A festive M’sia Day weekend awaits at depot

The large Sentul Depot in Sentul West where the Riuh X Grab Malaysia Day event will be held this weekend. It was once used as engineering workshops and storage area for steam and diesel locomotives.

Local creative platform Riuh returns with another market-like bazaar, this time to celebrate all things Malaysian in conjunction with the Malaysia Day weekend.

For the first time since its inception in August 2007, the organiser has chosen to move out from Bangsar for the special Riuh x Grab Malaysia Day event.

“We started off from APW in Bangsar and now we are moving to yet another heritage building, this time in Sentul which has so much history,” said Riuh chief operating officer Melissa Low.

Riuh will be occupying two sections of the century-old Sentul Depot owned by YTL Land.

The depot, which was once home to railway workshops as well as storage areas for steam and diesel locomotives, previously served the needs of the Federated Malay States Railways in the early 1900s up to the early 2000s for KTM Bhd.

It also housed 5,000 railway workers and their families in its heyday before the depot was officially closed in 2009 and a new central workshop was constructed in Batu Gajah, Perak, to replace it.

The abandoned depot was then left hidden under undergrowth until YTL Land managing director Datuk Yeoh Seok Kian and his daughter, Pei Teeng, decided to revive the building.

(From left) Grab Malaysia marketing head Iris Chang, Low, Yeoh and Pei Teeng at the launch of Riuh X Grab Malaysia Day event at Sentul Depot in Sentul West, Kuala Lumpur. 

Yeoh said he had Shanghai’s Xin Tian Di nightspot in mind which was constructed from old buildings while keeping its history.

“The challenge is how to keep the character (of the building),” he said, adding that Riuh would be the first event to be hosted in the depot.

The organisers are partnering with another Malaysian homegrown brand Grab which is currently running the #MyNewMalaysia campaign.

“We chose to partner up with Grab for their amazing track record. They have done at least 15 events in their first year which is remarkable for a young company.

“We have so many talents in Malaysia but sadly, there are not enough platforms for them to showcase their creativity, talents and skills,” said Yeoh.

About 75 booths comprising retail and food stalls will be filling up the depot space from 11am to 9pm today and tomorrow.

There will also be workshops on mooncake making, batik journal, floral arrangement, brush lettering and how to upcycle chopsticks.

The Frankie Sixes led by Reza Salleh will be performing on Sunday.

Visitors can also enjoy live music and cultural dances, including the Magunatip and Sumazau dances from Sabah and the Datun Julud or hornbill dance as well as the Ngajat Iban from Sarawak.

Every spot around the large brick building and metal sheds are Instagram-worthy but not all areas are open to the public for safety concerns.

Parking space, which had been a main concern at previous Riuh events, will no longer be a problem.

“There are 500 parking bays here so there’s no need to worry about finding a spot,” said Low.

However, visitors are encouraged to leave their cars at home and take a Grab ride instead.

Grab is offering RM8 off two rides to and from Sentul Depot by using the promocode RIUHXGRAB.

There will be different activities and performances on both days, so it is best if visitors check the line-up on Riuh’s social media pages before going.