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Home , Banting, Kapar, Klang (city), Klang District, Kuala Selangor, Malay Mail

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Klang and Town: History and Historical Sources

Khoo Kay Kim*

Abstrak: Makalah ini meninjau terutama sekali sejarah Kelang - termasuk kedua-dua kawasan daerah dan bandar - dari awal 1870an hingga ke tahun 1930an. Walau bagaimana pun sejarah bukan menjadi fokus utama. Petunjuk diberikan kepada sumber-sumber sejarah yang berguna untuk menyusun semula sejarah Kelang dari masa ianya berfungsi sebagai pelabuhan utama bagi negeri sehingga Kelang dan persekitarannya menjadi pusat utama bagi pertanian. Akhirnya penyentuhan dibuat kepada satu perkembangan yang penting yang pada masa ini kurang diketahui iaitu, permulaan penempatan perindustrian di Malaya. Industri utama pada waktu itu ditempatkan di Kelang oleh kerana kedudukannya yang berhampiran dengan Pelabuhan Swettenham.

Abstract: This paper deals primarily with the history of - both the district and the town - from the early 1870s to the 1930s. But history is not the main focus. References are made to historical sources which are useful in helping to reconstruct the history of Klang from the time it functioned as the principal port of the State of Selangor to the period when 'greater' Klang and its surrounding territories became a major agricultural centre. Finally, mention is made of an important development hitherto little known, namely, the beginnings of industrialization in Malaya. The major industries were located in Klang because of the proximity to Port Swettenham.

Early History guese sources, provides a little more information about Klang as well as other territories under Klang has a history, although still vaguely known, Melaka hegemony. He says: which dates back to ancient times. RO. Winstedt tells us that: Northwards beyond the Linggi River was a succession of settlements In the Nagarakrtagama Klang is men- which were under the direct rule of tioned along with Sungai Ujong, then and which, in addition to Sang Hyang Ujong, as subject in the paying an annual tribute of tin, en- middle of the XIVth century to Maja- gaged in a coastal trade in foodstuffs pahit. for that city. Most of these were mere villages. Sungei Ujong ..., Klang (Clam) Reputed to have been used by the and ... each had about 200 per- eunuch Cheng Ho who seven times sons, Selangor ...was somewhat larger, 2 visited the overseas "barbarians" be- while Bernam had 400. tween 1405 and 1433 A.D., Chinese charts mention , river, Klang was, apparently, important to Melaka Pinang Island, Pulau Sembilan, South largely because of tin for it was one of those Shoals (at the mouth of the Klang), territories with which Melaka concluded treaties Selangor highlands, , Tu- by the terms of which they had to supply the masik (or ) and many other Melakan with a certain amount of tin 3 places round the Malay Peninsula.' each year.

A more meticulous scholar -- Paul Wheatley -- Throughout the succeeding centuries, after writing much later, and using primarily Portu- the fall of Melaka in 1511, Klang continued to

• Professor of Malaysian History. University of Malaya

Kekal Abadi 8(2) Jun 1989 feature in the history of the Malay Peninsula, as the Klang. When I went there before, an important source for the supply of tin. It was, of had seen many attap houses on the left course, also a dependency of the kingdom of as one enters the river-mouth. Now they , Melaka's successor. By the early years of were derelict and tumbling down, and the 18th century, together with Selangor and only one or two remained intact. On the Linggi, Klang had become an important Bugis right as you enter the river-mouth, settlement. For slightly more than a century Tengku Khia'uddin [Kudinl had recently thereafter, Klang was, to a significant extent, built earth-works in the swamp, with a overshadowed by Sungai Selangor. wooden stockade. As we passed, the fort fired a salute to welcome the Pluto;6 It was at Sungai Selangor that the Bugis, in however we did not put in there but went 1766, founded a new kingdom. on upstream? became a major trading centre along the Straits of Melaka. Despite Dutch attempts to impose a The village or town of Klang, according to Mu- monopoly on the tin trade, English country hammad Ibrahim, "is situated on the right as you traders succeeded in purchasing tin at Kuala go upstream, and about eleven miles from the Selangor even before the founding of .4 river-mouth." Within a period of about two years the town, apparently, had changed somewhat For almost a century, Kuala Selangor re- for C.J. Irving, the British officer whom Muham- mained the capital of the new kingdom of Sela- mad Ibrahim accompanied also remarked that ngor. However, when the third ruler, Mu- "When I came here two years ago there was hammad, passed away in 1857, significant devel- nothing but jungle. All you could see was two or opments had taken place to boost Klang's three attap houses. Now there are all these position to a level never again to be overtaken by houses," and Irving gave the credit to Tengku Kuala Selangor. Kudin. Muhammad Ibrahim himself testified that, in 1872, "The town of Klang had many newly- The was the major tin producing built attap houses, and quite a large number of area in the kingdom of Selangor by the mid-nine- inhabitants, but only two or three older houses teenth century and the Klang estuary became with tiled roofs. "8 the main gateway for the valley. The main town, situated at the estuary, was, until the 1870s After these preliminary remarks, Muhammad known as Pengkalan Batu. It is from this period tbrahirn then proceeded to give a more detailed onwards that Klang's history becomes more description of the town: 'visible'. I saw many newly-built attap houses in rows along both sides of the streets. Klang in the 18705 There were many Chinese and Malay shops, and there were large numbers of One of the earliest descriptions of Klang that people about. A number of roads had we have was given by Muhammed Ibrahim, son just been constructed, while others were of that famous Malay literator, Munsyi Abdullah. planned but had not yet taken shape, He visited Klang in 1871 and again the following and the roads intersected and branched year. Unfortunately, his record of his earlier visit off in various places. There was one cannot be located. His second visit to Klang long, straight road, stretching from the together with his visits to other parts of the fort to the village, called Street. western Malay states were also recorded. At the end of the street there was a These were printed in 1919 and the book was station and a bridge. At that time there given the title - Kisah Pelayaran Muhammad was still no mosque, only an attap Ibrahim Munsyi.5 On his second visit to Klang, prayer-house which had not yet been Muhammad Ibrahim recorded: repaired. Similarly, the gaol, police sta- tion and hospital etc., were all built of At five o'clock the next morning, Satur- attap, except for a large limas9 house, day 20th April [18721 we raised anchor which had a tiled roof; the lower part of and sailed through the straits until, at the walls was stone and above this the half past six, we entered the mouth of walls were of wood.!?

2 Klang then was obviously being developed ning of a new phase in the history of the settle- by Tengku Kudin. In earlier years, it could not ment. It would not be too far wrong to say that have been more than a sparsely populated set- modern Klang began in early 1872. Atthat point tlement with simple attap houses. It was certainly in time, apart from those living off Tengku Kudin, not a town in a modern sense. Tengku Kudin there were also those who earned their living by proceeded to introduce modern ideas. Apart poling boats, making palm-frond thatch and so from erecting new buildings he planned and forth. Muhammad Ibrahim testified that: named the streets as well. According to Muham- mad Ibrahim: Previously, there had been people with some money who lived by trading in tin The regulations decreed by Tengku and sailing, but they had all fled Khia'uddin, and the street names, were elsewhere due to the unrest in the all modelled on English usage, but the settlement, which was in a state of result was only a superficial approxima- constant upheaval and war; and the tion of the original. Thus, the street previous rulers had been particularly names employed were as follows: King oppressive. During walk, I saw only Street, Beach Street, Market Street, nine or ten bullock-carts and two or Wharf Street, China Street, Chulia Street, three horses. A large number of cattle Hospital Street and Mosque Street.11 were being reared by Tengku Khia'ud- din, but as yet there were no horse- All these names were reminiscent of street carriages. names in Penang. It is plain where Tengku Kudin's ideas originated from. Muhammad There were no fruit trees, crops or Ibrahim was more than a little upset by what orchards in the hinterland, only forest Tengku Kudin had done and did not hesitate and primary jungle; and there was noth- to put on record that he thought "It would be an ing very much across the river apart excellent idea to employ Malay names."12 from a few banana trees, some sugar- cane and vegetables, which had only Klang was in the early 1870s a flourishing recently been planted. There were no settlement even though when Muhammad Ibrahim paddy-fields there nor anything which was there, the civil war which had commenced in could serve as a basic foodstuff, and 1867 had not ended. "Many houses", in his words, everything was purchased and brought "had been built along the streets to be let out at in from Malacca and elsewhere.l+ a high rental." And even before the houses had been completed, "people were renting them, at a cost of from three to five or six dollars a month." Still, as Muhammad Ibrahim had observed He estimated that there were about four hundred earlier, Klang was developing. Indeed, just about houses in the village of Klang at that time. The two years later, it became the new capital of the total population of the village or town, including state of Selangor when British administration young and old of both sexes, and taking into commenced. But, in Selangor as well as in Perak account all races and the sepoys who were sta- and Sungai Ujong, the early years of British tionedthere, numbered approximately 3,000 per- intervention brought little constructive change. sons. Typical of the modern Peninsular town, the Even though Selangor experienced none of the population was made up of numerous races: disturbances which occurred in Perak and Sungai , Chinese, Arabs, Eurasians, Southern Ujong, there was widespread to Tengku Indians, Bengalis as well as local-born persons of Kudin, the outsider, and whose good friend, origin. There were not a few James Guthrie Davidson, had been appointed Europeans too - drifters who could not get jobs in the first Resident of Selangor. Davidson was Singapore and were employed by Tengku Kudin transferred to Perak in 1876, not long after Birch as officers of his sepoys. Already, Klang had a had been assassinated there. Bloomfield Dooglas larger proportion of immigrants than those who became the second Resident of Selangor. were born in that settlement itself.13 The civil war had adversely affected Klang so In early 1879, a second visitor came to Klang: that the presence of Tengku Kudin who had someone who had travelled widely even before obviously made it his base marked the begin- coming to the Malay Peninsula and who had

3 many more years of travelling to come. Her des- Returning to her evaluation of Klang, she said: cription of the town conveys the impression that since Muhammad Ibrahim's visit in 1872, Klang looks as if an incubus oppressed despite being officially established as the state it .... At all events Klang, from whatever capital, Klang experienced little significant trans- cause, has a blighted look, and formation. Isabella l. Bird, alert and observant, deserted houses rapidly falling into missed little as she surveyed the scene around decay, overgrown roads, fields choked her when the boat approached Klang. She noted: with weeds, and an absence of life and traffic in the melancholy streets, have At daybreak the next morning we were a depressing influence. The people steaming up the Klang river, whose low are harassed by a vexatious and shores are entirely swamps, uncertain system of fees and taxes, and when was high and hot we calculated to engender ill feeling and anchored in front of the village of Klang, things connected with the administra- where a large fort 15 on an eminence, tion seen somewhat "mixed". 18 with grass embankments in which guns are mounted, is the first prominent Her final remarks on Klang presaged the misfor- object. Above this is a large wooden tune which was to befall Klang hardly one year bungalow with an attap roof, which isthe after she left. She wrote: British Residency. There was no air, and the British ensign in front of the Klang does not improve on further house hung limp on the flagstaff. Below acquaintance. It looks as if half the there is a village, with clusters of houses were empty, and certainly half Chinese houses on the ground, and the population is composed of Govern- Malay houses on stilts, standing ment employees, chiefly police cons- singly, with one or two Government tables. There is no airof business energy, offices, bulking largely among them. and the queerly mixed population saun- A substantial flight of stone steps leads ters with limp movements; even the few from the river to a skeleton jetty with an Chinese look depressed, as if life were attap roof, and near it a number of attap- too much for them. It looks too as if roofed boats were lying, loaded with there were a need for holding down the slabs of tin from the diggings in the population (which I am sure there isn't), interior, to be transhipped to Penang.16 for in addition to the fort and its bar- racks, military police stations are dotted She next proceeded to give her impression of about. A jail, with a very high wall, is in Klang: the middle of the village.

The village of Klang is not interesting. It The jungle comes so near to Klang that looks like a place which has "seen tigers and herds of elephants, some- better days," and does not impress one times forty strong, have been within half favourably as regards the prosperity of a mile of it.19 the State. Above it the river passes through rich alluvial deposits, well adapted for sugar, rice, and other Isabella Bird would not have been surprised, of products of low-lying tropical lands; but course, if in 1880 she was told that Kuala though land can be purchased on a Lumpur had replaced Klang as the state capital. system of deferred payments for two Although she had not visited , she dollars an acre, these lands are still was aware that it was a bustling trpding centre. covered with primeval jungle. Steam- But, in 1880, Kuala Lumpur too was no more than launches and fiattish bottomed native a village of numerous attap huts. Its growth, boats go up the river eighteen miles however, was phenomenal especially since it farther to a village called Damarsara[sic] also became the capital of the Federated Malay from which a good country road has States in 1896. Itwent on to become the Malayan been made to the great Chinese village capital after World War II and it is now the capital and tin-mines of Kuala Lumpur."? of .

4 The Centre of Commerce As everybody knows Klang is the princi- pal port of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Klang had been eclipsed since 1880; yet, the the chief town. Instead, however, of transfer of the state capital to Kuala Lumpur did running the railway from Kuala Lumpur not lead to its demise. Klang had long replaced to Klang, the wise men of Selangor have Kuala Selangor as the chief port of the state of run it only to Bukit Kuda about three Selangor. Beginning from the early 1880s, it was miles further up the river, with the natural in constant touch with the ports of Penang and result that the river is still preferred to the Singapore. Steamships called reguarly at Klang rai~ay for the transit of goods. Mr. Rodger as shown below: has made up his mind to stop this, and

Steamers Arrival (from) Departure (for)

S.S. Bentan Singapore and Penang Penang and Singapore once in two weeks once in two weeks S.S. Billton - do- - do- S.S. Spaniel - do- - do- S.S. Mayflower Singapore every week Singapore every week S.S. Rainbow - do- - do- S.S. Louisa - do- - do-

Goods brought into Selangor via Klang in- very effective means he has taken. He cluded oil, rice, tobacco, salt, opium, etc. and has raised the tax on each boat taking Selangor's export was confined solely to tin. Until cargo up the river from $2 to $5! The railway services commenced operation in 1886 boatmen now find that they cannot between Kuala Lumpur and Bukit Kuda, commu- make a living and are leaving Klang for nication between Klang and the mining depot, Teluk Anson.23 Kuala Lumpur, in the interior, was dependent on the Klang river, as Isabella Bird explained. A further comment was even harsher. The paper said: The Kuala Lumpur-Bukit Kuda line was the ... I cannot help again calling attention second to be established in the country; the first to Mr. Rodger's action in Selangor in was the Taiping-Port Weld line which was opened raising the boat duty from $2 to $5, with a year earlier. J.P. Rodger, the Acting Resident the intention, which he avowed at the of Selangor (1884-1888), played a major role in time, of driving the trade from the river to 21 linking Kuala Lumpur to Bukit Kuda by rail. Bukit his pet railway. From what I hear, he Kuda is situated at a point on the Klang river has succeeded beyond his most ardent about 12 1/2 miles from its mouth. The original hopes. He has not only ruined the boat- scheme was to connect Kuala Lumpur with the men, but has made the railway, which coast. The port at Bukit Kuda was established many people said would be a failure, a purely as a temporary measure. It was soon most paying concern. For this he will no found to be unsuitable. But, since Rodger had doubt get kudos. To my mind any amount declared that the Selangor railway was an abso- of loss would be preferable to such wicked lute necessity and that it would soon pay well, he tyranny.24 was determined that he should not be proved wrong.22 Not only was Bukit Kuda poorly situated, the jetty there was apparently said to be "a wretched The Pinang Gazette, usually critical of affair, and the steamers that go there can only British policies in the Malay states, explained discharge at high tide". It was unavoidable that how Rodger proceeded to help the Selangor rail- a decision had to be made to abandon Bukit way succeed: Kuda. The town of Klang, three miles lower down

5 the river, was considered a more suitable place. Thus was born Port Swettenham which re- So the Klang river was bridged at a cost of placed Klang as the principal port of Selangor. $94,600 and the railway line opened to Klang in The beginning of Port Swettenham was more August 1890.26 eventful than is generally known. According to one account in the papers: For the next ten years, Klang was again the chief port of Selangor. Before World War II,there An event of great importance to the was a document in the files of the District Office State and the shipping trade was the which defined the port limits of Klang as being opening of Port Swettenham, which from a point opposite the railway station to a took place on the 15th of September sawmill which existed on the Bukit Kuda Road. [1901]. During the months of October Steamers called there and even in the 1930s, the and November malaria was rife all over steps of the old landing jetty could be seen near the coast , and Port Swetten- the railway gate in the old Riverside Road.27 ham and Klang both suffered severely. Owing to sickness among the coolies Klang, as a port, succeeded beyond expec- and the staff generally, there was for tation. Soon "the abnormal increase of both several weeks considerable difficulty imports and exports ... so multiplied the railway and delay in discharging cargo, and in traffic that, in 1895, it was decided to extend the a good many instances steamers had to line right away to the mouth of the river, at a point leave the wharves with a part of their where there is a capital land-locked harbour carqo undischarqed.P? capable of affording anchorage for far larger ships than those which now manage to get up the Klang river". 28 With regard to this new plan, it was But this setback was only temporary and by the stated in the Annual District Report for 1895 that: end of the year, there was a general decrease in malaria, and steamers were again able to run to The object of this extension ... is to their proper times. Nonetheless, the sanitary connect Klang, the present port termi- condition of the port and its surroundings gave nus of the State, with the mouth of the reason for concern. The Resident-General Klang River, where it is proposed to (W.H.Treacher) appointed a Commission, con- construct better wharfage accommo- sisting of the Director of the Institute for Medical dation than at present exists at Klang. Research (as Chairman), the State Surgeon, the The line is 5 1/2 miles long, and is esti- District Surgeon (Klang). the General Manager mated to cost $157,000. It starts at for Railways, the State Engineer and the Resi- Klang Station by an extension of the dent Engineer for Railways, to enquire into the present main line across Rembau and causes of the unhealthiness of the place, and Market Streets and Klang creek, then it to make recommendations for improving the curves to the west round Fort Hill for sanitary conditions.j" about a mile, from which point it goes direct in a straight line to the west of the The Port Swettenham problem helped to Kuala Klang Police Station. The land make one man famous - Sir Malcom Watson. He traversed by the line is partly swamp was then the District Surgeon in Klang. Experi- and partly agricultural. At Kuala Klang mental work in Klang and Port Swettenham it is wholly swamp and not in the least helped him to ascertain that by clearing the suitable for building purposes. The whole jungle and secondary growth and undertaking of the earthwork, bridges (with one drainage construction at the same time, the inci- exception), plate-laying, etc., was done dence of malaria could be drastically reduced. In by the Railway Department. The labour 1903, he published an account of the mode of employed was Chinese, Javanese and formation of the sexual form of the malaria Tamil. The line is now practically com- parasite. The next year he described a case of pleted with the exception of one bridge, blackwater fever followed by an account of cer- and will, in 1896, be used for transport- tain complications of quartan malaria which pre- ing the greater part of the material used viously had not been recognized to be of malaria for the construction of the wharves.29 origin. To devote more time to the study of

6 THE RAILWAY EXTENSION FROM KLANG TO KUALA KLANG JARAM 1898

P KLANG

MAP I 7 PORT SWEETENHAM 1913

P KLANG

TANJONG S.AGAR

---_ TANJONG LUMUT

P LUfv1UT

T11\P .II

8 malaria he resigned from Government service Two reasons led to the concentration of and, in 1908, became medical adviser to the agricultural activities among Europeans in the rubber estates which were being opened all over . The Selangor Government di- Selangor. Around 1909, there was again an out- rected the planters to the coastal area leaving the break of malaria, this time in estates situated in inland districts practically free for miners. Acces- hilly regions hitherto thought to be the healthiest. sibility also contributed to the preference for the Watson decided to attack the problem at the root coastal districts.36 It should be remembered that - the elimination of mosquitoes. The crucial ex- in the late 19th century the system of transport periment was carried out on Seafield Estate near was still largely based on the rivers. Klang. The work of draining the streams began in 1911 and, when it was completed in 1918, malaria had been successfully brought under The coffee boom was of very short duration. control.32 By the late 1890s, the decline of coffee prices on the world market, resulting from increased pro- duction in Brazil, adversely affected Malayan coffee. Although many coffee planters remained The Centre of Agriculture optimistic that the situation would improve, the last three years of the 19th century "witnessed a noticeable growth of the desire to plant Rubber" in Perak and Selangor.37 It was indeed not by accident that Watson chose to carry out most of his work in the Klang area In Jackson's words: after his retirement from Government service. Malaria was a problem in the estates rather than Rubber was interplanted with coffee on the tin mines. Since the 1880s, Klang, in particu- many estates in Selangor during the lar, and the surrounding districts became the last years of the century, particularly in centre of agriculture in the state of Selangor. Klang. In most cases, however, these James C. Jackson, discussing with meticulous coffee planters merely planted rubber care the development of commercial agriculture whilst they waited 'for better times for in Malaya, showed that European estates first coffee' for in general they remained established in the Klang District were confined unconvinced that the prospects of to pepper cultivation. Coffee which became this new and untried crop were brighter increasingly important in Selangor since the than those of coffee; indeed, rubber 1880s was first grown largely in the vicinity of planting was still 'considered by sober- Kuala Lumpur.33 minded people as a hopeless gamble'.38

Gradually, however, in the course of the 1880s, But, coffee never recovered and rubber pro- coffee was planted on most of the former pepper ceeded to become the most important aspect of estates in Klang. In 1892, a planter expressed the country's economy. Klang together with Port his view that the soil of the Klang District was Swettenham served an increasingly expand- more suitable for coffee than any other district in ing agricultural area in Selangor which, apart Selangor. Coffee planting on new estates initially from the Klang District itself, included the sur- began in the Klang District in 1893. Within the rounding territories of Kuala Selangor and Kuala next two years, large areas were acquired by Langat. Indeed, Klang was important to Kuala European planters in Klang which rapidly Lumpur as well, for the District of Kuala Lumpur became the most important coffee planting also continued to develop as a rubber-growing district in Selangor.34 centre. It was pure coincidence that Port Swetten- ham was opened at a time when more serious The number of European-owned estates in attention was being given to rubber planting. Selangor increased from 35 in 1894 to 72 in 1896 But, the existence of Port Swettenham was to and half of them were located in the Klang Dis- give Klang an advantage over other towns when trict. As Jackson put it: "The Malayan coffee the manufacture of rubber goods began after boom had found its greatest expression in the World War I. Klang District of Selangor."35

9 Development of Klang Town Many years later, two general accounts of Klang at the beginning of the 20th century were Little attention hitherto has been given to the published by the . The first, somewhat history of Klang town. Visitors to Selangor were brief, referred largely to a few buildings in Klang in easily drawn towards Kuala Lumpur, the federal about 1903: capital, with its magnificent Sultan Abdul Samad building and the splendid railway station, second About thirty years ago the District Office to none in the world, from an aesthetic point of was housed in the present police station view. Compared to Kuala Lumpur, Klang was and the building now being used, was a drab, perhaps even dirty. But a visitor there in Chinese temple which was removed to, 1886 who was more kind than Isabella Bird, and still remains in, Simpang Lima.41 wrote: The Chartered Bank started its Klang branch inthe D.O.'s office, the Treasury Klang is rather a pretty place; it has a being removed to the top floor and the neat, clean, an orderly appearance strong room being made use of by the about it which is very pleasant. There is bank whose first manager was Mr. a large substantial building near the C.L.Chapman, now of Whittall and Co., water's edge called "the Godowns" Kuala Lumpur. which is used for the same purposes as the Public Office at Kuala Lumpur; The P.W.D. in those days was by the there is a prison, a hospital, and police side of the present Federal Dispensary. stations, all of which are well kept up, Later, when the new Astana was built there are a number of brick shop-houses the Chartered Bank removed to the all of which are occupied, but there are late residence of His Highness which is also a great many houses built of wood opposite the present imposing bank and roofed with attap. The grassy slop- premises and is now occupied by one ing banks of the old fort are mounted of His Highness's sons. with a dreadful array of venerable guns of different shapes and sizes, a curious Many of the old buildings are still to be type of 4. pounder being the most seen in Klang to the north of Belfield frequent specimen; some of the guns bridge before the erection of which have quietly slipped down from their people had to get across the river in carriages in search of a softer couch, sampans.V and lie stretched at full length on the beautiful turf. A sense of sweet security reigns supreme within the precincts of The other account of Klang in about 1910 was a this fortification. The Magistrate and talk given to the Klang Rotary Club by a Rotarian, Collector of Klang, Mr. Tiernay [Turney], W.F.O. Stephens, who came to Klang in 1909. lives in a roomy bungalow perched on a At that time, according to him: high hill commanding the town, of which the salient features have been thus There were no buildings in front of the simply describeo.P? [railway] station and the Government offices were housed in attap sheds in the vacant land opposite the present Government offices. The present court Klang was already a thriving commercial centre house was then the Resthouse. The at this juncture. Just outside the town, sago was Labour Office was housed where the grown on one plantation, pepper on another and police station is at present and the po- gambier a third. There was also a steam sawmill lice station occupied the present site of a little way out of the town. The revenue for the Messrs. Hock Ban Seong and Co. district during the first half of 1885 was $62,803. For the first six months of 1886, the figure stood The evenings were generally spent 40 at $78,736, an increase of $15,935. either at the station watching the trains

10 come and go or at the Klang United Gambling was very popular and during Association which is now the Selangor the racing on the Klangpadang the whole Coast Club. Drinks were very cheap. town was present. Stakes for billiard games were pints of champagne, which was selling at $1.50 There were no buildings beyond Guan a pint. Hup Street and at night no one dared to go beyond that road for fear of tigers. People went to Port Swettenham either by rikisha or by hackney carriages at a Chineseladieswere never seen out alone cost of fifty cents. Baju tutup either in and even when males well known to the kahki or in white was the main dress. husbands went to the houses answers The Chinese wore their cues, which to queries were given by the oldest lady were well plaited, and put them in the in the house from inside. If a Malay lady pockets of their bajus. If they were not went out alone she was not looked upon mourning they had a red tape tied atthe as respectable. end of the cue. Slippers and Singapore hat completed the dress of the Ma- There were half a dozen cars in Klang. lacca Chinese, who were then employed A trip to Kuala Lumpur cost $18 and in the many European mercantile firms one reached his destination after ten in Klang. Swee Heng Leong and Co. hours by a de Dion car.43 was the first big Chinese firm, when rubber was selling at $600 per pikul. One of the frequent complaints of Klang resi- dents in the early part of the 20th century war, There was a large Malay population in the absence of a bridge over the Klang river. Klang in those days. The whole of Port Agitation, however, did not go unheeded; the Swettenham road was owned by Belfield Bridge was officially opened by the High Malaysand they cultivated coffee. Many Commissioner of theF.M.S., Sir John Anderson, of them disposed of their land at the first on Saturday September 12, 1908. H. Conway offer and with the money bought a Belfield, the British Resident, in thanking the bicycle and a black coat or spent it on High Commissioner, said: marriage festivities. This structure is according to local stan- On Hari Ray~ the Malays could be seen dards a work of the first magnitude. It is with their black coats and black spec- by far the largest road bridge in the tacles bought from Arab and Jewish Malay Peninsula, and its dimensions pedlars, riding in rikishas, holding Eng- are such that I propose to ask your lish papers upside down. patience for a few moments while I give you some account of the history of its There were no churches or services to origin and the details of its construction. attend. Wayang Hassan and Wayang InchePutehwere the two popular amuse- The first talk about a bridge over the ments. The collection for a night often river at Klang started about ten years amounted to $500. Bullock cart was the ago at a time when Mr. Douglas only means of travel between Klang and Campbell was District Officer at Klang. . A Government coach ran from At that time progress and development Klang to Kuala Selangor. on the northern side of the river was comparatively small, and for some years The richest Chinese was Towkay Lim the proposalwas negatived. Three years Swee King,who owned most of the shop- ago, when the rubber industry had houses in Rembau street. Dato Bintara attained larger proportions, Your Excel- Kiri had a palatial house put up at the lency paid a personal visit to the spot cost of $50,000 by the side of the pres- and decided that a pontoon ferry was ent Chartered Bank, which was then oc- sufficient. This having been provided, cupying the present Istana Bank. the planters set to work to obtain reliable

11 statistics of the traffic across the river, (owned by Ng Teong Kiat) bought the and the dimensions of the traffic indi- machinery of the rubber factory owned by Tan cated by these statistics convinced Kah Kee & Co. after the Singapore firm went Your Excellency and the Resident- bankrupt. Most of the skilled operators came General that a permanent bridge was overto Klang from Singapore with the machinery. necessary." The factory produced large quantities of rubber shoes, bicycle tyres, rubber mats, toys, tubing rings, etc. The oil factory produced oil from ground- The bridge cost $26,000 to build. The purpose of nuts. The oil found a ready sale locally.49 By May the bridge was indeed to facilitate development 1937, Bata Shoe Company also commenced of the northern part of the river, including the operations in Klang. territory of Kuala Selangor where, by then, about 10,000 acres had come under cultivation. In 1907, On the eve of World War II, a fourth rubber the District alone exported half a million factory was established at Klang. The following Ibs. of rubber.45 Although the bridge was in- was an announcement in the local newspaper: tended, initially, to serve the needs of rubber planting, its existence made it possible in later This new factory will be a branch of the years for industries to be located on the northern Fung Keong Rubber Manufactory, the side of the river. largest manufacturers of rubber goods in Hongkong, where Mr. Fung Keong started business almost a quarter of a Manufacturing Centre of Malaya century ago.

When the former Chief Secretary, F.M.S., Few are aware that, after World War I, Klang Sir William Peel, went to the Crown gradually emerged as the principal manufactur- Colony as Governor he visited the fac- ing centre in the country. Possibly the first person tory there and was much impressed by to establish a factory in Klang was Tan Kah Kee, all he saw. In course of conversation he the Singapore millionaire who, at one time, was mentioned that there were similar fac- known as the 'Henry Ford of Malaya'. In about tories in Malaya and although at the 1922, he opened a pineapple canning factory at time Mr. Fung Keong had no intention Klang which gave the necessary impetus for of extending his activities in Malaya, the the planting of pineapples in the Klang and Kuala Sino-Japanese conflict forced him to Langat districts. About four to five thousand dose down his brandl at Canton, Honam, acres of pineapples were planted for the most part in small holdings. Soon the Klang factory which had been in existence for twenty was unable to cope with the large deliveries. As years. a result, the factory reduced the price paid to the producers much to the disadvantage of the It was then that he considered Malaya as latter.46It was only after Tan Kah Kee went bank- a new field. Coming here a year ago he rupt ill 1934 that one of the pineapple producers studied conditions and, satisfied that - Goh Hock Huat - decided to participate directly there was a big future in this country for in the canning industry. He soon established a manufactured rubber goods, selected number of factories under the name of Malayan Klang as a centre. Pineapple company.F He secured land in Kapar Road and on In 1928, the first rubber factory was started at an area of 57,250 sq. ft., the factory and Klang. This was Shum Yip Leong Rubber Works other buildings are now nearing com- whose manufacturing activities first began at pletion. The buildings were all designed Tapah in 1921. When business expanded, a by Mr. Yuen Shieu Kee. larger factory had to be built and Klang was chosen owing to its proximity to Port Swetten- In addition to the manufacture of boots ham.48 By 1935, two new factories were estab- and shoes and general rubber goods, lished at Klang - one a rubber factory and the the Fung Keong Rubber Manufactory other an oil factory. The Malayan Rubber Works (Malaya), Limited, intend to produce

12 tyres and tubes, machinery for which and the like, and the professors would purpose is on its way to Malaya.The have to bring the students around the head office in Malaya will be at High town so as to teach them something. Street, Kuala Lumpur, opposite the for- What I do mean is a well-equipped, self- mer building occupied by the Kwong contained University not much inferior in Yik Bank. It was completed recently and scope than at least a university in China. the ground floor now houses the Bank of China till the bank's own premises are Whether the University would bear ready.50 plenty of [sic] fruits depends largely on the organisation of the University itself and the ultimate aims for which it is es- tablished. Malaya, as we know it, needs Epilogue qualified physicians, technicians, scien- tists and agriculturists to undertake Klang's position as the premier industrial site in the huge task of reconstruction, and in the country remained unchanged until the eve of this respect, there is no other place in independence when plans were made to turn Malaya better than Klang, the industrial into a new industrial site. In the centre, as the site of the future Univer- early postwar years, when there was widespread sity of Malaya. It is not a place for discussion of the possible site of the proposed amusement, but an ideal place for stud- University of Malaya, there was at least one ies. person cyv.S. Kao, a Research and Development Chemist at Klang) who made out a good case for Here in Klang the students will have a establishing the university at Klang. His argu- nice and quiet place to live in, plenty to ments were: learn and to do. Being only twenty over miles away from Kuala Lumpur, the pro- The writer is of the opinion that the Uni- gressive students can easily make ar- versity site should be so chosen that rangements with the departmental the future students would be able to installations, research institutions, etc., devote more of their time and mind to for practical training, and if occasional learn something really worth while to visits are considered necessary, the them. If the site is chosen merely from distance should not be an obstacle. the standpoint of beautiful scenery, cold weather, or even modern comfort, If Klang should become the future site of I doubt very much whether the students the University, it would also be develop- could actually be benefitted [sic] by the ed into a more potential industrial centre university education in view. of Malaya because the local industries could be constantly guided and as- It might be true that if the University is sisted by the professors and research situated in a big town like Singapore or fellows of the University, who, being away Kuala Lumpur, where facilities for re- from the capital, may devote most of search, survey and practice do exist, the their time and mind to research and development. 51 students will be able to avail themselves of all such facilities for their acquirement of experience and knowledge. But, in Of course, Klang was not even considered. In my opinion, the prospect of their mak- the minds of , then and now, Klang ing use of such facilities is rather little, was a town frequently enough heard of but especially if the students still have plenty elicited little excitement. Penang was the 'Pearl to learn in the University itself while of the Orient' - long since considered the ideal taking up their undergraduate courses. choice of tourists all over the world; was " the town that tin built" - rich, clean and well- planned; Kuala Lumpur, the federal capital, was I do not mean that the University, as snobbish (the highest government officials con- such, would consist of buildings alone gregated here) and it was also known as a without libraries, laboratories, workshops,

13 'Garden City'; and Melaka was 'the mother of a subject hitherto neglected in Malaysian histori- Malaya' - here time was said to stand still; history ography - the history of Malaysian towns. More oozed from every brick used to build the ancient than that, it is also intended to emphasize the Portuguese and Dutch monuments as well as importance of newspapers as one of the more other buildings. But, so few even today know that, indispensable sources of Malaysian history. until it was gradually replaced by Petaling Jaya Valuable as official and archival materials are, and, in recent years, by , Klang was their scope is inclined to be somewhat indeed the premier industrial site in the country. limited because they provide, more specifically, It was Klang that first experienced the whole only the administrative perspective. It is from spectrum of development. Beginning from mari- newspapers that one is better able to obtain time trade, it passed through a phase when a deeper insight into a particular society, espe- agriculture was the mainstay of the economy cially the peoples' thoughts and views; often, and, since the 1920s, industrialization became also their feelings. Perception is so important in increasingly important there. history writing. Therefore, the more varied his sources, the more likely it is that the historian This is not an attempt to write a comprehensive will be able to obtain a truly rounded view of history of Klang, merely an attempt to introduce his subject.

Notes

1. A.O. Winstedt, 'A History of Selangor' in Jour- 1975). This was followed by a romanized nal of the Royal Asiatic Society Malcryan Branch version by Mohd. Fadzil Othman: Kisah (JMBRAS), VoI.XII, pt.3, 1934, p.1 Pelayaran Muhammad Ibrahim Munsyi, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 1980.

2. Paul Wheatley, Golden Khersonese, Studies in 6. The Pluto was a steamer which belonged to the Historical Geography of the Malay Penin- the Straits Settlements Government. sula before A.D. 1500. Kuala Lumpur: Univer- sity of Malaya Press, 1966, p.317. 7. See Amin Sweeney & Nigel Phillips (eds.), op. cit., p.62. Muhammad Ibrahim was in Klang at a time when the Klang War was about to 3. MAP. Meilink-Roelofsz, Asian Trade and Euro- end. It had begun in 1867. Raja Mahdi (a pean Influences in the Indonesian Archipel- Selangor prince) and Raja Abdullah (a Bugis ago be~een 1500 and about 1630, The prince from ) fought for control of the Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1962, p.29. Klang valley. The civil war spread; eventually, it was clearly a contest between the local aristrocrats and outsiders. Chinese mer- 4. See DK Bassett, 'British Commercial and chants and the Straits Government became Strategic Interest in the Malay Peninsula involved. An important protagonist in the During the Late Eighteenth Century' in John early 18705 was Tengku Kudin, a Kedah prince, Bastin & A. Roolvink (eds.), Malayan and In- who, in 1868, became the son-in-law of donesian Studies. Essays presented to Sir Sultan Abdul Samad (1857-1898). The Richard Winstedt on his eighty-fifth birthday, Kudin faction comprised numerous merce- Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964. naries recruited from Singapore. In 1872, Tengku Kudin was in control of Klang village and he used it as his headquarters. 5. The book was reprinted in 1956. It was subsequently translated by Amin Sweeney 8. Ibid. and Nigel Phillips and published under the title The Voyages of Mohamed Ibrahim Mun- 9. A house where the four sides of the roof run up shi (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, to a point.

14 10. Amin Sweeney & Nigel Phillips (eds.), op. cit., 28. The Straits Times, 23 Sept., 1896, p.3. p.71 29. 'Kuala Klang Railway Extension', in The Straits 11. Ibid., p.72-73. Times, 7 July 1896.

30. 'Selangor in 1901', in The Malay Mail, 15 July 12. Ibid., p.73. 1902.

13. Ibid. 31. Ibid.

14. Ibid., p.74. 32. 'Sir Malcolm Watson' in The Malay Mail, 11 April 1928. See also Chai Hon-Chan, The Development of 1896-1909, 15.This was Raja Mahdi's fort which Tengku Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1967, Kudin managed to capture at the time when p.222-223. Muhammad Ibrahim visited Klang. See his description of the fort in ibid., p.63-64. 33. See James Charles Jackson, Planters and 16. See Isabella Lucy (Bird) Bishop, The Golden Speculators: Chinese and European Agricul- Chersonese and the Way Thither, London, tural Enterprise in Malaya 1786-1921, Kuala 1883, p.217. . Lumpur: University of Malaya Press, 1968, p.181.

17. Ibid., p.219. 34. Ibid., p.192.

18. Ibid., p.21 0-220. 35. Ibid.

19. Ibid., p.221-222. 36. Ibid., p.1 93.

20. Colonial Office Records 273/119, Gov. to 37. Ibid., p.220. Sec. of State, 12 Mar. 1883, with enclosures.

38. Ibid., p.221. 21. Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle 19 April 1887, p.5. 39. 'Selangor: A Sketch of Kuala Lumpur and Kiang', in The Straits Times, 15 Oct., 1887. 22. Ibid.; see also The Straits Times, 23 Sept., 1896, p.3. 40. Ibid.

23. Pinang Gazette, 19 April 1887, p.5. 41. A brief description of Simpang Lima appeared in the Penang paper - The 24. Ibid., 26 July, 1887, p.5. Straits Echo & Times of Malaya - of 19 Aug 1950 (vide: " of Historic Kiang"). The author, styling himself 'Simpang Lima', wrote: 25. Ibid., 19 April 1887, p.5.

An interesting and peaceful suburb of 26. The Straits Times, 23 Sept., 1896, p.3. historic Klang is Simpang Lima (centre of five junctions), originally so named 27. 'When Klang Was A Port', in The Malay Mail, after the five roads that converge at the 26 Sept., 1933. spot.

15 Today in reality, Simpang Lima should 43. 'Memories of Klang Thirty Years Ago', Ibid, 20 be renamed Simpang Annam for, the Dec., 1940. birth place of the writer, has seen the 44. 'The Belfield Bridge', in The Malay Mail, 14 addition of another road since the early Sept. 1908. days.

Simpang Lima is interesting in that it 45. Ibid. contains a hospital, a graveyard, temples, churches, schools, a kramat and a 46. The Malay Mail, 2 July 1924, p.16. Sultan's palace, all within a stone's throw of each other. 47. 'Mr Goh Hock Huat', in The Straits Echo, 6 Dec.,1936. The kramat at the foot of the hospital hill has been venerated for as many 48. 'Progress and Development of a Malayan years as the writer can remember. It Rubber Firm', in Singapore Free Press, 1 contains the tomb of a Menangkabau Oct., 1949. man who was supposed to have come from Sungei Ujong and of whose swords- 49. 'New Factories at Kiang', in The Malay Mail rnanship and courage the Malays of the (Supplement), 1 Aug., 1936. neighbourhood speak to this day. The kramat is sacred not only to Malays but 50. 'Industrialisation of Klang', in The Malay Mail, to Chinese and Indians as well. 17 Aug. 1940.

42. 'When Klang Was A Port', The Malay Mail, 26 51. 'Klang As The University Site', in The Malay Sept., 1933. Mail, 19 April 1947.

16