Chinatown, Merdeka Square & Bukit Nanas - Kuala Lumpur Melaka and Penang - page 162

Raising the Flag
Apart from New Year's Eve, National Day and occasional special events, such as the Col-
ours of Malaysia parade, crowds rarely gather at Merdeka Square. Don't miss the ceremoni-
al flag-raising ceremony held 9.45am to 10am every Monday on the square. Around the base of
the flagpole (at 102m, it's the tallest in the world) are mosaics depicting the famous
scenes of independence from 1957.
KL City Gallery
Get a quick overview of the city's history at the KL City Gallery ( 2691 1382;
www.klcitygallery.com ; 27 Jln Raja, Dataran Merdeka; 8am-6pm; ; Masjid Jamek) F , which, as well
as housing the offices of Visit KL and its tourist information desk, has a huge scale model
of the city created by Arch Kuala Lumpur ( www.archcollection.com ) . You can see the modellers at
work before exiting through a gift shop selling the art works of Arch as well as a good se-
lection of books about KL and Malaysia.
National Textiles Museum
On the square's southeast corner and entered off Lebuh Pasar Besar is the engaging Nation-
al Textiles Museum MAP GOOGLE MAP (Muzium Tekstil Negara; 2694 3457;
www.muziumtekstilnegara.gov.my ; Jln Sultan Hishamuddin; 9am-6pm; Masjid Jamek) F , which occu-
pies an elegant Mogul-Islamic building designed by the India-obsessed architect AC Nor-
man. Darkened exhibition spaces help preserve the delicate textiles on display - there are
some beautiful pieces and plenty of explanation of how they are made. The sad thing is
that many of the time-consuming skills necessary for the production of such textiles are
dying out, making these pieces increasingly rare. The museum's shop showcases work by
young Malaysian designers, and there's a small cafe serving Malay snacks.
Sultan Abdul Samad Building
Gracing the east side of the square are the Moorish domes and 43m clocktower of the
Sultan Abdul Samad Building MAP GOOGLE MAP (Jln Raja; Masjid Jamek) . This glorious brick
building, dramatically illuminated at night, was constructed as the secretariat for the colo-
nial administration in 1897. It's another of AC Norman's designs and was named after the
Sultan of Selangor at the time. It now houses the national Ministry of Information, Com-
munications and Culture.