KUALA LUMPUR IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS

KEE@FSWMAG.COM
I SOMETIMES WISH I AM NOW LIVING IN THE 1950S WHEN LIFE WOULD BE SO RELAXED AND LAIDBACK AND WE WOULD BE FREE FROM THE TYRANNY OF BEING SLAVES TO HANDPHONES, TWEETER, FACEBOOK AND COMPUTERS. 

Then again, this post would not have existed....oh well, guess we should be grateful to Buddha and Jesus Christ we are alive, regardless of which year, era or kalpa, now that the world is ending on 21/12/12.

But meanwhile as we wait for the end of the  world, see if you can still remember some of these places. Er, those under 20 can skip to  my next or previous post. The Bok House was an old mansion on Jalan Ampang built in 1926 and completed in 1929 for a local millionaire, Chua Cheng Bok. In the 1960s and up until its closure in 2001, the mansion housed an upscale restaurant called the Le Coq d'Or (The Golden Cockerel). Part of the original millionaires row, Bok House was probably one of the most visible yet least remembered relic of early KL. You will never guess or recognise this 1966 road... Car is turning down towards Jalan Pudu from Jalan Bukit Bintang (next to former Pavilion cinema .. NOT present day Pavilion mall ). Tung Shing Hospital is down farther right after the row of shop houses. The popular pre 60s Kum Leng Chinese restaurant is on top left next to cluster of trees. Ongoing digging of roads were a common occurrence even back in the 60s. Farther up from the Pudu area is Peel Road ( Jalan Peel ) - photo circa 1950s. This was the main trunk road leading out of KL to the Southern part of the country pre 70s before the Loke Yew Highway and Seremban Highway were constructed. A very, very sad and unfortunate chapter of Malaysian history .. the May 13th 1969 racial riots. All Malaysians must unite to ensure this episode of our National history will never allow to happen again. Photo shows the aftermath of the rampage at Campbell Road ( Jalan Dang Wangi ) before the left turning into Kampung Baru ( Jalan Raja Abdullah ) Newly completed Federal Highway with the EPF building still in the progress of being built at the junction with Jalan Gasing 1962. Long before Ampang Park, Sungai Wang, BB Plaza or the newest Pavilion shopping malls .. the colonial " Prestigious " shopping places were Whileaway Laidlam, John Little's and Robinson's Dept Store located at Mountbatten Road ( Jalan Tun Perak ) which managed to stay in business till the 1970s ( photo ) with the top 2 floors being converted into a Chinese restaurant and night club. A few MBS alumni worked at P&A dept of Tan Chong Motors, the sole agent / distributor of Datsun ( Nissan ) vehicles circa 1950s. Not a very popular Japanese vehicle brand then ... Now known as Edaran Tan Chong, its Head office / show room is still based at Jalan Ipoh since its founding from the early 50s View from the steps leading up to MBS. Sultan Street Railway Station signage is clearly displayed on the roof of the station. Directly in front of the station is Foch Avenue. Front facade of Sultan Street Railway Station circa 1950s. On the right next to the station was the infamous lane with the steps leading up to Wesley Methodist Church and MBS. Cheong Kee coffee shop ( a half way watering hole for the pre 1970s students ) was situated next to the lane. The Jalan Sultan railway station was archived at more than a century old as evidenced on the timeline date of this photo. There was no Jalan Pudu yet and China town area was probably serviced by bullock tracks . MBS was not located on Petaling Hill yet ( the present site ) and was sited in some shop houses around Kuala Lumpur Municipality. 1960s High Street - Jalan Tun HS Lee. On left is the main office of Eu Yan San, the long established Chinese Medical Hall.. still at the same site today. Farther down the road is the Bangkok Bank. One of the last ( if not the last ) 1920s era, Yoke Woo Hin Restaurant is ( almost ) as old as Sultan Street. Serves old Cantonese tradition cuisine including the annual festive dumplings, moon cakes, dim sum and char siew low wanton meen daily from 5am till late afternoon. Popular and patronised by China town old timers but recently closed down.-No Thanks to Bee End! Down the steps of MBS Wesley Methodist Church : Petaling Street looking towards Foch Avenue ( Jalan Cheng Lock ) early 1950s. Building in front ( now 6 floors ) is Hakka Fui Chew Association. Present day Kota Raya Complex is next to it on the right. Road on left is (was ) the very popular Cross Street, present Day Jalan Silang, with the Tai Tai ( Chinese rich ladies ) of the 50s - 70s era consisting of mainly Chinese gold smith shops. Some of the shops are still in business today, but facing competition from shopping malls and complex based gold smith shops. Farther away from MBS : Bukit Bintang Park aka BB Park This site used to be Hollywood Park way back in the 1930s. Back then, this part of town was considered the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. It was for precisely this reason that Pudu Prison (popularly called Pudu Jail) was built in 1895. Hollywood Park was later acquired by movie giants of the day, Shaw Brothers. It was upgraded to BB Park with a carnival-like setting: there were cabarets and dance halls, cinemas, stage shows, restaurants, game stalls and even a boxing ring! BB Park’s fortunes started to decline with the rising popularity of television and radio. It was closed in the early 1970s and redeveloped into Sungei Wang Plaza.