History

Only 150 years ago, Kuala Lumpur was a vast expanse of swamp—the name actually translates as ‘muddy confluence’. Then, in 1857, a gang of Chinese miners were sent on an expedition up the Klang river to find tin on the orders of the Malay chief of the Klang region. Their search brought them to the meeting of the Klang and Gombak rivers and they struck a rich vein of tin ore nearby. The trading post quickly developed into a small town and became known as Kuala Lumpur.

Politics

For over two decades, this former British colony was ruled by one man: Dr Mahathir Mohamad. His attempts to retain power attracted the criticism of human rights activists and several governments in other countries, most notably the United Kingdom. In 2002 he surprised many observers by honouring his pledge to step aside and hand over power. Today’s government has taken a more democratic stance, although human rights groups are still keeping an eye on developments. Much of Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur’s future economic fortunes will depend on the new balance of power and whether anyone can fill the boots of the man who led the country for so long.

Religion

Malaysia’s official religion is Islam and the call to prayer can be heard throughout the city five times a day. Muslims also make up the majority of the population. While local people are meant to stick to the strict doctrines of Islam, Kuala Lumpur is nothing if not flexible and visitors will find alcohol easily available around the city. Although some arrests of suspected Islamic activists have been made since 2001—the government has been keen to quell the rise of fundamentalism—the threat of indigenous Islamic terrorism is relatively low in this area.

Economy

Although Malaysia’s economy isn’t experiencing the same stellar growth that it did in the heady pre-1997 days, it has weathered the regional economic storms and now seems to be working to more stable and realistic targets. The tourism and hi-tech industries have also come to the fore over the past decade, and this will be a key focus of the economy, with the continuing emergence of the Cyberjaya area. The massive Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) development (part of former prime minister Mohamad’s Vision 2020) continues apace, after years of delays. Managed by the government-appointed Multimedia Development Corporation (website: www.mdc.com. my), this project’s ambitious goals are to attract the world’s leading multimedia organisations to a 15- by 50-kilometre area stretching from the city centre to Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The main business district in Kuala Lumpur is KLCC, which stands for Kuala Lumpur City Centre. The area around KLCC and Bukit Bintang, where many of the expensive five-star hotels and shopping malls are located, is collectively called The Golden Triangle. The development of Putrajaya, a purpose-built administration centre on the way to the airport, continues, but it won’t replace the business and commercial functions of the KLCC, just many of the government and administrative roles.

Population

The city itself is home to 1.4 million people, while the greater metropolitan area has a population of 1.9 million. Of these 58% are ethnic Malay, 31% Chinese and 8% Indian, with various others making up the remaining 3%. Languages spoken in Malaysia include Malay, English and Chinese (mainly Mandarin).