of Kuala Lumpur, in Chinatown, sits the Lai Foong building. It is actually the building of the Rubber Trade Association of Selangor and Pahang, but its ground floor is the Lai Foong Restaurant, and the building has been referred to as such by all residents of Kuala Lumpur since every one can remember. It is at the junction of High Street (now Jalan H.S. Lee) and Foch Avenue. This scene was taken in 1960.

Java Street
Java Street, or Jalan Mountbatten, now Jalan Tun Perak, in 1923. It is the centre of Kuala Lumpur's commerce and trade. Indian trading houses, textile shops, import and export enterprise, a British department store, and banks could be found and still can be found here, albeit with some few changes over the years.

Jalan Tun H.S. Lee
Blocks of shophouses in High Street (now Jalan Tun H.S. Lee) in the 1930s. The view looks towards Foch Avenue. This part of town was where the Chinese had settled, living in the second storeys of their buildings while conducting their businesses as retail shops and other enterprises on the ground floor. It was one of the busiest and bustling part of old Kuala Lumpur.

Jalan Medan Pasar
Old Market Squre (Medan Pasar) in the 1920s. The Victorian architecture of the buildings around the square stood proud and imposing. Here Indian merchants, British bankers and Chinese entrepreneurs conduct their daily activities. Straight ahead was the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank. The first shophouse of the buildings on the left nearest the camera was a thriving coffee shop where the early protagonists of enterprise met and had their favourite cuppa with Hainanese type cuisine, European or Chinese.


Jonker Street

Melaka was already a thriving and bustling trading port in the 1500s, at the height of the Melaka Sultanate's power and prestige when the Portuguese cast their eyes on it and waged warfare to acquire it in 1511. Before the Portuguese the Chinese had established a thriving trading relationship with Melaka in the 1200s to 1400s. The Main Street of enterprise in Melaka township is Jonker Street.

Melaka River

The image shows the godowns or warehouses built in 1906 along the banks of the Melaka River. Goods from ships coming from afar were transferred to river junks and then taken up the river mouth to be stored in the godowns owned by various agency and trading houses. Behind the godowns were resident buildings.

Ubadaiah Mosque
When Perak became rich from the income of its tin mines and other ancillary economic activities, the Sultan decided to build a mosque at his capital, Kuala Kangsar. Thus the Ubadaiah Mosque was completed in 1914. The architecture is distinctly Moorish and the golden domes gleam softly attesting to the splendour of times past that can still be appreciated in times present.

Sam Po Tong
Perak's rich in tin deposits were initially worked by the Chinese who obtained the rights to mine from the Sultans. Thus grew Ipoh, which became the capital and commercial centre of Perak. Outside Ipoh are many limestone caves and hills. One of the largest caves accessible from main trunk road was developed into a cave temple called the Sam Po Tong in 1906. From the main temple building one could go into another big cave with an opening view to the sky where a well had been dug for fresh water supply. On certain festival days, vegetarian food would be served for devotees and visitors.

Beach Street In the late 1700s, Francis Light bought the island of Penang from the Sultan of Kedah. It became the port that the British needed at the northern entrance to the Strait of Melaka. The early buildings in the main commercial area, Beach Street, were replaced in the 1890s by grander structures of Victorian architectural design. Beach Street was the location for banks, agency houses and retail shops.

Penang Road
Penang Road is located slightly further inland. The view is from the junction of Leith Street, Chulia Street and Argyle Road in 1932. Penang Road was where the island's oldest wet market was located, where sundry shops, cinema halls, department stores, textile shops and eateries could be found. In short it supplied the daily needs of the populace. Rickshaws was a common and popular mode of transport.