These days, the areas surrounding Petaling Street are thriving with fancy eateries and bars that open till late.
According to statistics portal Statista, there are 6.88 million Chinese living in Malaysia as of 2022. This places Malaysia third in the world as the country with the largest number of overseas Chinese, behind Thailand (7.01 million) and Indonesia (10.94 million).
Historically, Chinese presence in South-East Asia emerged in the 19th century when, starting from the 1850s (and until the 1950s), Chinese workers ventured to the region to seek employment opportunities, as per the Academy for Cultural Diplomacy’s research.
