Petaling Street
Encyclopedia
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
located in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, Malaysia. It is infamous for pirated clothes and accessories along with bootleg DVDs and CDs. Petaling Street however does not exclusively offer pirated products. Haggling is a common sight here and the place is usually crowded with locals as well as tourists.
The area has dozens of restaurants and food stalls, serving local favourites such as Hokkien mee
Hokkien mee
Hokkien mee refers to fried noodles cooked in Hokkien style. Hokkien mee is served in many Southeast Asian countries and was brought there by immigrants from Fujian province in southeastern China.-Types:...
, ikan bakar
Ikan Bakar
Ikan Bakar is an Indonesian, Malaysian and most of the South East Asian countries dish of fish or other forms of seafood grilled using charcoal. The word literally means "burnt fish" in Malay. Usually, the meat is marinated and then grilled; sometimes with a banana leaf between the seafood and...
(barbecued fish), asam laksa
Laksa
Laksa is a popular spicy noodle soup from the Peranakan culture, which is a merger of Chinese and Malay elements found in Malaysia and Singapore, and to a lesser extent Indonesia.- Origin :The origin of the name "laksa" is unclear...
and curry noodles
Curry Mee
Curry Mee is a dish that is unique to Malaysia, usually made up of thin yellow egg noodles or/and string thin mee-hoon with spicy curry soup, chilli/sambal, coconut milk, and a choice of dried tofu, prawns, cuttlefish, chicken, egg and mint leaves...
. Traders here are mainly Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
but there are also India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n, Malay, and Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
i traders.
History and development
The original Chinatown centred on Market Square. Jalan Tun H.S. Lee or High Street, became increasingly popular as it was higher than the rest of the town and therefore less prone to floods. The wealthier and more ornate shop houses were built north of Jalan Cheng Lock, closer to the business centre.Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
was a typical "pioneer" town at the turn of the century, filled with a rough and tough population that was largely male.
They were largely Cantonese
Cantonese people
The Cantonese people are Han people whose ancestral homes are in Guangdong, China. The term "Cantonese people" would then be synonymous with the Bun Dei sub-ethnic group, and is sometimes known as Gwong Fu Jan for this narrower definition...
and Hakkas
Hakka people
The Hakka , sometimes Hakka Han, are Han Chinese who speak the Hakka language and have links to the provincial areas of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Fujian in China....
who came to the city because of the tin trade, working as coolies in the mines. They were governed by a Chinese Kapitan or headman. The most famous Chinese Kapitan is Yap Ah Loy
Yap Ah Loy
Yap Ah Loy , also known as Yap Tet Loy and Yap Mao Lan. He is regarded as the founding father of modern Kuala Lumpur, he developed Kuala Lumpur as a commercial and mining centre during the mid-19th century...
, a Hakka.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
were called in to help end the strife but many of the buildings in the settlement were burnt down or severely damaged.
During the Selangor Civil War, the tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
mines were abandoned and when the miners returned after the war, they found that the mines were flooded and therefore could not work. Yap Ah Loy persuaded the miners and coolies to remain in KL and the Malays in surrounding districts to grow rice and other garden products. He opened a Tapioca
Tapioca
Tapioca is a starch extracted Manihot esculenta. This species, native to the Amazon, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and most of the West Indies, is now cultivated worldwide and has many names, including cassava, manioc, aipim,...
Mill in Petaling Street where the tubers from his farms were brought here to be ground into flour. Petaling Street is still fondly called ‘Chee Cheong Kai’ in Cantonese which means starch factory street.
Features
Hainanese chicken rice
Hainanese chicken rice is a dish of Chinese origin most commonly associated with Hainanese and Singaporean cuisine, although it is also commonly sold in neighbouring Thailand and Malaysia...
and Noodles. A small longan
Longan
Dimocarpus longan, commonly known as the longan, is a tropical tree native to South and Southeast Asia, in the Indomalaya ecozone known for its edible fruit.-Vernacular names:The fruit is known as longan or longyan in English...
stall is also located there.
Nearby is Jamek Mosque, an old mosque of Moorish
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
architecture while a tourist spot known as Central Market
Central Market, Malaysia
Central Market is a main attraction in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.-Introduction:Central Market is located at Jalan Hang Kasturi, a few minutes away from Petaling Street. It was founded in 1888 and originally used as a wet market, while the current building was completed in 1937...
is within walking distance. Also nearby are the Pasar Seni LRT station
Pasar Seni LRT station
The Pasar Seni LRT station is an LRT station in Kuala Lumpur that is served by rapid KL's Kelana Jaya Line. The station was named after the neighbouring Central Market.The Kuala Lumpur Railway Station which the KTM Komuter serves, is a 400 m walk away...
of the Kelana Jaya Line
Kelana Jaya Line
The Kelana Jaya Line is a medium-capacity rail transport system and one of the three rail transit lines in the Kuala Lumpur Rail Transit System operated by RapidKL Rail network...
and the Maharajalela Monorail station
Maharajalela Monorail station
Maharajalela Monorail station is a Malaysian elevated monorail train station that forms a part of the Kuala Lumpur Monorail line located in Kuala Lumpur and opened alongside the rest of the train service on August 31, 2003....
.
One of the most famous landmarks, the Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur, is located along Jalan Tun H.S. Lee is KL's chinatown. It is one of KL's oldest and richest Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
temples. It receives many devotees and tourists daily.
Development
In 2003, the road underwent a major RM11.3mil face lift with two large Chinese arches placed at both ends of the street to welcome visitors, and a roof cover was made covering the street, dubbed as the "Green Dragon". The street is closed to vehicular traffic since and became pedestrian-only, transforming it into a pedestrian shopping mall. It still pulls in many tourists, who go there to shop and will be regarded as a heritage site.However, Petaling Street is still the best place to shop for counterfeit
Counterfeit
To counterfeit means to illegally imitate something. Counterfeit products are often produced with the intent to take advantage of the superior value of the imitated product...
branded products and has large selection of local Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...
. For buyers, it is often possible to negotiate the price tag of an item such as watches, clothing and all counterfeit items. Petaling Street does not exclusively offer pirated products. Haggling is a common sight here and the place is usually crowded with locals as well as tourists.
Film
Although not shot on site, Malaysia's first period kungfu comedy,Petaling Street WarriorsPetaling Street Warriors
Petaling Street Warriors is a film directed by James Lee Thim Heng and Sampson Yuen Choi-Hin through Malaysian production company, Juita Entertainment, a subsidiary of Juita Viden...
, is set against the backdrop of Petaling Street in the year 1908.