Has the bell tolled for Pudu Prison?

"I know not whether Laws be right or whether Laws be wrong; all that we know who live in goal is that the wall is strong; and that each day is like a year, a year whose days are long."
- "The Ballad of Reading Gaol", by Oscar Wilde.

Penal institutions, in my opinion, have immense historical value in that they help us trace the evolution of the criminal justice system of a country. The now abandoned Pudu Prison in Kuala Lumpur, constructed by the British in 1895, even had an important role to play in our road to Independence and should therefore be remembered as such.



Pudu Prison once housed Japanese prisoners of war of Australian, New Zealand and British nationality during World War II. It would be a dishonour to the memory of the Allied troops who had fought valiantly in the War to demolish Pudu Prison in the name of development and convenience.



The fading mural on the external walls of Pudu Prison was painstakingly painted by the prisoners, led by an inmate, Khong Yen Chong, in the course of over one year. Their effort earned the mural a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the Longest Mural in the World at 384 metres.



The last execution reportedly took place within the prison walls in 1986. Kevin Barlow and Henry Chambers, two Australian nationals who were convicted of drug trafficking, were hanged in 1986. The prison officially closed in 1996.



Even in a place filled with such sorrow, pain and horror, one cannot help but acknowledge its air of quiet dignity and elegiac beauty. Here, the watchtowers along Pudu Prison's walls display a touch of local flavour -- Minangkabau roofs! The watchtowers were constructed in the 1970s.



Why should we preserve a structure in which people were deprived of their freedom, and subjected to torture, grievous harm and death? I believe it is because the criminal justice system forms an essential part of any civilised society, and penal institutions such as Pudu Prison once held prisoners of war and thus play an important role in our nationhood.



Pudu Prison is gradually being muscled out by development. The real estate value of Pudu Prison is estimated at RM300 million. UDA Holdings Berhad has already commenced tunnelling works under the Pudu Prison complex to construct an underpass in an effort to reduce traffic congestion in the Bukit Bintang area. Civil society groups have called upon the authorities to preserve at least the prison entrance gate, sections of the wall and a few of its watchtowers.



A Blast From My Past! I visited Pudu Prison on 17th June, 1997, with my college classmates when the prison first opened its doors as a museum. I remember that my friends and I were absolutely fascinated with the prison trucks and we had fun locking each other in the prison cells.

The most confounding thing about Malaysia is that we very frequently destroy or renounce our heritage and history and only lament its loss after it is gone. With a little political will and innovation, we could easily incorporate our heritage buildings into mainstream development and preserve them for posterity.

Our built environment often defines, or at least documents, our social history. I wonder what is says about our community that we keep tearing down unique architectural assets in order to invest more resources, energy, fuel and manpower into erecting structures that are forgotten almost as soon as they are completed.

Art Noveau and Neoclassical Walk

There is so much more to Kuala Lumpur than the Petronas Twin Towers and the Sultan Abdul Samad Building! A walk through the older parts of downtown KL is a trip through history. The Art Noveau and Neoclassical buildings constructed in the pre-War years of 1900 – the 1930s have such charm and character, and tell of the glory days of Kuala Lumpur when it was a bustling hub for trade and commerce.

Unlike the largely utilitarian buildings of today, Art Noveau and Neoclassical shophouses, offices, banks and other buildings place as much importance on form and beauty as they did on function.

Art Noveau architecture generally has hyperbolas and parabolas in the windows, arches and doors, and decorative moldings inspired by nature and typically taking on the form of stylized plants, flowers, seashells, flames, insects and ribbons.

Neoclassical architecture, on the other hand, began in the mid-18th century and is principally derived from the architecture of classical Rome and Greece. Neoclassical buildings frequently make use of pillars and are evocative of ancient civilisations.



Muzium Telekom, a telecommunications museum, is housed in a Neoclassical building constructed in 1928 as a main telephone office. It is located in Jalan Raja Chulan, just down the hill from St. John’s Institution and St. John’s Church, and is open 7 days a week from 9.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m. except on public holidays. Like most Neoclassical buildings, Muzium Telekom is symmetrical in form and has tall Grecian columns that rise to the full height of the building.





The Coliseum Cinema isn’t the only Art Deco building in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman! These Art Deco shophouses, constructed circa 1920, have incorporated ziggurats, crosses, geometrical shapes and horizontal and vertical banding into their design.





Neoclassical and Art Noveau buildings in various stages of decay line Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. This Art Noveau beauty, constructed in 1915, could do with a facelift, especially since it is in such a conspicuous part of town.








Art Noveau shophouses in Lebuh Pudu and Medan Pasar are reminder of the decades when the area was the business and financial hub of Kuala Lumpur. These shophouses remain fully functional and now house various restaurants and textile shops. I hope they will be preserved for posterity, for what is a society that has forgotten or abjured its history?




The nature-inspired details on this Art Noveau shophouse in Lebuh Pudu are almost like something out of a storybook! If only the property owner would maintain and repair this work of art accordingly.



Jalan Tun HS Lee has Art Noveau shophouses with attractive decorative moldings. The contrasting pastel hues of each shophouse add to their charm and eclecticism.



This Art Noveau shophouse in Jalan Hang Kasturi, facing the side entrance of Central Market, juxtaposes the old and the new – It’s lower two floors houses a McDonalds restaurant!



What a difference a coat of paint makes! Art Deco shophouses adjoined to the Central Market Annexe are such a source of interest and artistic inspiration. If only all the heritage buildings in Kuala Lumpur were this well-maintained!



Thank you for taking a walk down history lane with me, and I hope you will visit again soon!

SKBD Lends Seahorses A Helping Hand

Environmentalists like me have always felt quite ambivalent towards, if not openly mistrustful of, property development and resource extraction corporations such as YTL, but I have to concede that the KL Performing Arts Centre is one of the conglomerate's finest success stories in that it manages to fuse artistic elegance with the preservation of structures with historical value.



The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPC) complex is a reclaimed and refurbished old railway building. Some of the construction materials were salvaged from railroad tracks and buildings that were to be demolished. I like the fact that the building allows for natural light and ventilation.



Visitors can stop by for a book and a cup of tea at the cosy Resource Centre within the KLPAC complex.



The abandoned old colonial railway station adds charm to Sentul Park. Trees line the roads; silent sentries of the dusk. Treading gently on the good Earth has paid off handsomely for YTL Corp where Sentul Park and KLPAC are concerned.



Nothing stirs in the abandoned railway building. There is nothing here but the trees and the secrets they keep. Taking a stroll in Sentul Park frequently feels like stepping into the past, when the backwaters of Kuala Lumpur are filled with shade trees and residential homes.

I was invited to attend a play on Tuesday, 24th November. There was to be a special offering by Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Damansara, and one of the parents in the organising committee had very kindly given me a VIP ticket for a very minor service I had rendered on 10th July, when I had been one of the judges for a project the schoolchildren did on seahorses.

The school chooses an endangered animal as its focus animal each year, and pupils from Year 1 to 5 produce artwork, factsheets and skits on the focus animal. Funds would be raised from donations and the sale of handmade craft items for a chosen environmental charity, and this year the funds would go to Save Our Seahorses (SOS Malaysia), one of the non-profit organisations closest to my heart. Tonight, the school Drama Club would be performing a play, the proceeds of which would also be directed to SOS Malaysia.

I have always averred that I dig Harold Pinter, not Harry Potter, and have only ever been to KLPAC for serious plays and dance dramas. A school concert by children who are passionate about saving marine animals would probably be a refreshing change. I dragged my friend Lynette along, and we got ready to be entertained, fully aware that we were the only people in the audience who were not the parents, grandparents or teachers of anyone in the cast.







The play was original and quite witty, and the children even managed to incorporate facts on seahorse mating and reproductive habits in the performance. Lynette and I ended up laughing at the bits that were probably not meant to be terribly funny, because the children were so cute that they were entirely unconvincing as evil witches and greedy fishermen. There was even a singing clam, which had us in stitches. It was quite a riot. The children were earnest and enchanting, and I am glad that I had attended the play, at least as a representative of the Malaysian Nature Society, if nothing else.

On behalf of Save Our Seahorses and the Malaysian Nature Society, I would like to thank the parents, teachers and pupils of Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Damansara for the wonderful effort they have put into raising awareness and funds for a worthy cause. Your spirit and passion are admirable!

Kuala Lumpur’s ‘French Quarter’

Mention ‘French Quarter’, and the Spanish and French-influenced mansions of New Orleans will no doubt come to mind. Most of the structures in the French Quarter of New Orleans were constructed after the great fires of 1788 and 1794. The buildings before the Great Fires were heavily influenced by French design and architecture, and sported peaked roofs, wooden siding and ironwork balconies and galleries. The Spanish overlords rebuilt the Quarter after 1794 and replaced the damaged roofs and sidings with flat-tiled roofs and fire-resistant stucco walls. In the early 20th century, the French Quarter of New Orleans attracted a large artistic and Bohemian community. The colourful walls and elaborate ironwork balconies and galleries of the French Quarter are still around today to be admired and gazed upon by tourists and history buffs. Since the 1920s, the buildings of the French Quarter have been protected by law and cannot be demolished. Any renovations and new construction in the Quarter must be done according to the regulations to match the period’s architectural style.

How delightful it is, then, to find that Kuala Lumpur has buildings that evoke the Old World charm and colonial appeal of the New Orleans French Quarter!

My father was driving past Wisma Fui Chiu (more popularly known as the puzzlingly named S&M Shopping Arcade) with me one evening in 1996 when he pointed out the ironwork balconies of the Neoclassical/Art Noveau shophouses along Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock and Lebuh Pudu.

“Look,” Dad exclaimed jocularly, “French Quarter balconies!”
And so they were!
I have been fascinated by the architecture and history of the 1920s shophouses in downtown Kuala Lumpur ever since, and have lamented the destruction and ‘renovation’ of each heritage shophouse as I would the departure of an old friend.




This shophouse along Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock now houses a ‘Jukebox Shoe Shop’ on the lower floor. The upper floor opens up on the side to a colonial-style balcony with lace-like ironwork railings. I say ‘balcony’ and not ‘gallery’ despite the size, because this particular balcony is suspended off the ground by means of support extending from the walls, and not by means of poles and pillars extending to the ground. Note the Art Moderne / Art Noveau portholes and swirling decorative moldings that defined much of 1920s architecture!





Fah Num Textiles Sdn Bhd used to have the same architectural details as the other Pre-War shophouses in the area, before its renovation. However, I am glad that they retained their ‘French Quarter’ balconies, if nothing else. I am not sure of the correct terminology, but I call these ‘gratuitous balconies’ because they are purely decorative and do not have doors that open up from the inside to the balconies. However, even the flowing organic shapes of the original ironwork balconies have been replaced with plain geometric ones.




A gentle reminder of the opulence that once defined Lebuh Pudu, this turn-of-the-century shophouse, with the writhing plants in the ironwork of its balcony, hyperbolas and parabolas in the windows, and nature-inspired stucco moldings, remains beautiful despite the state of disrepair that it is in.

It would be praiseworthy indeed if City Hall and the tourism authorities could look into the restoration of the pre-War buildings in Lebuh Pudu, Medan Pasar, Petaling Street, Jalan Tun H.S. Lee and Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock to at least half their former glory. These historical buildings exude such grace and quiet pride that it would be a terrible loss indeed if we were to replace them with sterile structures that lack history and character.

There is so much we can do to improve the state the area is in. We could, for instance:
1. Make it compulsory for all food and beverage operators in the area to install grease and rubbish traps;
2. Clean up and cover up waste disposal and wastewater discharge structures to control the vermin and disease vector population;
3. Institute stormwater management measures to reduce the incidence of flash floods;
4. Repaint, restore and maintain old structures that they remain serviceable and tenantable; and
5. Monitor new construction and any renovation projects to ensure that the architectural and design style of the particular historical period is retained or at least replicated.

With a little effort and the participation of city-dwellers, the heritage areas of downtown Kuala Lumpur could be as attractive and as worthy of visitors as the New Orleans French Quarter.

Art Deco Walk 4: Oriental Building, Jalan Tun Perak.

I was on my way back to the office from the Magistrates Court, then in Jalan Raja, as a pupil-in-chambers in 2004 when I realised my court shoes needed repairing. I went to the sidewalk cobbler seated under the arches of the Oriental Building/CIMB Bank in Jalan Melaka, facing Jalan Tun Perak, to have my delinquent shoe repaired.

As I stood under the arches of CIMB Bank, watching the cobbler at work, something about the broad horizontal bands of brickwork and the radiating ribs extending from the archway indicated that this could be an Art Deco building.



I walked across the street to the Masjid Jamek LRT station for a better view, and it hit me like an epiphany -- the building I pass by every day on my way to court is, indeed, a very fine example of an Art Deco building.



Notice the classic tall, narrow windows framed by metal muntins, with Neoclassical geometric spandrels?

Art Deco frequently utilises contrasting materials to emphasize differences in colour and texture. The white frieze with a bas-relief of overlapping coins frames the entire central exterior facade of the building.



Ribs beam out from the archway and taper off into bold horizontal bands. The sharp, clean lines suggest at an inchoate sunburst motif.



The projecting panels of walls in between the windows are stepped, creating the illusion of depth. Stepped pillasters begin at the 3rd floor, flanking the windows.


I learned later that the Oriental Building was designed by A.O. Coltman in 1930. A.O. Coltman, as you may well remember, is the Art Deco savant responsible for other amazing landmarks such as the Odeon Cinema, OCBC Building in Medan Pasar and the Medan Pasar Clock Tower.



The Oriental Building housed Radio Malaya in the 1940s. Picture reproduced from "Malaysia: A Pictorial History 1400 - 2004" by Wendy Khadijah Moore, without permission but in accordance with the principles of fair use.

Jalan Tun Perak used to be known as Java Street. After Malaysia achieved Independence, it was renamed Mountbatten Road. Mountbatten Road was named after Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Allied supreme commander in Southeast Asia during World War II.

Mountbatten Road was only renamed Jalan Tun Perak in 1980, after the fifth Bendahara (equivalent to the post of Prime Minister) of the Sultanate of Malacca. Bendahara Tun Perak was in office from 1456 to 1498 and had served under Sultan Muzzafar Shah, Sultan Mansur Shah, Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah and Sultan Mahmud Shah.

The fact that most city dwellers who work in the vicinity of Jalan Tun Perak do not know the age the Oriental Building indicate both the agelessness of its design and that the building has been very well-maintained.

However, I find that the classical grandeur of the Oriental Building has been marred somewhat by the rather obtrusive posters and banners, and the constant presence of illegal hawkers and litter outside the building. Much improvement could be made if the posters were tastefully framed and positioned, and the area outside the Masjid Jamek LRT station rid of illegal traders and litter. It is my contention that illegal businesses contribute nothing to the economy of the country, undermine City Hall's efforts to maintain hygiene, health and cleanliness standards and create the impression that petty crime is condoned in Kuala Lumpur.

Let us make the Oriental Building a point of interest that art and history buffs would be thrilled to visit! In order to generate interest in our heritage buildings, effort must be made not only to engage the curiosity and enthusiasm of the people, but also to reduce or eliminate the elements that would create the perception that our City is uncared for and unloved.

Art Deco Walk 3: Bangunan Lee Rubber

When the admittedly popular Popular Bookstore was relocated from the heart of Petaling Street to the corner of Jalan Hang Lekir and Jalan Tun H.S. Lee, I was pleased with how accessible it is now from the Pasar Seni LRT station. As soon as I saw the building it is currently housed in, I had another reason to rejoice. The Bangunan Lee Rubber is one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture I have ever seen.



The discrete horizontal 'banding' on the exterior facade and the spandrels in Fauvist colours are the first indications that this is an Art Deco building. Like most urban Deco buildings, the Bangunan Lee Rubber has a flat roof with no cornice or overhang.






The narrow windows, considering the full surface of the walls, are characteristic of Art Deco buildings of that era. Repeated geometric patterns below the windows create a sense of theatric opulence. The windows above the Deco accents are of metal muntins, also in the Deco style.







Art Deco spandrels accentuate the space between the top of the window in one storey and the sill of the window in the storey above. Fluted pilasters halfway up the wall hold up an entablature with fluted rectangular motifs.

The construction of Bangunan Lee Rubber was commissioned in the early 1930s by the Lee Rubber Company, a multi-million dollar enterprise set up by Southeast Asia's rubber and pineapple king, Lee Kong Chian.

The building itself has a colourful history. It was once the headquarters of the Kempeitai (Japanese Secret Police) in Kuala Lumpur, according to the ‘Letters & Comment’ column in Asiaweek (15 September 1995) and the testimonies of various Malaysians who lived through World War II.

Later, the building became one of the branches of the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), which isn't surprising considering that Lee Kong Chian was once the general manager and vice-chairman of Huayi Bank, and was later appointed vice-chairman of OCBC when three Chinese banks merged to form the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation during the Great Depression in 1933.

"Jalan Tun H.S. Lee" was formerly known as "High Street", while "Jalan Hang Lekir" was formerly known as "Cecil Street" before the nationalisation of street names in Kuala Lumpur. Many of the double-storey shophouses along Jalan Tun H.S. Lee date back to the 1880s.

Tun H.S. Lee, or Tun Sir Henry Lee Hau-Shik (1900 - 1988) played a major role in helping to establish the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) in 1949 and in initiating the coalition between MCA and UMNO in 1952, which led the then Malaya to Independence in 1957, so it is only proper and fitting that such an important and busy street be named after him.

Hang Lekir, on the other hand, was a warrior who lived during the height of the Malaccan Sultanate in the 15th century. Some of the street names in Kuala Lumpur have been named after warriors from the Malay Annals.




High Street leading to Foch Avenue (1930s). Photo reproduced from "Malaysia: A Pictorial History 1400 - 2004" by Wendy Khadijah Moore, without permission but in accordance with the principles of fair use.

The Bangunan Lee Rubber is a perfect example of how a coat of paint and a culture of maintenance can make a world of difference to heritage buildings. Heritage buildings in Kuala Lumpur do not have to be converted into unproductive galleries and deserted museums. They could still be utilised for commerce and trade and be wholly tenantable, as long as the property owners take pains to keep the building in good repair.

I wish that someday I could walk down the streets of Medan Pasar, Leboh Pudu and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and see that the Art Deco and Art Noveau buildings are as well-kept, clean and aesthetically pleasing as the Bangunan Lee Rubber.