Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia and that nation’s cultural, political, and financial hub. Less than two centuries old and peopled with a melting pot of ethnicities and cultures, Kuala Lumpur has emerged as one of Southeast Asia’s wealthiest and most modern cities. Internationally known as the “Garden City of Lights,” Kuala Lumpur is regarded by most Malaysians as the Ibukota (Mother City), and is commonly referred to by residents by its initials, “K.L.”
Landscape
Kuala Lumpur lies in a valley at the junction of the Klang and Gombak rivers; the city’s name literally translates as “muddy estuary” in the Malay language. It is located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) inland from the midpoint of the Malaysian peninsula’s western coast. The city’s 243 square kilometers (94 square miles) offer a mixture of gleaming skyscrapers, remnants of the traditional Malay villages called kampungs, and colonial architecture dating to the era when Malaysia formed part of the British Empire.
At the core of Kuala Lumpur sits Merdeka Square, which is dominated by a flagpole standing 95 meters (312 feet) tall. The capital’s financial district, which gradually merges into Chinatown, is located southeast of the Merdeka Square. The city’s so-called green belt, which contains the Lake Gardens and Malaysian parliament building, lies to the west of the square.
Many of the capital’s premier business, shopping, and hospitality outlets are located in the area known as the Golden Triangle, which extends southward from Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC). To showcase their ambitions, the government commissioned as KLCC’s centerpiece the structure known as the Petronas Towers. At a height of 452 meters (1,483feet), the towers were once the world’s tallest buildings.
Kuala Lumpur lies just 348 kilometers (216 miles) north of the equator and its tropical climate produces hot, sticky conditions year round. Daytime temperatures average between 22° and 32° Celsius (70° and 90° Fahrenheit) and the humidity often hovers around 80 percent. Occasional forest fires in the country of Sumatra, which lies west of Kuala Lumpur, sometimes envelop the capital in a thick, dusty haze.
People
Kuala Lumpur is home to over 1.6 million people within the city proper. Malays, most of whom are Muslim, make up the ethnic majority. Most residents of Kuala Lumpur speak Bahasa Melayu, which the government has promoted as the official national language to promote cultural unity. Many of the capital’s residents also speak English.
Kuala Lumpur’s large ethnic Chinese population traces its roots to the late eighteenth century when large numbers of Chinese people migrated to Kuala Lumpur to work in its tin mining industry. The capital’s Indian community consists of people mostly of southern India origin. Many Indians originally came to Malaysia to work the country’s rubber plantations. Kuala Lumpur is also home to another small but significant minority originating from the Indian subcontinent: the Punjabis, from India and Pakistan, are known locally as Singhs.
Co-existing with Kuala Lumpur’s spectacular wealth and modernity is an intractable poverty. Around one-quarter of the capital’s residents live in squatter communities. The city government has instituted various intervention programs designed to provide Kuala Lumpur’s poor with improved access to employment, health services, education and apartments in Kuala Lumpur.
Economy
As Malaysia’s premier center for exports, banking and financial services, information technology, tourism, industry, and transportation, Kuala Lumpur controls the lion’s share of the country’s economy. Its manufacturing sector turns out machinery, textiles, steel, and electronics.
In 1991, the government embarked on an ambitious plan to transform Malaysia into a fully developed country with one of the most powerful economies in the region by 2020. Under the Vision 2020 directive, Kuala Lumpur’s economy flourished until the late 1990s when the Asian economic collapse put the brakes on its rapid growth.
In recent years, Kuala Lumpur’s economy has shown strong signs of recovery. Key new infrastructure projects are in the works. Chief among these projects is the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC Malaysia). This government-funded effort endeavors to upgrade Kuala Lumpur into a cutting-edge zone for information technology. In 1997, the government also inaugurated a science park meant to serve as the Malaysian equivalent of California’s Silicon Valley.
Landmarks
The Petronas Twin Towers constitute Kuala Lumpur’s most striking landmark. Kuala Lumpur is also home to one of the world’s tallest telecommunications towers: completed in 1996, the 421 meter (1,381foot) KL Tower features an observation deck from which visitors can enjoy a 360-degree view of the city.
Southeast of the Golden Triangle area in which the Petronas Towers are situated is Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown. Radiating out from Petaling Street, this older section of the capital retains a traditional atmosphere. Each night the streets of Chinatown become a large, open-air market in which vendors sell a wide variety of bargain-priced wares.
Kuala Lumpur is home to several noteworthy religious buildings. The oldest mosque in the city, the Moorish-style Masjid Jame, was constructed in 1908 at the site where the capital’s founders first settled. The highly modern National Mosque, completed in 1965, features a rooftop built in the shape of an eighteen-point star. Kuala Lumpur’s Islamic Centre sits opposite the National Mosque. The Centre hosts both local and international exhibits designed to showcase Islamic learning, art, design, and culture.
The vestiges of Kuala Lumpur’s colonial past are on display at the Dataran Merdeka, which formerly served as the cricket green for the city’s British officials. The Sengalor Club, which was once the focal point of colonial British social life, is housed in a Tudor-style building. The copper-domed Sultan Abdul Samad Building, completed in 1897, once housed the colonial administration in Malaysia. Today its massive clock tower looms over the Malaysian judicial ministry. The Carcosa Seri Negara, a pair of genteel mansions that once served as the official residence of the British governor and high commissioners, are now an exclusive hotel.
Kuala Lumpur’s most notable museums include the National Museum, which is dedicated to different aspects of Malaysian history and culture; the Natural Rubber Museum, which traces the history and development of the rubber industry in Malaysia; and the National Art Gallery, which features the works of contemporary artists.
Much of the capital’s natural beauty is to be found in Kuala Lumpur’s Taman Tasik Perdana (Lake Gardens). Constructed in the late nineteenth century around an artificial lake, the Taman Tasik Perdana features 91.6 hectares (226 acres) of greenery in the heart of the city. The Taman Tasik Perdana also includes an orchid garden, featuring more than 800 species from Malaysia alone, a hibiscus garden, a butterfly park, and the largest bird park of its kind in Southeast Asia.