From cycling initiatives to a 40-storey LED billboard, the capital of Malaysia is home to punk artists, Ramadan bazaars and food that speaks of its roots

In five words

Sprawling medley of unending malls

Sound of the city

If you mute all mechanical noises in this city you’ll hear conversations in different languages, usually had over meals. This recording is of an evening at Devi’s Corner, an eatery that serves Indian cuisine on banana leaves in the neighbourhood of Taman Tun Dr Ismail. Banana-leaf cuisine is as ubiquitous as mamak food (served in halal eateries, run by locals of Tamil Muslim origin). Around dinner time, the patrons’ chatter overlaps the Maghrib call to prayer from a nearby mosque.

Best building

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tranquility in towers … the PJ Trade Centre. Photograph: Kevin Mark Low/ smallprojects

The cluster of the PJ Trade Centre’s four towers makes an austere, brutal statement against the cacophonous architecture decorating Kuala Lumpur’s urban skyline. Designed by smallprojects and completed in 2009, PJ Trade Centre is an office development occupied by the Inland Revenue Board, commercial firms and a private fitness centre.

The development is located in Damansara Perdana, a township within one of 10 municipalities that make up metro Kuala Lumpur. The red and grey exterior – made from concrete ventilation blocks and brick – is almost inconspicuous. And it’s these materials that make it so well suited to the tropical climate. Inside, dust and noise are filtered away by the blocks, and the building’s terraces are the perfect place to go if you don’t feel like being bothered.

And the worst

Most skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur are forgettable, apart from Menara Dato’ Onn in the heart of Kuala Lumpur – better known as the UMNO Building. A nondescript 40-storey tower by day, it turns into a tacky propaganda glowstick by night.

It’s not the fault of the architect, Lee Yoon Thim, who was also behind a number of other iconic buildings such as Chin Woo Stadium and Dewan Bahasa Pustaka (The Institute of Language and Literature). It was only in early 2011 that the entire building was covered with LED. Ever since, it has been a giant electronic billboard for United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) – the foremost political party of the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional – flashing patriotic messages and portraits of party leaders. On a clear night, it’s visible up to 10km away– an Orwellian monolith on the skyline.

How green is your city?

In recent years there have been monthly events encouraging car-free mornings. But Kuala Lumpur is a still city made for cars, and this is not likely to change for a while. The urban population in Greater Kuala Lumpur is about 7.2 million, and there are more than five million registered vehicles. That said, community-led Cycling KL – a crowd-sourced mapping project for and by urban cyclists – has been successfully pushing for bottom-up change, and encouraging people use bikes.

In a bid to increase greenery, the city hall has also pledged to plant 100,000 large coverage trees as part of the federal government’s urban transformation programme. Urban gardening is also picking up, mostly on a neighbourhood level: Eats, Shoots and Roots, TTDI Edible Project, Pusat Sekitar Seni, Urban Hijau.

Favourite venue

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The creatives are coming … Wisma Central. Photograph: Sze Ying Goh

Located in the frenetic central business district of Jalan Ampang, Wisma Central’s low-key facade makes it easy to overlook, especially next to its flashier neighbours: the Petronas Twin Towers, Avenue K shopping mall, and the soon-to-be-completed Four Seasons Hotel KL. Originally a shopping complex during the 1980s, it currently houses a mixture of old school tailors, travel agencies, unpretentious eateries and stationery shops. But more recently, creative studios and hipster cafes have started to move in.

Working in tandem with the building management, local architecture outfit Citylab Studio is playing a key role in Wisma Central’s attempt to renew itself as a venue for creative enterprise. There are noticeable facelifts: narrow corridors are sometimes used as makeshift gallery spaces while its ceilings are adorned with murals. In the past year, Citylab Studio and another sister tenant, Prototype Gallery, have hosted screenings, exhibitions, and art bazaars.

Best Instagram account

Malaysia Design Archive is a decade-long project archiving the local culture and history. It was initiated by KL-based graphic designer Ezrena Marwan. An entirely self-funded enterprise, she has been meticulously mapping the development of graphic design from pre-independence until now. This Instagram account offers a glimpse into her obsession locating and documenting everyday visual art, from galleries to graffiti in alleyways.

Homegrown talent

Engku Iman studied architecture but found her calling in illustration, depicting ironic everyday cultural taboos with a sharp sense of irony. Her illustrations are clean, her techniques are often straightforward (carbon tracing, for instance) but her subject matters dive deep into complex, intersectional issues: race, gender, religion.

Street style

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The look on KL’s streets. Photograph: Chow Kit Kita Street Fashion project

These photographs give a good cross section of the city’s street style. They were taken by the Chow Kit Kita Street Fashion project, a community mapping project started by Lew Pik-Svonn and Fahmi Reza for young people in the inner-city district of Chow Kit.

What does Kuala Lumpur do better than anywhere else?

Our food tells a story; when it’s not trying to be hip, (almost) every dish tells of roots, diaspora and adaptation. Growing up as a third-generation Malaysian, it was these stories – other than oral histories shared over cultural holidays – that loosely composed a narrative about identity beyond recent memory and classroom history.

Take the examples of two classic Malaysian-Chinese dishes. Bak-kut-teh owes its origin to the Hokkien immigrant community. A rich soup made of pork ribs, herbs, and spices (but variations exist) eaten together with rice or youtiao (lightly salted, deep-fried dough) is said to be a nourishing diet for the labourers who toiled long hours in the tin-rich Klang Valley. The Hainanese chicken chop traces its culinary history in the Hainanese people who predominantly settled as cooks and coffee shop operators in Malaya during the British colonial period.

But while our diet may reveal our cultural roots, it is perhaps our expansive appetite which demonstrates the city’s cosmopolitan proclivities.

Most under-rated location

Facebook Twitter Pinterest You don’t come here for the fruit trees … ‘Taman Dusun Bandar’, of the Urban Orcard Park. Photograph: Sze Ying Goh

Flanked between two major thoroughfares – Jalan Syed Putra and Jalan Istana – is an much-forgotten 7.7 hectare urban park: Taman Dusun Bandar (Urban Orchard Park). A lush green pocket in the heart of the city, you’ll get a great view of the city – though the fruit trees may be languishing. It’s also a stone’s throw away from the former National Palace (currently the Royal Museum) and the largest Cantonese cemetery, Kwong Tong Cemetery (also the resting place of Kapitan Yap Ah Loy, largely regarded as the founding father of Kuala Lumpur).

Biggest controversy

Two months ago, mayor Amin Nordin unveiled a new brand to promote tourism in Kuala Lumpur, to the horror of its citizens. Criticism poured in almost immediately – many were appalled with the choice of typography and mashup of taglines: “exciting, surprising, enticing” and “a city of contrasts and diversity”. This inaugural branding exercise came with a price tag of 15,000 Malaysian ringgit (£2,800). Even after the public furore, the city council has insisted, rather unapologetically, on going ahead with the rest of the branding exercise – which is budgeted at 2.6 million ringgit.

Moment in history

The first Bersih protest (meaning “clean”) in late 2007 marked a political reawakening in the nation. The rally, organised by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections, demanded electoral reforms a year prior to Malaysia’s 12th general elections. Under the Police Act 1967 (Section 27), police permits are required for public assemblies of more than five people and as the organisers did not manage to obtain a police permit, Bersih was considered an illegal rally.

It was the first time I attended a protest, and also the first time I was fired with chemical-laced water and teargas by riot police. The historic turnout, coupled with the heavy-handed measures used to repress it, ignited a political reclamation of public space and assembly, empowering subsequent protests.

Best local artist

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Fahmi Reza’s satirical art. Photograph: Fahmi Reza

Punk artist/activist Fahmi Reza is taking the revolution to the streets, armed with stencils, spray cans, and a knack for satire. His latest focus is the 6th and current Malaysian prime minister. Fahmi has lampooned the scandal-plagued Najib Razak by painting his face as a clown alongside the hashtag #KitaSemuaPenghasut (#WeAreAllSeditious) across the city. His defiance has gone viral. On the streets and on social media, clones of clown-faced Najib Razak are popping up faster than they can be taken down.

Top insider’s tip

If you’re in Kuala Lumpur during Ramadan, you will notice the city moves to a different rhythm. With almost half of the city’s population Muslim, traffic cycles shift slightly to mitigate congestion before and during Iftar – when Muslims break fast. By late afternoon, main streets are transformed with rows of food stalls. These Ramadan bazaars are more commonly referred to in local parlance as Param, a mix of “pasar” and “ramadan”.

Five to follow

Biawak Gemok

No Black Tie

Ling Low



Art For Grabs



Poetry Cafe KL

From me



Facebook Twitter Pinterest This is me … Photograph: Bryan Chang | #BetterCities

Sze Ying Goh is a visual designer and researcher from Kuala Lumpur. She tweets here.

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