This is a Wiki page designed by a former student. Please feel free reference this page as a guide, but please add your own creativity to your page! Part 1 Kuala​ ​Lumpur​ is the capital city of Malaysia and the largest city in the nation. Its current population is estimated to be near 1.8 million. Located in the state of ​Selangor​ and on the peninsular region, it is part of the greater ​Kuala​ ​Lumpur​ metropolitan area. Situated in Klang​ Valley, the area is the center of Malaysia’s population and economic activity. The valley is large and fairly flat and as such contributed greatly to the areas of construction. Development has been faster in the capital city then any other city in Malaysia. Like many large cities, ​Kuala​ ​Lumpur​ has distinct city sections. Center city is best known for being the commercial, entertainment, and shopping district of the city. Its residents are a mix of multi ethnicities with a common thread of high income. Other affluent areas include ​Damansara​ Heights and ​Sri​ ​Hartamas​ both home to high income ex-patriots from Asia and western nations. ​Brickfields​ is known as “Little India”. Situated south of the city and is known for colorful shops and Indian food. ​Petaling​ Street is the Chinatown section of the city. It is one of the oldest parts of the city and boasts a mix of small shops and boutiques as well as street food vendors. It is also home to the oldest Hindu temple in the city. The ​Ampang​ District is best known as Little Korea. The climate is that of a tropical ​rainforest​ with abundant rain fall though out the year. A monsoon season lasts form October to March bringing more rain during that period. Annual rainfall often exceeds 100 inches. Due to the cities latitude and proximity to the ocean temperatures remain constant and extremes are rare. The supply and reliability of water has also aided the region to experience growth for industry housing and agriculture. In its early years, the area that is now the city was a terminus for ship traffic that serviced the tin mines further up river. This was the point where the river could not support traffic to move further upstream. The early settlement was used to service the mines, and later grew to a small town. The exact time the city was first called ​Kuala​ ​Lumpur​ is not known. Evidence suggests its formal start as a formal town from what had been an outpost took place around 1860. Early settlers include Chinese and Malay ethnicities. Fire, flooding, war, and diseases conspired to halt further development. The sheer will of the people to overcome lead to rebuilding and expansion. New arrivals of Muslim Indians as well as people from Britain brought new cultural elements that survive today. The population expanded exponentially during the late 1800s. Investments were made to the infrastructure such as roads, railways, schools, and governance. The city and region has witnessed dramatic growth of.

1. This is a Wiki page designed by a former student. Please feel
free reference this page as a guide,
but please add your own creativity to your page!
Part 1
Kuala Lumpur is the capital city of Malaysia and the largest city
in the nation. Its current
population is estimated to be near 1.8 million. Located in the
state of Selangor and on the
peninsular region, it is part of the greater Kuala Lumpur
metropolitan area. Situated in
Klang Valley, the area is the center of Malaysia’s population
and economic activity. The
valley is large and fairly flat and as such contributed greatly to
the areas of construction.
Development has been faster in the capital city then any other
city in Malaysia.
Like many large cities, Kuala Lumpur has distinct city sections.
Center city is best known
for being the commercial, entertainment, and shopping district
of the city. Its residents
are a mix of multi ethnicities with a common thread of high
income. Other affluent areas
include Damansara Heights and Sri Hartamas both home to high
income ex-patriots from
Asia and western nations. Brickfields is known as “Little
India”. Situated south of the city

2. and is known for colorful shops and Indian food. Petaling Street
is the Chinatown section
of the city. It is one of the oldest parts of the city and boasts a
mix of small shops and
boutiques as well as street food vendors. It is also home to the
oldest Hindu temple in
the city. The Ampang District is best known as Little Korea.
The climate is that of a tropical rainforest with abundant rain
fall though out the year. A
monsoon season lasts form October to March bringing more rain
during that period.
Annual rainfall often exceeds 100 inches. Due to the cities
latitude and proximity to the
ocean temperatures remain constant and extremes are rare. The
supply and reliability of
water has also aided the region to experience growth for
industry housing and
agriculture.
In its early years, the area that is now the city was a terminus
for ship traffic that serviced
the tin mines further up river. This was the point where the
river could not support traffic
to move further upstream. The early settlement was used to
service the mines, and later
grew to a small town. The exact time the city was first called
Kuala Lumpur is not known.

3. Evidence suggests its formal start as a formal town from what
had been an outpost took
place around 1860. Early settlers include Chinese and Malay
ethnicities.
Fire, flooding, war, and diseases conspired to halt further
development. The sheer will of
the people to overcome lead to rebuilding and expansion. New
arrivals of Muslim Indians
as well as people from Britain brought new cultural elements
that survive today. The
population expanded exponentially during the late 1800s.
Investments were made to the
infrastructure such as roads, railways, schools, and governance.
The city and region has witnessed dramatic growth of both
population and economic
prosperity during the 1900s. The city became not only the
primary shipping port, but the
economic hub of the nation. The city served new industry such
as rubber production.
Only the invasion by the Japanese during WWII could slow the
pace of development.
Post war Kula Lumpur continued to grow both in size and
economic output.
In 1957 the British relinquished control of what is now
Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur was made
the nations capital. Growth has been steady up to the time of
this writing. Current GDP
growth for the city area is nearly 6%; the fastest in the region.
Fueling the growth is an
expanding manufacturing base, financial and insurance

4. industries, and tourism. The
expanding middle class supports retail and consumer driven
operations.
Culturally the city is as diverse as its economy. Malaysians and
Chinese make up a near
equal portion of the population with about 45% each. Next is
Indians that are about 10%
with less then 1% from else where. Islam is the dominant
religion with about 46% of the
population followed by Buddhism at 37% then Hinduism at
8.5% and Christianity at 5.8%.
The look and feel of the city is a mix of modern western with
modern Asian as well as
traditional Islamic styles. High rise glass towers with ornate
lighting and graceful curing
structures show it is a modern city and is on the move.
The growing economy is capable to providing employment to
nearly every one. With a
steady unemployment rate of less than 4% it is the envy of
South East Asia. One problem
is that many of the new jobs are for high skilled workers. Older
people with out a good
education and new migrants may not benefit as much as younger
educated people. A
new wave of illegal immigrants from Indonesia and elsewhere
take the few unskilled jobs
that pay less and have few or no benefits. Unlike many Asian
cities or many world cities
Kuala Lumpur does not have a high poverty rate or slum areas.
Housing ranges from
basic apartment to expensive high rise units and even traditional
single family homes.
The growth of Kuala Lumpur outpaced the growth of other

5. cities in the region including
those in Indonesia and Thailand due to foreign investment and
relative political stability.
It has attracted both capital and talent from elsewhere on the
globe. Malaysia is a federal
constitution elective monarchy, however the king’s role is
largely ceremonial. Its
legislative branch is similar to our house of representatives and
senate. Parliamentary
and state elections are held every 5 years. The Prime Minister
and Cabinet have
executive power. The judiciary has appointed judges. In
addition, the Syariah courts use
Syariah law for Muslims.
Part 2
The architecture and lay-out of Kuala Lumpur started as purely
functional in that it was an
outpost to support mining and later rubber production. Later as
the village became a
town then a city, it took on ascetic features in its buildings,
parks, and lay out. The
people that came to the city brought with them stylistic themes
such as traditional
Chinese, Islamic, and western Tudor elements. As financial
institutions and government
operations moved into the city new modern elements were
added. Because most of the
cities expansion took place in the 1900s, planning was made for
modern street lay outs,
proper infrastructure such as water and sewer, and public

6. transport. The center city area
has been rebuilt with modern high rise and ascetically pleasing
structures. The city has
kept a clean fresh look for decades.
The iconic Petronas Towers give the city instant identity as
does the Eiffel Tower in Parris
or the World Trade Center gave New York. Few other cities
offer the mix of old world
Islamic buildings with arches and domes alongside modern glass
towers and high end
single family homes as one would find in suburban USA. Like
many cites Kuala Lumpur
has areas with unique features.
The Bukit Bintang district is known for its upscale shopping
and as a destination for young people. The
trendy cafes, clubs and restaurants also attract young and old.
The area is known for its night life. Unlike
most parts of the Islamic world, the youth can party and drink at
night and women do not need to wear a
burka. The high-end consumer goods sold in the area include
Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Rolex to
name a few. Setiawangsa is located just outside Center City. It
features upscale town homes and expensive
single family homes that are set in the hills. The main roads
have shopping that one could find in most US
cities. One could shop at 7-11 for coffee in the morning and eat
lunch at KFC.

7. Batu is the poorest area of the city. It’s a housing district with
mostly public housing
units. It also has a high crime rate. Lembah Pantai is a working-
class area of the city. It has
mixed housing. The city, while centered in Asia, has adopted
many cultural, economic,
and architectural themes. The founders, developers, and
investors have taken cues from
all parts of the world. Kampung Baru has traditional Malay
wooden houses and quaint
cafes with traditional Maylay food. Originally created by the
British to allow the Maylays to
retain their culture, the area now resists large scale development
in the attempt to
maintain Maylay culture. One other ethnic enclave is Sentul in
the northern part of Kuala
Lumpur. It is home to a large number of Tamils from India with
a distinct language. British
partitioning, economics and ethnic consolidation help shape
physical and cultural
landscape of the city.
Today Kuala Lumpur is the most dynamic in the region. It has
become a hub and magnet
for multinationals to set up headquarters and sales operations.
Its size, stability and
skilled labor pool sets it apart from other nations in the region.
As a result, it has become
a gateway to south east Asia. Companies that have operations in
the city include Hewlett
Packard, Kellogg’s, Siemens, Sony, Robert Bosh, BMW, IBM,
and Dupont. They bring
with them employment and culture. The foreign owned

8. companies all contribute to the
multi-cultural way of thinking that adds to the city. The
knowledge transfer has allowed
the local people to learn the skills needed to work at globally
run operations. Many
people may travel into and out of the city to other nations for
training or employment.
Local and state owned companies also contribute to the labor
market. Petronas is a
state-owned oil and gas company. Worldwide it employs 51,000
people. It is
headquartered in the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Health
care operations, a strong
manufacturing base, shipping, and a large banking sector also
add options for
employment. The need to serve the Islamic market from a strong
stable area has made
the city the center for Islamic financial operations and was a
reason why Nestle set up its
halal certified center to make and export products to fill the
demands from other Islamic
states.
Tourism has continued to expand and is becoming an important
part of the economy.
Attractions include the gleaming downtown with its iconic
construction, museums, world
class entertainment, and many cultural options. It is the regions
epicenter for upscale
shopping and night life. It has become a hot spot for health care
tourism adding billions
to its economy each year. Globalization has not only brought
brand name retail and
multinational corporate employment but also secondary

9. educational options. Many off
shore universities have set up physical campus locations in and
around the city.
Education is a key element to sustain growth and allow the
younger residents to gain
employment in a modern economy. The key to the cities success
is proper planning,
improving infrastructure, low crime, educational opportunities,
and welcoming foreign
investment. The future includes diversification and expanding
the service sector. The
result has been a low poverty rate, high employment
opportunities, and high satisfaction
index of living. The nation and city offered incentives to
companies to set up operations.
They also offered educational classes to help train its labor
force.
Malaysia as a whole has seen rapid economic growth for the
past 30 years. Several
factors are involved for the steady dynamic growth. First, is
government planning to
transform the economy from agrarian to a diversified modern
economy. Another factor is
the huge dividends from the state petroleum industry. Lastly,
private investment both
local and foreign has helped build a modern manufacturing and
finance based system.
Other efforts to diversify the economy include tourism and
education. Kuala Lampur is the
epicenter for growth. The growth of the GDP has helped ease
but not eliminate economic
inequalities. Malaysia was part of the “East Asian Miracle” and
had a head start because
it had a better educated labor force.

10. Part 3
The future for Kuala Lumpur is being planned now. The
Malaysian government, the city
leaders, the business owners, and residents are all providing
input. On a national level,
the government wants to further diversify its economy. It plans
more talent based job
creation such as research and development, aircraft service and
support, financial
operations, and high tech manufacturing. It wants to have less
dependency on oil
production and agriculture. To help the younger people be
prepared for the jobs of
tomorrow, the government has put a priority on secondary
educational opportunities.
Over the last few decades the city and region has experienced a
rapid rise in incomes on
all levels. For this city, the rising tide has truly lifted all boats.
While economic disparity
can be found in all cities, Kuala Lumpur did not have a large
population prior to its
economic growth. Thus, it did not have a large pool of poor
people to start with. Many
emerging cities have an endemic number of poor and poorly
educated people that cannot
adjust to the changing labor conditions. Other cities have
policies that allow land
squatters to set up shanty towns within city limits and then
provide no services.

11. The road to becoming a world class city has not always been a
smooth one. Ethnic strife
became prominent after Maylaya, the forerunner of what is now
Malaysia became
independent from Great Britain in 1957. At that time the ethnic
Chinese had more wealth
and power then the majority Maylay people. After
independence, the Maylay people sought
Maylay supremacy, that is to say they should have dominance in
governing the new
nation. A number of clashes and race riots occurred over the
intervening years. The
ethnic scars from those events have largely been healed.
Occasionally, demonstrations
and marches by both Chinese and ethnic Maylays take place. In
2015, tens of thousands
of Malaysians marched in the capitol and were met by riot
police in the Chinatown
section. One continuing factor for the tensions is that the
Chinese that make up only a
quarter of the population have more economic power than the
ethnic Maylays.
Although the city and nation are in no way xenophobic, the
region has not seen large
numbers of immigration from outside its core demographics.
The mix of ethnicity has not
changed significantly over the past few decades. The current
trend is to teach and train
the citizens of the nation to take on the role of senior
management that are now held by
expatriates. To be clear, the policy is not to push out the foreign
people that work in the

12. state. The sate makes it easy to gain work visas and long term
guest programs.
The culture of the city is in many ways unique. It is Islamic by
both the number of people
that identify as following Islam and that the official state
religion is Islam. Despite this,
the nation and city have offered the people freedom to practice
any religion they choose.
The other significant difference is the far more liberal social
policy of the state. Many
Islamic nations segregate men and women in public places, do
not allow women to drive,
and have strict Religious Vice laws with special police to
enforce Sharia Law. As a result,
the city has attracted liberal and moderate people of the Islamic
faith.
The current trends include greater local sports such as large
scale soccer, grand prix,
Asian basketball, and even hosting the Olympics. World class
Broadway style shows and
entertainment, and even western style golfing. The area is also
investing in media such
as film production and now has an uncensored internet. Future
plans are to expand IT
operations and its stock market exchange. In all, the city should
remain welcoming. The
Chinese can find print and radio formats in their language and
because Britain controlled
the area you will find many people and business speak the
language. You will also find
print and radio service in English. The city strives to invite
tourists to see its attractions
and stay at its many fine hotels. While many cities are on the
decline, this city has found

13. a way to stay fresh and vibrant. It has found its road map to
success.
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