RECENTLY crowdsourced global database Numbeo raised the ire of Klang residents when it dubbed the town as the most dangerous “city” in South-East Asia.
For Klang residents, the allegation was not only baseless but also ridiculous. One has to come from Klang or be acquainted with the town to realise that “to know Klang is to love Klang”.
Highly misunderstood by outsiders, the royal town is nothing like what Numbeo made it out to be or what outsiders assume it is like – unsavoury.
On the contrary, Klang is a quaint town with old charm which is also quickly developing to meet current needs and demands to be on par with other fast-growing towns and cities.
Besides having a multi-racial population which also includes the Orang Asli community, Klang is known as a haven for food lovers. But food isn’t Klang’s only glory as the town is also steeped in history and has many charming facets that are unique to the town.
Historical literature states that Bronze Age artefacts were found in Klang, indicating that Klangites first came into existence during prehistoric times.
As Port Klang was the arrival point for several migrant communities from other parts of Asia some 200 years ago, the town’s current identity revolves around a melting pot of cultures brought in by these groups of people.
Klang, which was once Selangor’s administrative capital, has many places of interest and the town is a tourist attraction in its own right.
The town is also divided in two sections – North Klang and South Klang – with the former being the older part of the town whilst the latter is currently the conduit for a rapidly growing commercial centre.Orang Besar Klang Datuk Abdul Ghani Pateh Akhir had told The Star in a previous interview that the old Klang town parameters were only from Bulatan Seratus to Klang High School in the north and up to Simpang Lima in the south.
“The areas outside of these perimeters were regarded as the outskirt areas.
“In South Klang, it used to be just the graveyards and plantations after we had passed Simpang Lima,” he recalled.
However, the last two decades have seen extensive development and the former “border” literally vanishing with the opening of new housing estates and neighbourhood centres.
In spite of the rapid development in South Klang, Abdul Ghani had said that the town’s charm lay in its heritage buildings, which still exist in areas defined as the original Klang township.
“In these areas, much remains unchanged and Klang’s old rustic heritage charm, which makes it a special town, still exists,” he said.
Klang has many unique and interesting places to boast of and one of them is Kai Hong Hoo, the only temple in Malaysia dedicated to the Song Dynasty’s most notable judge, Justice Bao.
There is also the Kota Bridge that connects North and South Klang and was opened in 1961 by Almarhum Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah. It is also the first double-decker bridge to be built in Malaysia.
Kota Raja Mahadi, meanwhile, was built as a protective fort during the Klang civil war from 1867 to 1874 between the royals Raja Mahadi and Raja Abdullah.
Unique and interesting places of worship in Klang include the Sultan Sulaiman Mosque, opened in 1933; the more than a century old Indian Muslim Mosque in Jalan Tengku Kelana, which replicates Muslim architecture in South India; the more than a century old Kuan Yin Temple, which is the worship point for Klang’s Hokkien community; Sri Sundararaja Perumal Temple, which is the country’s first granite temple; as well as the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes which is home to the glass panels from Sime Darby Medical Centre that show alleged apparitions of Mother Mary and Jesus Christ.
Another place of interest in Klang is the Sultan Abdul Aziz Royal Gallery at the Sultan Suleiman Building built in 1909 by British architect Arthur B. Hubback, who also designed the Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh railway stations, Carcosa Seri Negara and Masjid Jamek in Kuala Lumpur, among others.
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