KL KrashPad - Chow Kit Kita (Part 5)

Continuing our walkabout with the "KrashPad Kids".

We now come to Jalan Chow Kit proper, the road/street after which this whole area is known by.

While the buildings along the road are multi storied buildings and the area has a ethnic Chinese character (now days the area looks like it belongs to foreigners - Indonesians and Africans amongst others) this was once a Malay area. 

This is the only house left from that era.

Jalan Chow Kit is named after Loke Chow Kit, a famous tin mine owner and industrialist in KL.

Photo from Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall 

He also had what is probably the first departmental store owned by a local businessman, Chow Kit & Co.

Photo from: MALAYSIA a pictorial history 1400-2004 by Wendy Khadijah Moore

The building now houses the Industrial Courts.  Chow Kit's one time residence is now the PAM (Persatuan Arkitek Malaysia) building near Jalan Tangsi.

Eid Mubarakh - Salam Aidil Fitri - Selamat Hari Raya Puasa

We have just concluded the month of Ramadhan when me and my fellow Muslims, all over the world, observe the fast from dawn to sunset.  As a friend suggested, it is surely justified and worthy to celebrate with pride and fulfillment the completion of a whole month of discipline in thought, word and deed.

Therefore on the appearance of the new moon of Shawal, Muslims rejoice and celebrate Eid'l Fitr or better know locally as Hari Raya Puasa.

One of the truly Malaysian ways of celebrating is by holding 'open house'.

It's food galore, with lemang, ketupat and rendang being a must. 
     The 'open house' concept is probably an expansion of the 'mutual visitation' (ziarah menziarah) tradition of the Malay Muslim community which has been embraced by every community here in Malaysia.  We visit friends and relatives on all festival days, be it Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Deepavali or Christmas.  No invitations are necessary, only make sure the person you are visiting will be at home and not 'balik kampung' (gone back to their hometown) or themselves gone visiting.

     Politicians, never ones to not capitalize on a good thing, advertise their open houses through the local media.  These are the ones which attract both foreign tourists and other local visitors.

This year a cousin hosted an 'open house' which was a 'catered' affair, not the usual home prepared version.  In addition to the traditional Raya fair, other traditional Malaysia foods, such as tosai, roti jala, char kue tiaw and ais kacang were also served.

As the day also coincided with the birthday of their son, a magic show was also arranged to entertain the children who were at the open house.

Pop corn and cotton candy was also available.

I remember my childhood, when the cotton candy man used 'peddle power' with the help of his bicycle to spin the candy.

Sentul Raily Station - Revisited

Remember this:

This is what is left:

My regret is that I did not fully document the Station while it was still there.  The top photograph is the only one I took.

The station has been replaced by this new one.

It is big, it is bright, it is spacious.  

 The train route has also been extended.

A lot of effort has been put into the aesthetics of the building and surroundings.

There is also space for kiosks inside the station.

The station is serviced by escalators and elevators...

... and more seats have been added for the convenience of commuters.

This is the view of the station from the other end.

KL KrashPad - Chow Kit Kita (Part 4)

When we come to Jalan Tiong Nam 5, we face Jalan Thamboosamy.

This road connects Tiong Nam Settlement to Jalan Putra which is more an extension of Jalan Chow Kit after Jalan Raja Laut.
No need to guess, Jalan Putra is named after our First Prime Minister.

A street/road named after an Indian (Tamil) in this predominantly Chinese area?  Who was he?

 photo from 'The Victoria Institution - The 
Reminiscence of Mr R Thampipillay'

     K. Thamboosamy Pillay was a prominent Malaysian during the pre-independence years and was considered the leader of the Tamil community.

     Born in Singapore in 1850, he received his early education at Raffles Institution. He sailed to Klang in 1875 with James Guthrie Davidson, when the latter was appointed Malaya's first British Resident.

     He was later transferred to the Treasury where he eventually became chief clerk and acted as State Treasurer on a few occasions. He was sent to India by the Malayan Government to bring over the first batch of Indian immigrants for the Railway and Public Works. 

     Thamboosamy resigned from Government service in the 1880s and, going into partnership with Towkay Loke Yew, managed the New Tin Mining Company in Rawang. 

     He was one of the founders and one of the original Trustees of Victoria Institution as well as the founder of the Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur.

(source: Wikipedia)

 We then come to this temple along Jalan Tiong Nam 5.  (This is the temple where I first witnessed Chinese Opera during the Hungry Ghost Festival many, many years ago.  The temple was just a wooden structure and not so grand in those days.)

It was some sort of festival day at the temple and there was a lot of activity going on.  There was also a steady stream of worshipers coming in to pray. 

One of the Elder Volunteers at the temple had earlier agreed to meet with the children to brief them about the temple and answer any questions that they may have.  See how keen the children are in learning about other cultures.

Something I never knew, a news paper clipping at the temple.

A Spider Did It

On a cobweb - Merdeka

     Crowds are flocking to a Chinese Temple in Tiong Nam Settlement Kuala Lumpur to see the word "merdeka" spun by a spider on the web in a palm tree.

     It was first discovered by elderly Chinese devotee who gasped with excitement as he say the spider complete the word.

     This was shortly after morning prayers on Sunday.

     Since the discovery, hundreds of people in Kuala Lumpur have rushed to the temple to catch a glimpse of the spider at work.

     Threads of many other unreadable letters also hang on the cobweb.

     To protect the palm tree from being trampled by the crowds, the temple authorities have erected a wire fence around it.

(No source or date of the clipping is available.) 

Posing for a group photo before leaving the temple.