Consumption of Kuala Lumpur (Reaktion Books - Topographics)

240 Pages·2000·11.39 MB·English

by  Ziauddin Sardar

TheC onsumptioonf K ualLau mpur
I
TOPOGRAPHICS
int hsea me series
Fragmenotfts h eE uropeCaint y
StephBeanr ber
FromB erlin
Armando
SomeC ities
VictBourr gin
TheR uinosf P aris
JacquReesd a
Nightisnt heB igC ity
Joachim SchlOr
RobinsionnS pace
PatriKceki ller
Tokyo
DonalRdi chie
TeAlv iv
JoachSicmh lOr
LiquiCdi ty
MarcA tkiannsd l aiSni nclair
Att heE dgeo ft heW orld
JeaMno hr/JohBne rger
The
Consumptioofn
KualLau mpur
ZiauddSianr dar
REAKTION BOOKS
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icaplh,o tocopyriencgo,r doirno gt herwiwsiet,h outth ep riopre rmission
oft hep ublishers.
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SardaZri,a uddin
Thec onsumptioofKn u alLau mpur-.(Topographies)
1.K ualLau mpur( Malays-iCai)vilization
I.T itle
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959·1554
ISBN 18 618095 7 5
Contents
TheV iewf romM enaraIhn dahh7
TheC ircumfereonftc heeM all7 5
Magiciaannsd E conomiMci racle1s24
Softltyh,r ougahV enomouMsi st1 74
VirtuMaelg alopol2i2s2
SeleBcitb liograp2h37y
PhotograpAhcikcn owledgemen2t3s8

TheV iewf romM enaraIhn dahh
The apartmebnuti ldisntga ndpse rcheodn thel ipo fa great
earthbeonw lB.e hinadn da bovaer eh igrhi dgfeosr mebdy f olds
oft hicjku nglrea,t hleirk teh ep rinkeedd geosf a p iecruBsetl.o w
thel ipt,h eg rounfda lalwsa yi na wides wathweh ereh ouses
nestle amonga ntdr,fe aeras w ayo nt hew esternh orizotnh,e
skyscrapoeftr hsec itsyt anodu tl iktea ltlr eberse akitnhgel inoef
thec anopy foThree lsitt.t le balmcyo lniyv iornfog o mt akeisn
thew holeg,r ansdw eepL.a iodu tf orc loseisnts pectjiuosontu, t ­
sidteh ep recinocftt she a partmebnuti ldiinstg h,e f ulsly nthetic
glorayn dl usnhi tragtreede neorfKy e laDba ruElh sanag, o lafn d
recreatcilounbf orf olkisn n ewlya cquirceidr cumstances.
Aroundt heK elawbi ndsa circufloaort patthhe,l ocajlo ggers'
highw,aa ylwayjso g-jammbeedt wee5n a .m.a nd9 a.m.a,n d
againi nt hee veninpge akh ourusn titlh el eisuraefltye r-dinner
strolleemresr ge.b eItnw eetnh,ef ootpaitslh e fttob ake gently
int hes uno rb ecomteh eb edo fa torrenrtiivaelir nt her ain.
WhenI w alkt hifso otpath, conhfaovrimniigtt esyf feIcl to,o k
througthh eg aps betweens htrruebaesns d,h ousebsa ckt ot he
condominiaunmd I seet heb uildilnogs t tihnej unglfer om
evervya ntagpeo inFtr.o ma rountdh el ipf,r omd owni nt he
dipw,h ichevweary y oua pproaocrhl ookt,h erien,i tmso ul­
derinigs olatiisto hne,l aslto necloyn dboe fotrhee j unglTeh.i s
isM enarah Indtahhebh l,o cokf f lawthse rIeh aveb eenl iving
fort hep asfte wy earMse.n araIhn dahihs i nT amanT AR;t he
TAR isa na crony-mmostt hinggso b ya na cronyimn K uala
LumpurT.h eT AR standfso Tru nA bdulR azaka,f ormeprr ime
ministTehre.n eighbourhToaomda,n T AR (GardeTnu nA bdul
Razaki)s,a developevriss'i oonfg raciomuosd ernl ivitnhga t
hasc olonitzheehd e ado fa l itvtallel leeya dibnagc ukp i nttoh e
Detaoilfa 17th-cenDtuutrcymh a p oft heM alaya rchipelago. 7
o'PERLIS
I _,K3,n ..ca.-r ...,
-,,
'
Presentp-ednaiyn sMuallaary sia.
junglTea.m anT ARi tseilspf a rotf A mpangJ ayaa,n dA mpang
Jayai sb othi nt hes tatoef S elangaonrd a suburobf K uala
Lumpuro,r K L ase veryorneef etrosi tT.h er oagde ntlmye an­
derdso wnt heh ililnw ides weepusn tiiltm eettsh el argreora d,
JalaUnl uK langw,h ichta keyso ui no ned irecttioot nh eZ oo,
andi nt heo thetro t hem ajotrh oroughfoafJr ael an Ampang.
JalaAnm pangh ousemso sto ft hef oreiegmnb assiaensdt hiisn ­
ternatieonncalla lveea dosn i nttoh ec ity.
Iw atcthh es unseIttd. o esn ott akmeu cht imeo:n em oment
thes uni st her,ae ndi ti sd aya,n dt hen exitt h as disappeared.
Thef loodliogfhKt esl aDba ruElh sanc omeo n immediately,
8
synchroniwzietdht hes unseTth.e A siawno rke thipcr edomi­
natehse rem,e aninlgo nhgo urast t heo ffiacned fai ve-and-half­
dayw orkinwge ekS.o t imfeo prl a,y dai stilnecgta coyfc olonial
timelsi,k teh er esotft heu pwardlmyo billei festmyulsetb, e a c­
commodateadf tewro rkinhgo ursh:e ncef,l oodgloiltf A.i r
arounmde condensIetbs e.c omeasg entbllea nktehta dto esn ot
quitceo nstitruatieni ;td oesn otr ealcloym ed ownb utm ateri­
alizienst hea tmospheIrn eo.t iscoem ec loudmso vinsgw iftly
ovetrh eh orizotnh;e cyo mea ndh oveirn f ronotft heb uilding,
ast hougthh inkianngd,t heqnu ietdlryi ifntt moy livirnogo m.
Fora m omentIt hiniktm ighrta iinn simdye apartmeBnutt.t h e
cloudssi mplnye stlaer oundm e and everythibnegc omes
soggyA. p aiorf l argbeu tterfdlriiefistn sidaen ds ettolnet he
walnle atrh ec urtains.
Ik nowt hemw ellH.u gea nds tunninbgelayu tiftuhle,ay r e
utterdleyv otetdoe acho thePrr.e dominanbtllaycw ki tha row
ofg reen triaonntg hleeiswr i ngs, whhiacvhea spano fa bout
fifteceenn timettrheesyc, a rray b righrte db anda round their
headsT.h eitre chniacpaple llatTirgooonn,po tebrar ookidaenpar,i ves
themo ft heisru blimceh armI. h aven amedt hem after the
loveirnst hec lassiPcearls iraonm ancLea,i la MaTjhneuynw .e re
saitdo b e' blacakn'ds oi nl ovteh atth ebye camoeb livitoou s
thed angerosfe arthelxyi stenLcaei.lc ao,n sumebdy helro ve
forM ajnund,i esa;n dM ajnunu,n ablteo l ivwei thouLta ila,
commits suiIcd iodn eo.tw isht heswei ngeldo vertsoh avea
simileanrd b;u tt heriesa constadnatn gelru rkionngt hew alls
andc eilionfmg y flaAtn.d t hef eelitnhgaa tt rageodfyP ersian
proportiiosan bso utto u nfolidnm y presenocvee rwhelmmes.
Firtshti negv ermyo rninIgr ,u stho t hel ivirnogo ma ndb reathe
as igohf r eliwehfe nI f intdh emw aitifnogmr e too pent heb al­
conyd oorasn dr eleatshee mt ot hej ungle.
Thet hreat cformoemts h regee neratioofgn esc kodewse lling
behinvda riopuisc tufrrea metsh adte corattheew allIsh .a ve
watchetdh emg rowa ndm ultliypp,l aayn df ighIth .a ved evel­
opeda relationwsihtihtp h ep atriarIcnhd.e edI, h avee ven
managetdo t raihni m:o nm y instruc'tGioof ne tcGhr,a ndpa!',
9