A reminder of a philanthropic man

The obscurity of Jalan Thamboosamy belies the importance of this figure in the development of Kuala Lumpur.

It is one of the side lanes along the busy Jalan Putra, a short road lined with shops and which blends into the housing area in Tiong Nam.

K. Thamboosamy Pillai (1850-1902) was a successful entrepreneur, tin miner, government contractor and moneylender.

He was also involved in coffee planting, real estate and construction — one of the projects was building part of the main road from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Kubu.

Born in Singapore, he received his early education at Raffles Institution.

He moved to Klang in 1875 with James Guthrie Davidson, when the latter was appointed Malaya’s first British Resident. Prior to that, he had been a clerk in the legal firm in which Davidson was a partner.

Thamboosamy was later transferred to the Treasury where he eventually became chief clerk and acted as State Treasurer on a few occasions.

He was also a Justice of Peace and member of the KL Sanitary Board.

He was the one who brought over the first batch of Indian immigrants for railway and public works under the Malayan government’s direction.

In the 1880s, he resigned from the government and went into partnership with Loke Yew in mining. They were said to be the first to use electric pumps for mining in Malaya.

He was regarded the leader of the Tamil community and reputed for his philanthropic spirit that saw him donating money to the needy regardless of race and religion.

He contributed a sizeable amount of money to the building fund of St Mary’s Cathedral, Kuala Lumpur in 1893, despite being a Hindu.

Thamboosamy died in Singapore, where he had gone to attend a meeting at the Singapore Turf Club.

Several famous landmarks in Kuala Lumpur had close links with Thamboosamy.

He founded the famous Sri Mahamariamman Temple in 1873.

The temple was first sited near the Railway Station and moved to its current location in Jalan Tun H.S. Lee in 1885.

The temple, said to be the oldest and richest in town, was originally his family’s private shrine and open to the public in 1920s. The management was also handed over to a board of trustees then.

He also promoted Batu Caves as a place of worship and decided to dedicate it to Lord Murugan. In 1890, Thamboosamy installed the murti (consecrated statue) of Sri Murugan Swami in the Temple Cave.

Thamboosamy, together with several prominent community leaders including Sultan Abdul Samad, Yap Kwan Seng and Loke Yew, proposed to set up an English-medium school for boys in Kuala Lumpur, like the Raffles Institution in Singapore. It led to the establishment of the Victoria Institution in 1894.

A Tamil primary school in Sentul was also named after him.

Restaurant worker Ng Yoke Ying, 62, who has lived in the area for more than 20 years, said the street used to be lined with houses. Most of the properties were owned by the Punjabi and rented to the Chinese.

She said houses were built along the street as early as 1930s but most of them had been replaced with new shops.

“Back then, I heard, Sungai Gombak here played a big part in the locals’ daily life but many people drowned there, too,” said Ng.

“Aside from a few rows of brick structures, the rest were just wooden houses built next to vegetable farms,” she added.

The vegetarian restaurant she worked for is deemed a landmark on the street, having been there for 13 years.

Today, Jalan Thamboosamy has its unique draw as it has become a small wholesale hub for toys and household items made in China.

It is a scene of hustle and bustle, with workers busy loading and unloading stock, traders hurrying about buying merchandise and families scouting for something to buy for the childen in tow.

One of the shop operators, Jenny Choo, 32, said she has been operating her business there for about seven years.

“I do not quite know why this street has become a small hub for these items. I think it is a spillover effect from the nearby Haji Taib area,” she said.