Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur
3°3′27.99″N 101°45′1.84″E / 3.0577750°N 101.7505111°E
Brickfields
بريکفيلدس 十五碑 பிரிக்பீல்ட்ஸ் | ||
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Fire | Pantai, Central | |
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Brickfields is a neighbourhood (as well as an administrative zone) located on the western flank of central
Brickfields is notable for being home to
History
In 1881, a flood swept through Kuala Lumpur in the wake of a disastrous fire. These successive problems destroyed the town's structures of wood and atap (thatching). As a response, Frank Swettenham, the British Resident of Selangor, required that buildings be constructed of brick and tile.[2] Hence, Kapitan Yap Ah Loy bought a sprawling piece of real estate, now Brickfields, for the setting up of a brick industry which would spur the rebuilding of Kuala Lumpur.
Later the area was developed by Yap Kwan Seng, the fifth and last Kapitan Cina of Kuala Lumpur. As a businessman, he foresaw an increased demand for bricks in fast-growing Kuala Lumpur and established a kiln in the district. The area soon became the centre for brick-making in the early days because the whole area was a clay pit and good quality bricks are made from clay. Therefore, Brickfields became synonymous with good quality bricks.
Brickfields also used to be the site of the main
Brickfields is one of the
Lifestyle
Culture
Along Jalan Tun Sambanthan 4 is the century-old YMCA, which has become an integral landmark in Brickfields. Further down along Jalan Tun Sambanthan is the charming Vivekananda Ashramam built in the early 19th century.
Brickfields also houses historical government quarters built during the British era, which are under harm from rapid development. The 100 railway quarters in Jalan Rozario are still there, although modern buildings have cropped up all around. The "Hundred Quarters" are located at Jalan Chan Ah Tong. It was built in 1915 as terrace houses for junior servants. It is planned to be demolished for commercial development. As of June 2014, there have been no demolition works.
Brickfields is famous for its
The Malaysian Association for the Blind, located along Jalan Tebing, houses several blind people. They can be seen walking around Brickfields. Many have become familiar with the area, that they rarely encounter any problems walking around here. Most Brickfields has been equipped with
The Temple of Fine Arts is located along Jalan Berhala. It is essentially a cultural organisation offering various courses relating to Southern Indian music, dance, and arts. It was founded in 1981 and has currently similar centres in
Places of worship
Brickfields is also tagged as a "Divine Location" as many religious structures, some over 100 years old, are concentrated in the area, particularly Jalan Berhala. The aptly named road ("Berhala" means shrine) houses the Buddhist Maha Vihara and the Sri Sakthi Karpaga Vinayagar Temple.
Buddhist Maha Vihara was founded in 1894 by the Sasana Abhiwurdhi Wardhana Society, the oldest registered Buddhist Society Klang Valley. It has been managed by the Sinhalese Buddhist community and supported by the Chinese Buddhist and Indian Buddhist communities. The Wesak procession organised by the Buddhist Maha Vihara since the 1890s is the country's oldest and largest religious procession. The Wesak month-long celebrations attracted about 100,000 people every year.[3]
The
Both the Sri Kandaswamy Temple and Buddhist Maha Vihara stand testament to the influence of the Ceylonese in Brickfields, who was brought in to work on the Malayan Railways before World War II.
A sprinkling of churches of different denominations can also be found here. Among the larger churches in the area are the Holy Rosary Church (est. 1903),
There is a Surau (small mosque) located on Jalan Sultan Abdul Samad called Madrasatul Gouthiyyah. Indian Muslims mainly attend this mosque, and the sermons are sometimes conducted in Tamil.
Finally, another significant landmark in Brickfields is the distinctive Chinese Temple known as Sam Kow Tong Temple (三教堂), which means "Hall of Three Teachings" along Jalan Thambillay. The Temple was founded in 1916 and belonged to the Heng Hua clan in Hokkien Province. There is also another Chinese Temple, Seng Hong Tokong (城隍庙) along Jalan Berhala.
Trade
Being the Little India of Kuala Lumpur, it has numerous shops that Indian businessmen own. There are spice shops, grocery outlets, sweet and snacks shops, textile shops, goldsmiths, hotels, restaurants, food stalls, printers and even flower stalls.
The headquarters of
Another popular business is the printing and paper distribution business which is concentrated along Jalan Sultan Abdul Samad.
The new Sentral Brickfields 3-storey commercial complex is located next to the Sri Kandaswamy Temple, offering 22 exclusive retail outlets with free parking and easy access via the Jalan Istana road. The new Sonali business showroom is located in this building. The tagline for Sentral Brickfields is The Riverside Family Center in Little India https://web.archive.org/web/20130827091334/http://www.sentralbrickfields.asia/
Infrastructure and facilities
Police station
The Brickfields police station closed end of 2010 and was temporarily relocated to Sri Petaling. The Brickfields District Police is one of the four police district headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. Its jurisdiction covers, among others, the area of
Schools
There are many schools located at Brickfields.
Secondary schools:
- SMK Vivekananda, Brickfields
- SMK La Salle School, Brickfields
Primary schools:
- SK La Salle Brickfields 1 & 2
- SK Brickfields 1
- SK Brickfields 2
- SK St. Theresa (1) & (2)
- Methodist Girls School 1
- SRJK (T) Vivekananda
- SRJK (C) St Theresa
Private schools:
- Global Indian International School, Kuala Lumpur
- Havil International School
Colleges:
- Brickfields Asia College
- Methodist College Kuala Lumpur
Cultural/social organisations
- YMCA
- Sasana Abhiwurdhi Wardhana Society - Sinhalese based organisation
- Temple of Fine Arts
- Malaysian Association of the Blind
- Rukun Tetangga Sektor Brickfields – A government base social body for Brickfields residents.
- The Society For Deaf in Selangor And Federal Territory – A civil rights organisation for deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Formed in 1975.
Development
Brickfields has evolved from a residential to a commercial extension of downtown
The rapid evolvement has left parts of Brickfields suspended in time. One can find small village type housing amidst the high-rise modern living complexes being constructed. There have been efforts to clean up the area of Brickfields outside the KL Sentral development area. Recently Brickfields' image as a notorious area with a high incidence of crime is slowly disappearing. There are brothels and massage parlors in Jalan Hicks and Jalan Thambipillay where prostitutes ply their trade.[5]
Transport
Brickfields can be accessed through many ways:
- KL Sentralstations
- KL Sentralstation
- MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line: Muzium Negarastation
- KL Sentralstation
- KL Sentralstation
- Rapid KL buses
The combination of the commercial activity, schools and residential traffic and Brickfields' location as one of the major access points into and out the city frequently results in bad traffic congestion in the mornings and evenings.
Notable people
- Ananda Krishnan, one of Malaysia and South East Asia's richest men, grew up in Brickfields and studied at the Vivekananda Tamil school.
- Bastianpillai Paul Nicholas, Malaysia's first Asian banker.
- Tan Sri Devaki Krishnan, the first Malaysian woman to stand for election.
References
- ^ "Brickfields ranks third in global trending destinations - the Malaysian Insider". Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
- ^ "Kuala Lumpur". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 6 December 2007.
- ^ "Buddhist Maha Vihara". Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- ^ Direktori, Polis Diraja Malaysia. Retrieved 10 April 2007.
- ^ Hunter, Murray (28 July 2015). "Why Kuala Lumpur could be on its way to becoming the sex capital of Asia". Asian Correspondent. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
Further reading
- Baxstrom, Richard (2008). Houses in Motion: The Experience of Place and the Problem of Belief in Urban Malaysia. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 304 pp. ISBN 9780804758918.
- Baxstrom, Richard (2010). Transforming Brickfields: Development and Governance in a Malaysian City. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press. 283 pp. ISBN 9971694948.
- Moses, Balan (2007). Brickfields: A Place, A Time, A Memory. Kuala Lumpur. 207 pp. ISBN 9789834150525.
- Willford, Andrew (2006). Cage of Freedom: Tamil Identity and the Ethnic Fetish in Malaysia. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. 360 pp. ISBN 9780472069569.
External links
Brickfields travel guide from Wikivoyage- Tourism Malaysia – Little India Brickfields
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