Sabitlenmiş Tweet
I think I've finally solved the mystery behind Kuala Lumpur's name. We've been looking at the wrong river junction all this time. Let me explain with a short thread🧵
English
Jesse Onslow
963 posts
Jesse Onslow
@JesseOnslow
Writer / podcaster. Creator of Amok in the Jungle. Tweeting about Kuala Lumpur, British Malaya and Asian history. 🔰
Kuala Lumpur Katılım Mart 2014
170 Takip Edilen1.4K Takipçiler
@amirulruslan Interesting theory. I wonder if @teckwyn has any knowledge of habitation in the area or where the name comes from, and whether any earlier settlers may have built dams that predate the Chinese miners.
English
Sudden thought today + seed for investigation spurred by a recent conversation with @JesseOnslow last week:
Ampang is named after a dam (empangan), built after tin pioneers started mining there ~mid-1850s. But a Mandailing camp was there first. So what was its first name then?
English
@okaythenfuture @anthraxxxx Seems like it only runs twice a day? Any idea why that is?
English
Massive win for Malaysia.
And a massive win for Johor once the RTS is completed.
This is not a HSR route for those wondering though,
It is a standard train route that just happens to be electrified.
We will probably have to wait a decade or two before the next serious Singapore - Malaysia HSR push.
JR Urbane Network@JRUrbaneNetwork
Yesterday Malaysia opened an extension of the KTM electric train service from KL to Johor Bahru/Singapore. The line will get even more convenient when Malaysia and Singapore open the RTS link, a metro shuttle that will connect the Singapore MRT with the KTM intercity service.
English
Super excited to see this. Features my friend Glenn Yap, the last descendant of Yap Ah Loy still living in KL.
English
@chancecollabs Not the book I would've picked, but as good a starting place as any. Why the interest in Malaya?
English
new book new me
note date this book was published (1964). a particularly interesting period of Malaysian history, so especially excited to read this one
English
@amirulruslan Great video. There's an interesting note in JWW Birch's journal from 1874 where he notes the presence of the rust blight in Perak. He spent most of his life in British Ceylon and seemingly was one of the first to suggest Malaya could be a coffee exporter.
English
This is a very fun one: did you know that for a brief period, Malaya — specifically Selangor and KL — was one of the world's richest producers of coffee? It all came to a sudden stop. Why? Think about that the next time you have a latte in Bukit Bintang.
youtube.com/watch?v=1AyRcf…
YouTube
English
@chancecollabs Drop me a message if you'd like to chat about the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.
English
going to do a deep dive into historical societies at some point
English
Jesse Onslow retweetledi
Jesse Onslow retweetledi
@muditfx @uglyluhan Nice story, but the inversion of the term has nothing to do with British colonialism. The British used Farsi as the common language when they arrived in India, and Farsi had already corrupted the Sanskrit jungala to mean dense tropical forest.
English
@nmraziz I'm not aware of the Royal Selangor Club ever being described as a golf club, and there is certainly no reference to golf being played on the padang.
This is most likely the golf club that briefly existed on Bukit Petaling, near modern day Stadium Merdeka.
English
The Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society still needs submissions for the next volume of its journal.
Drop me a DM if you know anybody looking to publish on the history of Malaysia, Singapore and/or Brunei.
English
Jesse Onslow retweetledi
Jesse Onslow retweetledi
Jesse Onslow retweetledi
Jesse Onslow retweetledi
@adleen_arleena I think it's an oversimplification to say the British "took control of everything." Even after installing a British Resident in Selangor, Yap Ah Loy remained the pre-eminent power in Kuala Lumpur until his death, and Chinese towkays always dominated the tin industry.
English
The British came over and took control of everything. Then law and order prevail. And progress from there on.
So, if the British didn't come, I think KL would still be a metropolitan city it is today.
But maybe a few years late, and probably behind George Town or Melaka.
English
Been listening to this podcast on Spotify titled 'Amok in the Jungle'.
KL was a chaotic battlefront among many warring factions. The Chinese killed each other, the Malays fought among themselves.
KL remain a swampy jungle with open pit tin mines all over.
And death.
Aidila Razak@aidilarazak
Recently I went on a KL heritage walk. I enjoyed learning abt the history of buildings & city planning. Didnt enjoy some of the tour guide's commentary, like: "If the British didnt come to KL, we'd still be a swamp."
English
Jesse Onslow retweetledi
I think I've finally solved the mystery behind Kuala Lumpur's name. We've been looking at the wrong river junction all this time. Let me explain with a short thread🧵
English
@PilledOaf @aidilarazak So glad that you enjoy the show. There are so many amazing stories from KL's past. It takes quite a bit of archival digging to uncover the non-British accounts of the city's early years, but often those are the most interesting perspectives.
English
Recently I went on a KL heritage walk.
I enjoyed learning abt the history of buildings & city planning.
Didnt enjoy some of the tour guide's commentary, like: "If the British didnt come to KL, we'd still be a swamp."
English
Can anyone help me figure out the location of KL's first brick shophouses? They were built by Yap Ah Loy in 1881. I suspect they were at Medan Pasar and subsequently rebuilt, though I'd love to be proven wrong. Here's a pic:
English