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| City Guide - Kuala Lumpur - City Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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City Overview In 1857, a rabble of British tin miners stumbled ashore into a muddy swamp at the meeting point of the Gombak and the Klang rivers. Just over a century and a half later this 'muddy confluence', or Kuala Lumpur in Malay, has emerged as one of the most progressive cities in South East Asia, a bustling metropolis striding confidently into the twenty-first century. In the years following the first landing, the embryonic settlement grew steadily across the surrounding flat plain on the money that poured in from tin mining and rubber cultivation. Today, the Gombak and the Klang Rivers still laze through the centre of Kuala Lumpur, or KL as the locals universally refer to it, but the city around has been irrevocably transformed with a metropolitan population of 1.8 million. Skyscrapers have sprouted in the place of rubber plantations, with mosques and traditional Chinese shops still hugging the space below. In many ways, KL offers all of the best parts of other South East Asian cities in one easy to get around package. Like Bangkok there are frenetic street markets, well-preserved historic districts and hundreds of hawker stands. Unlike Bangkok, though, KL also has the air-conditioned malls, the efficient public transport system and the cleanliness of Singapore. KL is very much driven by these contrasts and contradictions: the old and new, the order and the chaos. One minute, visitors find themselves strolling through an air-conditioned mall picking up bargain electrical goods and designer Western clothing at knockdown prices. The next minute, they are relaxing in a palmtree-shaded mosque, next to a schoolchild sporting a Manchester United T-shirt, as the muezzin's call to prayer reverberates around the skyscrapers above. Kuala Lumpur is a melting pot of cultures, influences and beliefs, where a new experience is waiting to assault the senses at every turn, from frenetic street markets full of exotic spices and rising steam to the sanctuary of a Buddhist temple. This plurality is reflected in KL's polyglot population. Ethnic Chinese, Indians and Eurasians are all integral parts of the eclectic ethnic mix, which is governed by the majority Malays. In contrast to its troubled neighbour, Indonesia, Malaysia is a bastion of tolerance where each faith and its traditions are respected and protected. KL to many Malaysians is quite simply Ibukota, or the 'Mother City', the epicentre of Malaysia's economic, political and cultural life. Today, the city is at the heart of an 'Asian Tiger' economy that has hurdled the worst of the recent regional economic crisis to regain its place as a world leader in the electronics and semi-conductor industries. One constant in KL is the climate, with fairly constant daytime temperatures around 30-34° C (86-93° F), evenings around 5-8° C (10-15° F) cooler, and the afternoons often punctuated by thunderstorms that usually pass quickly, leaving the evenings cooler and rain free. Whatever the weather, the patriotic locals are always out in force on 31 August, the anniversary of Malaysian independence back in 1957, KL's proudest moment as the Union Jack slid down and the new Malaysian flag was hoisted above the capital. |
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