Central Market, Malaysia
Encyclopedia
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, Malaysia.
Introduction
Central Market is located at Jalan Hang Kasturi, a few minutes away from Petaling StreetPetaling Street
Petaling Street is a Chinatown located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is infamous for pirated clothes and accessories along with bootleg DVDs and CDs. Petaling Street however does not exclusively offer pirated products...
. It was founded in 1888 and originally used as a wet market
Wet market
A wet market is generally an open food market. Some of the common names include "Cultural Markets", "traditional markets", "Gaai Si", "Gaai See".-Terminology:...
, while the current building was completed in 1937. It has since been classified as a Heritage Site by the Malaysian Heritage Society and it is now a landmark for Malaysian culture and heritage. It is also strategically located within public transport facilities.
Central Market has created a corner to display multi-ethnicity and the stalls are zoned based on the features of each race. The new zone therefore would consist of 3 lanes namely the Lorong Melayu, Straits Chinese and Lorong India. The purpose of this new zone is to let the visitors have an insight of the cultural difference of the various races in Malaysia.
There is also a Malacca Jonker street – a street featuring double-storey and single-storey Baba-Nyonya styled architectural buildings, a Batik Emporium which houses well-known designer labels with the best Malaysian made batik items ranging from clothes, shoes, bags to home finishing.
Central Market is a one stop shopping centre for Malaysian products such as handicrafts, art, kebaya, songket, batik and the wide variety of Malaysian cuisine. Efforts to improvise and upgrade facilities in Central Market also include having a variety of food & beverage outlets such as Secret Recipe
Secret Recipe
Secret Recipe is a lifestyle café chain and has become common in Malaysia following its debut in 1997. Secret Recipe has established its brand name in Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei and Pakistan as well. It serves cakes and fusion food in a service environment.The...
, Old Town Kopitiam, Kings Confectionary, Famous Amos
Famous Amos
-History:Wally Amos, an Air Force veteran who worked as a talent agent with the William Morris Agency, would send home-baked chocolate chip cookies to celebrities to entice them to meet with him and maybe sign a deal to be represented by the William Morris Agency...
, Precious Restaurant (Traditional Baba Nyonya Cuisine), Ginger Restaurant (Traditional Malaysian Thai Cuisine) and many more.
The colourful Malaysian Traditional Cultural and Arts events are presented at the Central Market Outdoor Stage. Central Market celebrates all the Traditional Festivals of each race in Malaysia. Moreover, Central Market supports the local contemporary arts in The Annexe Gallery.
History
The building was built in 1888 by the British who were ruling MalayaBritish Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
at that time and it was used as wet market for Kuala Lumpur citizens and tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
miners. Further expansions were made in 1889, 1895, 1920 and 1921. By 1933, the expansions to the warehouse made the market now in its present size and cost around $167,000.
As Kuala Lumpur experienced its own development at a rapid pace in the 1970s, there were plans to demolish the site. The intervention of the Malaysian Heritage Society proved timely as they successfully petitioned against its deconstruction and the site was declared as a 'Heritage Site'.
The Wet Market was very convenient to the early city dwellers because it was within the vicinity of Klang bus stand, the hub of feeder bus service for Kuala Lumpur and the train station.
During construction of Dayabumi near Klang River
Klang River
Klang River is a river which flows through Kuala Lumpur and Selangor in Malaysia and eventually flows into the Straits of Malacca. It is approximately 120 km in length and drains a basin of about 1288 square kilometres...
banks in 1981 the market was survived from its demolition. However in 1985 the market was renovated into vibrant and colourful new style and on April 1986 it was officially known as Pasar Budaya until now.
The Annexe Central Market, located at the back of main building that formerly housed a cineplex, was opened in 2006. The Annexe houses art galleries, theatre and music performance spaces, and arts and craft shops. It is one of the major art spaces in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
and is a hub of activity all year long which features artworks and performances by local, regional and international artists.
The walking mall parallel to the main building (facing the shop lots) is noted for housing street musicians or buskers.
Transport
Central Market is accessible through Pasar Seni LRT stationPasar Seni LRT station
The Pasar Seni LRT station is an LRT station in Kuala Lumpur that is served by rapid KL's Kelana Jaya Line. The station was named after the neighbouring Central Market.The Kuala Lumpur Railway Station which the KTM Komuter serves, is a 400 m walk away...
on the Kelana Jaya Line
Kelana Jaya Line
The Kelana Jaya Line is a medium-capacity rail transport system and one of the three rail transit lines in the Kuala Lumpur Rail Transit System operated by RapidKL Rail network...
.