The Old Kuala Lumpur

[taurus064]

What are you trying to tell us, dengilo?

[dengilo]

Why does it have to be anything at allNolah for the younger generation thats the cable car at bukit nanas with AIA ,CBN and Bangunan Ming in the background.I cannot remember exactly when they decided to end the cable car service, was it late 70ss?

[taurus064]

Originally Posted by dengilo

Why does it have to be anything at allNolah for the younger generation thats the cable car at bukit nanas with AIA ,CBN and Bangunan Ming in the background.I cannot remember exactly when they decided to end the cable car service, was it late 70ss?

From what I found out, bukit nanas cable car service was discontinued sometime in the 1980s for reasons unknown to us at least. maybe they decided to redevelop the area with building the KL Tower in mind ......

[szehoong]

Originally Posted by taurus064

Thanks szehoong for correcting the facts - anyway, here's a nice photo of Maybank Tower (Menara Maybank) taken from somewhere near the Methodist School playing field. Cahaya Suria building is behind the tower. Can't remember what is the building at the extreme right of the photo - is it the Pudu Raya Hotel building?

Yes....that's the PuduRaya Hotel

Now I think it is called Ancasa 2 or something

[dengilo]

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From another angle while they were digging the basement level.Maybank is by hijas kasturi i think?

[dengilo]

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I am not sure if we have this one?U can actually see a little of the courthouse at the extreme bottom right corner of the photo.

[taurus064]

Originally Posted by dengilo

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I am not sure if we have this one?U can actually see a little of the courthouse at the extreme bottom right corner of the photo.

We did - I actually posted this particular photo in this forum some time back. From these 3 photos (bottom going upwards) we can actually see the progression of the site - from the old courthouse & the green hills (circa 1960s to the mid-1970s) in the 1st photo to the bare construction site of the 2nd photo (circa very late 70s till the mid-1980s) to the actual building itself (Menara Maybank) in the 3rd photo (circa late 80s till early 90s) .........

[andyf]

Hi Guys, I've got this old map of KL dated 1936. The map is about size A1 and is glued to fabric so that it can be folded. At some point I will get it scanned proper but here are a few snaps taken with my camera.

image hosted on flickr



image hosted on flickr



image hosted on flickr



image hosted on flickr

[taurus064]

Can't wait to see the finer details of your map, andyf .........

[taurus064]

This is a 1975 post card of the night view of downtown KL. At the left, you can see what looks like the Klang River - not sure where this place is. Any ideas? And what are those structures on the banks of the river?

[szehoong]

WOW!

If I am not mistaken, the 'highrise' on the right should be Hotel Malaya!

[Ethaniel83]

a good article from sinchew for old KL: http://www.sinchew.com.my/node/258151?tid=15
basically the article is talking about originally there is a stream running along the current Jln Tun Tan Cheng Lock from Bkt Bintang area to Klang river. In 1890s, the British has filled the stream to construct the railways connecting to Ampang and Kajang. At the end of 1920s,the British has again dismantled the stretch of railways running across the town and replaced it with a road named as Foch Avenue (now known as Jln Tun Tan Cheng Lock). Apparently, the Sultan Street Station has also become the terminal to the southbound.

maybe someone can help to translate the whole article into english for everyone reading. i'm not really good in doing translation.

photos quoted from the article:
Petaling Street taken in 1890s, facing the old Fui Chiu Clan Hall. The iron railings installed in front of the Fui Chiu Clan Hall is the evidence that the stream was still there at the time and also visible on the left in the photo is the mystical Guangdong style highrise
(courtesy of Royal Selangor Pewter)

The photo was taken in 1894, which seems that the new government buildings (Sultan Abdul Samad Building) is still under construction, and the mystical highrise can be seen from the far right of the photo

[argory]

Wow – thanks for the article Ethaniel - wish I could it read properly as quality articles on history are lacking in the usual English dailies.

I learnt about that stream only recently but does anyone know what it was called?

That highrise tower is very interesting and mysterious indeed. Using google translate the location seems to be something about a former gold/ pawn shop – is that the right translation?

I have noticed that on average, old KL seemed to have had taller shophouses than most towns of the time, probably because of its density and compactness.

[Ethaniel83]

Originally Posted by argory

Wow – thanks for the article Ethaniel - wish I could it read properly as quality articles on history are lacking in the usual English dailies.

I learnt about that stream only recently but does anyone know what it was called?

That highrise tower is very interesting and mysterious indeed. Using google translate the location seems to be something about a former gold/ pawn shop – is that the right translation?

I have noticed that on average, old KL seemed to have had taller shophouses than most towns of the time, probably because of its density and compactness.

according to the article, the author did suggest that the highrise tower is probably one of the earliest chinese gold/pawn shop due to its similar architecture found in Macau and might be located at same cluster with other gold/pawn shops at that time. Of which i believe should be around upper Petaling Street & Yap Ah Loy Street.

[dengilo]

[QUOTE=argory

I learnt about that stream only recently but does anyone know what it was called?


Is this the same stream?From the pond of the plaza rakyat site?

[vincentchan191]

The padang next to the Pudu bus terminal, opposite the Chinese Maternity hospital, use to be a pond. In Cantonese we call it "Lien Owl Tong" or lotus root pond.

There is a small stream running at the back of the padang next to the railway line. The stream runs towards Foch Avenue direction but goes underground and disappears from sight before it reaches the Sultan St Station. Maybe this is part of the stream but it is only small.

That padang is very soft that's why no on ever build on it for a long time. It is very soft and muddy suggesting there is a bit of water underneath. The cost of piling the foundations for the new bus terminal must be very high. I guess that's why they abandoned the project for a while.

[szehoong]

Originally Posted by dengilo

I learnt about that stream only recently but does anyone know what it was called?


Is this the same stream?From the pond of the plaza rakyat site?

Originally Posted by vincentchan191

The padang next to the Pudu bus terminal, opposite the Chinese Maternity hospital, use to be a pond. In Cantonese we call it "Lien Owl Tong" or lotus root pond.

There is a small stream running at the back of the padang next to the railway line. The stream runs towards Foch Avenue direction but goes underground and disappears from sight before it reaches the Sultan St Station. Maybe this is part of the stream but it is only small.

That padang is very soft that's why no on ever build on it for a long time. It is very soft and muddy suggesting there is a bit of water underneath. The cost of piling the foundations for the new bus terminal must be very high. I guess that's why they abandoned the project for a while.

I asked my uncle and my dad about the small stream and they both unamimously agreed that there is a big 'longkang' (not stream) running from the lotus pond to Klang River. The 'longkang' function is for the lotus pond overflow into and channeled to the river. If not the pond water have no where to go.

Vincent: the lotus pond/padang does have soft ground but today's engineering expertise could overcome the problem building on soft ground. In fact the Plaza Rakyat's foundation is much deeper then the pond itself

[argory]

Originally Posted by szehoong

I asked my uncle and my dad about the small stream and they both unamimously agreed that there is a big 'longkang' (not stream) running from the lotus pond to Klang River. The 'longkang' function is for the lotus pond overflow into and channeled to the river. If not the pond water have no where to go.

Sze, the stream was pre-1900s I think.

[szehoong]

Originally Posted by argory

Sze, the stream was pre-1900s I think.

But the alignment of the longkang and the stream is the same.....downgraded perhaps?

[dengilo]

The Loke Yew Family Graveyard was built in 1910. The graveyard was originally located at what was known as Hawthornden Estate and today it is surrounded by Jalan Jelatek and Jalan Semarak, near the Desa Tun Hussein Onn (a housing complex for army personnel) where it is difficult for civilians to access the site. The Loke Yew Tombs complex comprise of two buildings: The grand Tsui Lan Memorial Hall built with timber pavilions with its eclectic blend of Chinese and Western styles and the impressive larger-than-life bronze statue of Loke Yew erected inline with his tomb. The statue was designed by Mr. Frederick J. Wilcoxson.[7] It is currently in less than ideal condition but repairs (funded by his grandchildren, Ruby Loke Yuen Kin and Choo Mei Leen) have been effected as much as possible within the constraints of custom and the lack of skilled artisans nowadays (a lot of the decorations involve bas-relief, which would entail wholesale replacement of the underlying material for complete restoration and thus would amount to desecration of the gravesite if done). The current location of the MinDef facilities surrounding the gravesite ensure future vandalism would be minimized if not altogether prevented.
The tomb complex is oriented to the West, the vertical axis of Loke Yew's tomb and bronze statue are inline, while the other three tombs (Lim Shuk Kwei, Alan Loke Wan Wye and Loke Wan Tho) are slightly off with this line to its right. This is the traditional Chinese way of showing respect to the husband or father. The Loke tombs follow the traditional Fujian style of a square front courtyard with granite carved Imperial guardian lions for the purpose of "guarding" the graves (the Chinese strongly believe that lions are the guardian of buildings). Within this courtyard, the altar itself is protected by a circular concrete fence. The Tsui Lan Memorial Hall is a rare and uncommon building, the style of which is not found elsewhere.[IMG][/IMG]
At this point i am not sure!
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This is what i saw 5 mins later
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There he is watching over the valley below!
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The man himself!Thank you sir for your contributions to early KL!
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