A Future Paved by a Past Preserved

Deep within the winding maze that is Kuala Lumpur’s underbelly is one of the city’s brightest pulses. While known to tourists as Chinatown, the locals call it many names—Petaling Street in English, Jalan Petaling in Malay, and Chee Cheong Gai in Cantonese

- Koyyi Chin

Barricades greeted us at the iconic paifang (Chinese archway) when we arrived at the mouth of the Green Dragon. There, a few security guards instructed us to scan the QR code given and placed green stickers on our shoulders, which allowed us to enter the premises. “Please queue up before the gate—this is for everyone’s safety,” one of the men explains to newcomers. “It’s the standard procedure now.”

Not unlike a beast with its teeth forcibly uprooted, scant stalls were littered both left and right. It was significantly emptier, and quieter than I remembered it being. The entryway to Madras Lane, Petaling Street’s renowned hawker street, was dark and dormant.

Eerily enough, a local florist stall had sympathy flower arrangements placed outside, which added a sense of foreboding to the already heavy air; the pale wash of green that filters through the turquoise roof above us made it as though the street as well as its inhabitants were submerged under water. But despite its muted atmosphere and the pang of bittersweet nostalgia that came with it, it felt akin to a homecoming for a city kid such as myself.

For those unfamiliar with the history of this popular local landmark, Petaling Street was once home to Chinese settlers (most of whom were Hakka and Cantonese) that joined Malaysia’s flourishing tin mining industry in the early 19th century. However, a civil war between the two clans in 1870 led to not only the destruction of many buildings, but the cessation of mining activities as miners were forced to abandon the sites as the infighting worsened. Consequently, the unattended mines flooded, and the miners found themselves left bereft of their livelihoods.