Kuala Lumpur

Photo : Oxymanus



History

1857
87 tin miners, mostly Chinese, came to the area where the rivers Klang and Gombak converge. (see photograph above)The miners were prospecting for tin and found here a rich source of the metal.It is said that around 70% of the settlers succumbed to the malaria plague in the first months, one of the common epidemics in those days.

1862
K.L was a growing village. The place was named Kuala Lumpur which in Malay means “muddy estuary” The village grew rapidly and like all new mining settlements around the world it was an era turbulent times. This first period was filled with conflicts and gang wars between local Chinese gangs and sometimes Malay gangs about mining rights and control of drinking water.The Chinese grew more influential with the control of several vice activities that include brothels,gambling booths and opium trade within the settlement.

1869
The legendary Chinese Yap Ah Loy , also known as Yap Tet Loy or Yap Mao Lan became Chinese Kapitan of Kuala Lumpur and succeeded in just a few years to establish law and order in the town and became a sort of Mayor of K.L. until his death in 1885.

1880
Kuala Lumpur became a modern town when the British representative Frank Swettenham developed the first city plan and rich miners built colonial houses within its hub. One of the reasons that the town could expand was that the price of tin raised dramatically and the boom times made many prosperous towkays out of these settlers whose descendants lasted even to this generation.

1887
Kuala Lumpur became the capital of the state of Selangor one year after the railway to the harbour city Klang was established.(The first railway network was opened at Port Weld in Perak state to the town of Ipoh - another "tin" boom town.

1896
The Federated Malay States(FMS)is formed by uniting the Sultans of four states under one umbrella and KL was chosen as the capital of FMS because of its central position. The city became a classic centre of British colonialism.

1946
Kuala Lumpur was the capital in the “Federation of Malaya”

1957
Malaysia achieved independence on August 31 after 151 years of British colonial rule, Kuala Lumpur was designated the capital of the independent Federation of Malaya.(or Perseketuan Tanah Melayu)

1963
Kuala Lumpur became the federal capital of Malaysia in 1963, that also incorporates the states of Sabah,Sarawak on the island of Borneo as well as Singapore in the southern tip of Peninsula.

1974
Kuala Lumpur formally detached from its mother state of Selangor and became an autonomy city (Wilayah Persekutuan or Federal Territory) with its own administration.
A Mayor was elected as part of this establishment to oversee the overall public services system within the territory.

1999
The federal administrative capital moved to Putrajaya on June 4.

2007
Kuala Lumpur celebrates its 50th year as the capital of Malaysia and Malaysia its 50th year of independence.


Kuala Lumpur is a sister city to Ankara (Turkey)Esfahan (Iran), Malacca(Malaysia), Los Angeles ( USA),Osaka(Japan),Beijing (China), Casablanca(Morocco),Dubai (UAE) Shiraz(Iran),Delhi(India),Auckland(New Zealand),New York (USA),Karachi(Pakistan),London(UK),Sydney(Australia), Los Mochis (Mexico),San Francisco ( USA)

Mayors’ term of office: three years, renewable
Election: appointed
Responsibilities: economy, environment, health, planning, roads, transport, waste, water & sewerage