Yap Ah Loy & Pioneers of KL Museum

 FreeMalaysiaToday, FMT, 6 Jan 2024 has an interesting article, "A tribute to the pioneers who helped build Kuala Lumpur". It is about the new Pioneers of KL Museum in the Sin Sze Si Ya Temple in Kuala Lumpur. The museum display posters, paintings and literature detailing the roles these pioneers played in the development of KL.

One of the most famous names in KL's history is Yap Ah Loy. He became Kapitan during the Selangor Civil War of 1866-1873 and under him KL grew and developed. See my blog "Yap Ah Loy in Kwong Tong cemetery" .

It was Yap who ordered the building of the Sin Sze Si Ya Temple, KL’s oldest Taoist temple. The temple is located in Jalan Tun H.S. Lee in KL. My 2009 photos -

It is quite a small temple

The museum opened in 2023. See the FMT article for more info and photos, and details about entry.

Thanks to my friend Amy for sending me the article.

Yap Ah Loy in Kwong Tong cemetery

I went back to the Kwong Tong cemetery to find Yap Ah Loy's grave, as Papanjones had pinpointed it for me on the Chinese map.

And during my drive round I explored a part of the cemetery which is new to me. This is an area of new graves, all of the same design and colour and arranged in neat rows. Modern section, 2005 -

2008
Right by these are some apartment blocks -

living & dead side by side

Further over is an area of relatively new graves that are rather overgrown.

Yap Ah Loy is known as being the founder of Kuala Lumpur. He was born in China in 1837, arrived in Malacca in 1854, and moved to Selangor in the 1860s. At that time lots of Chinese had arrived to seek their fortune in the tin mines. The local sultan needed a 'Kapitan China' to control these Chinese, and Yap Ah Loy was appointed and did such a good job that he became the founder of KL. He died of illness in 1885.

Sometimes it is hard to imagine that KL is only about 150 years old. Yap Ah Loy was the 3rd kapitan China, and has a road named after him, located in Chinatown off Jalan Tun Perak.

I wasn't very sure of the exact location of Yap Ah Loy's grave (section C2) and saw a large plot with a freshly painted yellow surround and wondered if it was that, but it wasn't. Then I spotted some workmen and a new marker stone indicating the memorial site.

There is a new plaque in 3 languages, but nothing in English to indicate which was the actual grave.

A Chinese worker showed me which is Yap Ah Loy's grave,

and said the neighbouring ones belong to his wife, son and father. I don't know if this is correct, anyone know if Yap's father came to Malaya?

wife's grave

father's grave

son's grave

by the family plot

Overgrown neighbouring grave

view of family plot

not sure about this one
If someone can read Chinese please correct me if I have the wrong captions.
Don't know who is buried here -

died 1926 aged 100

don't know what this is, all in Chinese

nice colour frangipani

the signs are good as they accurately tell you where you are, and are easy to follow. Just wish they were in English!
Back in the old part -

I've been told by Cheah via Papanjones that this is Zhao Yu, who built the railways Kuala Lumpur to Klang, Kuala Lumpur to Ampang.

rubbish dump

lorries must dump large items

What an eyesore.

Now I have to look for Yap Kwan Sen's grave.

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Found this piece of history on the internet :

Over the past 100 years, the relationship between the Selangor and Federal Territory Kwong Siew Association and Kwong Tong Cemetery had been very close indeed. In the initial stages when the association for the cemetery was formed, Yap Kuan Seng, Zhao Yu, and Loke Yew, spared no effort in planning and building the cemetery.

The temple in Jalan Lapangan Terbang Lama, Kwong Tong Temple, was completed in 1909. In 1925, the management of the cemetery built 10 pavilions, so that the people who paid respects to the dead could take a short rest.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

KL Kwong Tong cemetery

Having moved back to my old condo, I now have the cemetery inhabitants as my neighbours. Some Malaysians are horrified at the thought of living near a cemetery, and some also hate the greeness and the trees surrounding my condo. But I love it.

I love to walk in the cemetery. And I'm not the only one, as many of the condo residents who own dogs, also walk their dogs there. It's a great place, quiet, with an abundance of birds and small reptiles, lizards, snakes etc. And there is often a pleasant scent when the frangipani are in bloom.

Over the years I think I've covered most of the paths. I find the graves fascinating, even though I can't understand the Chinese inscriptions. However I haven't found Yap Ah Loy's grave. [Since posting this album, I have visited Yap Ah Loy's grave] Unfortunately the heritage park sign is only in Chinese. Parts of the cemetery have been restored, and turned into a heritage park.

There have been a few changes in the area closest to Alice Smith school. There is a new large memorial to Lim Lian Giok. I must admit I hadn't heard of Lim Lian Giok, so had to google him. I didn't find much, but learnt he was a Malaysian education official, basically a Chinese teacher who fought for the right to a Chinese-language education in Malaysia, which he always regarded as a multi-ethnic and multicultural state of which he was a proud citizen. Ironically, it was the fears of so-called “nationalists” that in the end created in this simple teacher a hero and Chinese “cultural ambassador.

In recent years Kuen Cheng School which is on the Federal Highway just near the Istana, has built a 2nd campus on the edge of the cemetery, so this has meant an increase in traffic.

The cemetery actually extends across the Middle Ring road (the road between Pustaka and the Istana) but I've never explored this section.

If I drive to KL I often take the route through the cemetery. However many taxi drivers are not so keen, especially at night! Coming home via the cemetery I have to go through Bukit Petaling & Jalan Bellamy which is another nice area.

view to city

Brickfields on the left

KL Sentral

dead car

entrance to big tomb

don't know who is buried here

the pub!

frangipani with Le Meridien at the back

Lim Lian Giok

4  languages

school

Google Earth view

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The following is taken from wikimapia.org :
KWONG TONG CEMETERY (KTC); THE LARGEST AND OLDEST GRAVES IN THE CITY OF KUALA LUMPUR. THIS CHINESE CEMETERY COVERS 343 ACRES, IN EXISTENCE FOR 112 YEARS AND MAINTAINED IN ITS ORIGINAL HISTORICAL` STATE. IT IS THE FINAL RESTING PLACE OF PROMINENT CITY PIONEER; CAPITAN YAP AH LOY, LOKE YEW [no he is not buried here], YAP KWAN SENG ETC. THE MAIN STREETS IN THE CITY NAMED AFTER THESE CITY PIONEER. IN 2007, THE KTC HAS BEEN RENAMED AS “HERITAGE PARK”. SUBSEQUENTLY, EXTENSIVE LANDSCAPING HAS TURNED THIS PARK INTO THE GREEN LUNG OF THE CITY. IN ADDITION, A CULTURAL MUSEUM WAS BUILT AND COMPREHENSIVE COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION RELATED TO PROMINENT CHINESE PIONEER. AS WELL AS CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL EVENTS OF THE CITY DEVELOPMENTS ARE DISPLAYED IN THIS CULTURAL MUSEUM. IT HAS NOW NOT ONLY BECOME A CULTURAL, HERITAGE AND HISTORICAL MASTER PIECE, BUT IT HAS ALSO BECOME A RESEARCH CENTER AND TOURIST DESTINATION OF THE CITY. WALKATHON IS HELD ANNUALLY WITHIN THE HERITAGE PARK. IN 2007, IT ATTRACTED 5,000 PARTICIPANTS OF MULTI-RACIAL AND MULTI-NATIONAL PARTICIPANTS. TO OBTAIN MAP OF HERITAGE PARK AND FURTHER INFORMATION REFER TO WEBSITE: http://ktc.org.my OR EMAIL: info@ktc.org.my

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UPDATE 2015 - see more on Lim Lian Geok at the memorial hall in KL.
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UPDATE 2017 - "Yap Ah Loy’s descendant is sad and disappointed that Yap’s contribution was obliterated" in Malaysian Chinese News 12 May.

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© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission