The Pudu Prison was a prison 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. Built in phases by the British colonial government between 1891 and 1895, it was located along Jalan Shaw. The construction began with its 394-metre prison wall at a cost of Straits $16,000, and had been adorned with the world's longest mural at one point in its history. The cells were small and dark, each equipped with a window only the size of a shoebox.

Early years

Pudu Prison, or better known as Pudu Jail, was built on the site of a former Chinese burial ground. Pudu was by then a dense jungle area, with tigers occasionally roaming around. Construction began in 1891, using convicts as workforce. It took about four years and was finally complete in 1895.

A few months after its completion, in August 1895, a cholera

Cholera

Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...

 plague struck the prison complex, killing a few hundred inmates. Later, it was known that the plague was caused by the prison's water supply system. By then, the prison complex's water supply relied on an old well once belonged to the Chinese cemetery that previously stood on the prison's site. An inspection by the British colonial authorities revealed that the water in the well was severely contaminated by deadly viruses. Subsequently, the water problem was not fixed until 1898.

Circa 1911, Richard Alfred Ernest Clark, a former soldier of the third battalion of the Middlesex Regiment

Middlesex Regiment

The Middlesex Regiment was a regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms when the 57th and 77th Regiments of Foot were amalgamated with the county's militia and rifle volunteer units.On 31 December 1966 The Middlesex Regiment was amalgamated with three...

, was one of the European warders in the history of Pudu.

Early in its history, Pudu prison was the only prison in the State of Selangor

Selangor

Selangor also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity") is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sembilan to the south and the Strait of Malacca to the west...

 and used to imprison men and women with short sentences. The prison was also self-sufficient as it had a vegetable garden that could produce enough food for its inmates annually.
It later housed criminals including drug offenders and was a location for administering corporal punishment

Judicial corporal punishment

Judicial corporal punishment refers to the infliction of corporal punishment as a result of a sentence by a court of law. The punishment can be flogging, caning, birching, whipping, or strapping...

 by rotan caning

Caning in Malaysia

Caning is form of corporal punishment used in Malaysia. Judicial caning, ordered as part of a criminal sentence imposed by a civil court on a male offender, is the most severe form of caning used in Malaysia and is always combined with a prison sentence for adult offenders.A much less severe form...

. The canings were administered in a special "caning area", so marked, not inside the building but in the grounds. It is no longer used as a prison and while it was once open as a museum, it can at present be viewed only from the outside. (A clear view is obtained from the monorail train between Imbi and Hang Tuah stations.) Until 2008, it served as a day-holding facility for prisoners attending court hearings.

Mural

In 1984, a talented inmate, Khong Yen Chong used some 2000 litres of paint to create an impressive mural of tropical scenes. This mural which measured some 860 feet by 14 feet was mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records as being the longest mural in the world. Khong, as an inmate, was not able to complete the mural. He returned later as a free man and volunteered his time to complete this memorable masterpiece.

Recent history

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the Japanese occupation forces

Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...

 incarcerated many Allied POWs there.

1986 saw the execution of Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers

Barlow and Chambers execution

The Barlow and Chambers execution refers to the hanging in 1986 by Malaysia of two Australian citizens, Kevin John Barlow and Brian Geoffrey Chambers of Perth, Western Australia, for the drug trafficking of 141.9 g of heroin....

, both Australian nationals, at Pudu for the drug trafficking of heroin. In 1996, after 101 years of use as a prison, it was formally closed and the inmates were deported to Sungai Buloh

Sungai Buloh

Sungai Buloh is a subdistrict of Petaling District in the state of Selangor, Malaysia, bordering Gombak District. It is a 15-minute drive from Sungai Buloh to Kuala Lumpur, the national capital...

 and Kajang

Kajang

Kajang, is a town in the eastern part of Selangor, Malaysia. Kajang is the district capital of Hulu Langat. It is located from of Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur.The current locational gravity of growth in Kajang would be Sungai Chua...

 prisons. It was used as a museum for a short period in 1997.

Eight supporters of the Hindu Rights Action Force

HINDRAF

HINDRAF or Hindu Rights Action Force ; Chinese:兴权 with its slogan of People's Power மக்கள் சக்தி ) began as a coalition of 30 Hindu non-governmental organizations committed to the preservation of Hindu community rights and heritage in a multiracial Malaysia...

 were arrested and incarcerated in Pudu Prison following the 2007 HINDRAF rally

2007 HINDRAF rally

The 2007 HINDRAF rally was a rally held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on November 25, 2007. The rally organizer, the Hindu Rights Action Force, had called the protest over alleged discriminatory policies which favour ethnic Malays...

. They were later released due to lack of evidence.

In June 2009, the government finally decided to destroy the complex by developing it in phases. When the MP for Bukit Bintang

Bukit Bintang

Bukit Bintang is the name of the shopping and entertainment district of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It encompasses Jalan Bukit Bintang and its immediate surrounding areas...

 Fong Kui Lun

Fong Kui Lun

Fong Kui Lun is a Malaysian politician and a member of the Democratic Action Party . He is the Member of Parliament for Bukit Bintang and the DAP treasurer.-Election results:-External links:...

 (DAP

Democratic Action Party

The Democratic Action Party, or DAP is a secular, multi-racial, social democratic Malaysian political party.The DAP is one of the three major opposition parties in Malaysia, along with the PKR and PAS, that are seen as electable alternatives to the Barisan Nasional coalition of parties...

) asked why the building is not being retained as part of Malaysia's heritage, Deputy Finance Minister Awang Adek Hussain (UMNO-BN) replied: "To our opinion, it's not something to be proud of."

In June 2010, the eastern wall of the Pudu Prison complex was destroyed to make way for a road widening project.

External links

• Illustrations from the 1997/98 Pudu Prison exhibition at the World Corporal Punishment Research website.
• "Pudu Jail museum is a family crowd-puller", New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur, 23 December 1997.
• Trips in Kuala Lumpur
• Pudu Prison Demolition, 13 Oct 2009