KUALA LUMPUR – What would the sights, sounds and smells of early Kuala Lumpur be like?
As the first settlers disembarked at the muddy confluence of the Klang and Gombak rivers in the late 1800s, the first sight that greeted them would have been the headstones of the graves of early Malay settlers – where the present Masjid Jamek stands.
Tin mines dominated the northern part of the city and early Malay settlers were located on the east bank of the Klang River.
A little further downstream were the three trading houses and bustling commercial areas known as Market Street (known today as Medan Pasar) and Cross Street (known today as Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin) where tin traders, and essential goods and supply trades operated.
Boats loaded with tin ore from the jetties at the end of Cross Street would be making their way downstream to Gedung Raja Abdullah in Klang – the tin ore and products warehouse belonging to Malay tin mining pioneer Raja Abdullah, who allowed 87 Fui Chiu Chinese to explore and set up tin mines in Ampang in 1857.
The shops along the river on Market Street, which was where vice and gambling outlets are believed to have been located, had their own private jetties to the river.
The discovery of tin in surrounding areas sparked off the development of Kuala Lumpur that was spearheaded by two early settlers and traders – Hiu Siew and Yap Sze, who set up the first Chinese settlement in the city – the “Three Trading Houses” on high ground where the Klang and Gombak rivers met. The houses sold supplies and bought tin ores.
A conflict between the Selangor royal family in 1867 allowed the British to make inroads and spread their influence in Selangor, and this subsequently led to the appointment of a British Resident to oversee state affairs.
Some form of structure, town planning, safety, health and sanitation standards were introduced by the British in Kuala Lumpur, which had been dominated by Chinese triads which operated legitimate and illegitimate trades and businesses including vice, opium and gambling dens.
The early settlers set up wooden and attap shops and houses, schools, medical facilities, pig pens and slaughterhouses in the southern part of the city, in addition to tapioca and vegetable plantations.
Harvested tapioca, used to produce soap for washing clothes, was processed in Petaling Street, which was once known as “Chee Cheong Kai” which translates to starch factory street.
One of the first structures to be built by the early settlers and tin miners was the Sin Sze Si Ya Temple, once a small shrine along the river where the Kuala Lumpur Central Market is located today.
The current temple was constructed by the third Chinese Kapitan Yap Ah Loy, who is attributed with the rapid economic growth and early development of Kuala Lumpur, at the present location after the Selangor civil war in 1873.
If you are a local or a tourist looking for a starting point when visiting Kuala Lumpur, the Sin Sze Si Ya Pioneers of Kuala Lumpur Museum should be your first stop to understand the growth, development and community dynamics in this city.
Maps and models of early Kuala Lumpur put together from written, documented and oral accounts, interpret the way the city looked like in its heyday, in addition to who the communities involved were, and places of significance to the growth of the city, including public amenities like hospitals, industries like tin mining, tool workshops, and tapioca processing factories, and the location of pig pens and slaughterhouses that provided food sources for the early settlers.
The museum which began operations in March 2023, was the brainchild of Datuk Hew Wee Ting, who is the founder of the museum and chairman of the museum planning committee, who saw the need to preserve and capture the essence and history of Kuala Lumpur that is not as old as other cities like Ipoh and Penang, but nevertheless has a colourful, fascinating and eventful past.
Museum curator Ken Lim said: “In the long term, the museum aims to re-establish the connection of the temple with the city, preserve and promote its rich cultural heritage and historical value via effective storytelling, and honour and celebrate the contributions of the early pioneers of Kuala Lumpur.”
Compared to its contemporaries, Kuala Lumpur developed very rapidly from its days as a central hub for people from suburban areas surrounding it, to its gradual drop in significance as government administrative offices moved to the new administrative centre in Putrajaya, and satellite cities like Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya and Shah Alam.
Some old structures and buildings have been torn down, while neglected properties are gradually starting to decay, with some sporadic efforts to gentrify the city and make it a cultural and creative hub.
As administrative and commercial entities exit older parts of the city, there seems to be fewer distractions and more time to contemplate the value of the tangible and intangible heritage of Kuala Lumpur and the communities who call it home.
The temple museum seems to be somewhat spearheading this shift towards boosting the appreciation of culture, tradition and beliefs of the communities in Kuala Lumpur.
It has a well-organised flow that takes you through the growth and development of the city from the muddy confluence it was, to its successful development, owing to the thriving tin mining and supporting industries and sectors. It has an impressive collection of panoramic photos and models that interprets the city’s history effectively.
The museum also captures the belief system, particularly that of the Chinese mining community in Kuala Lumpur, who revere the deities at the Sin Sze Si Ya Temple that can only be found in some parts of Peninsular Malaysia and nowhere else in the world.
The two deities in this temple are believed to be the manifestation of Kapitan Seng Meng Lee (Sin Si Ya) – predecessor of Kapitan Yap Ah Loy, and Yap Sze (Sze Si Ya) – a close confidante to Yap.
Yap “invited” the spirit of Seng, who was brutally killed in 1861 in the Sungai Ujong War, back to Kuala Lumpur and built a shrine for Seng’s spirit to be worshipped behind his home – the site where the Sin Sze Si Ya Temple stands today.
It is believed that white blood flowed from Seng’s neck as his life slipped away, which is why he is revered as a celestial being by the Fui Chiu community. Sin Sze Si Ya temples have become part of the local culture – one that is unique only to this part of the world, and mostly located in the central and south of Peninsular Malaysia.
The Kuala Lumpur Sin Sze Si Ya temple where early settlers came to worship is also considered as the city’s “Guardian Temple” and the two deities are revered as patrons for city dwellers, as they were for their ancestors – the early tin miners who settled in Kuala Lumpur.
The temple in Kuala Lumpur has evolved over the century to what it is today – tucked away from the main thoroughfare on Jalan Tun H S Lee.
At the entrance of the temple, in Chinese characters is written “Country be Good, People be Safe” – which sums up the prayers hopes and dreams of millions of Chinese migrants who left their homeland looking for a better life and opportunities in “Nan Yang” – this place in the South Seas.
The Sin Si Sze Ya temple and the museum is an epitome of the hardship and struggles faced by the early settlers of Kuala Lumpur in addition to being a means to honour their sacrifices that has led to the development of a city with one of the most notable skylines in the world.
Today it has evolved into a spiritual site that is inclusive, a space where city folk and visiting tourists from all ethnicities and backgrounds come to pray for protection, success and blessings – like the early settlers of Kuala Lumpur did more than a century ago. – January 14, 2024