A Different Shade of Kuala Lumpur
Traditional Dancers at Saloma Bristo
Do you know what Kuala
Lumpur stands for? How did Kuala Lumpur become one of Asia’s richest capital
cities? Well frankly nor did I, at least not before my first ever visit to
this magnificent cosmopolitan city.
Kuala Lumpur means ‘muddy
confluence’ in Malay. The two rivers Klang and Gombak which flow through today’s
Kuala Lumpur had led to a tin mining settlement back in 1857. Before that, KL
was a village that hardly held any significance. It was supposedly discovered and developed by
a group of 87 Chinese miners and the leader of the Chinese community, Yap ah
Loy came to be known as the founder of KL. The village then went through some
very patchy fate including power handovers, racial out bursts and wrath of
nature; but overcoming from all that, KL became the capital of the independent
Federation of Malaya in 1957 and of Malaysia in 1963.
And guess what, all
this information wasn’t from a history book or from a tourist guide at some
landmark; it was an awesome musical show! Kuala Lumpur has high risers like KL
Tower and PETRONAS Twin Towers and has a cultural blend that makes it the most
pleasant and liberal Islamic Capital of the world, but at the same time people
there haven’t forgotten the ‘MUD’ they came from (Mud - Tin). MUD was the name
of the musical which ran for roughly 50 minutes but took us through the KL- the
tiny miner’s hamlet to KL- the Capital of the Malay Kingdom.
It was one of the best
musicals I have ever seen and the best in ages for sure; which reminds me of
the main reason behind my article today. Malaysians love culture just like Indians
love their regional diversity, Japanese their traditions, Europeans their
history and Americans their companies. I was pleasantly surprised by the
different culture themed shows at a lot of places – MUD being one of them.
Thanks to Tourism Malaysia the gang of Bloggers from India (Manjulika, Ragini
and I) could witness quite a few of the shows hosted in the city.
You could also dance with the performers at Saloma Bristo
Cultural Blend Show at
Saloma Bristo – Everyday in the evening there is a one hour long show on the
Malaysian native people, musics and dance. The start is pretty funky and you
would think what is it all about but as the evening grows the beauty of the
show does too and by the end you are a part of it whether you want it or not.
Performers at Songket
Malay Performers at
Songket – Want to travel to some old Malay Village? Have your dinner here. The
restaurant looks like some huge Malay House and in the courtyard is where the
performances happen. Malay dance music is a perfect way to enjoy Malay food
right? Be sure not to go there during public holidays though else you would
only be having food and nothing else. (That happened with us and I actually
asked a friend to send me a video of the place to understand what I had
missed.)
The brilliant team of MUD
MUD – Our story of Kuala
Lumpur was the best of the lot and should not be missed by anyone who loves
plays and art. We had the opportunity to see the musical at City Centre in
Merdeka square, next to the confluence of the rivers in the beautiful hall
which was actually the community hall during early 20th century – you get the
significance don’t you?
So when in Kuala
Lumpur, look at the sky and the glimmer of the PETRONAS and take selfies there,
but also be a part of the people and dance to the tunes of the local music!
P.S. - All pictures are personal.
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