Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Lure of Tin
Tin ore deposits had been mined in the interior of Selangor, certainly for decades and pos-
sibly for more than a century, before two nephews of the Sultan of Selangor sponsored an
expedition of 87 Chinese miners up the Klang River in 1857. Within a month all but 18 of
the group were dead from malaria. However, sufficient tin was found around Ampang to
encourage further parties of miners to follow. The jungle trading post where these prospect-
ors alighted, at the meeting point of the Klang and Gombak rivers, was named Kuala Lum-
pur, meaning 'muddy confluence'.
In 1859, traders Hiu Siew and Ah Sze set up shop in KL close to where the Central Mar-
ket stands today. As more prospectors came to seek their fortunes, the backwater settlement
was quickly becoming a brawling, noisy, violent boomtown, ruled over by so-called 'secret
societies', Chinese criminal gangs, and later
kongsi
(clan associations). In 1861 Hiu Siew,
having proved himself adept in this fast evolving world, was appointed by Raja Abdullah
as the first Kapitan Cina or head of the Chinese community. Despite this precedent, it is
Yap Ah Loy, the third of KL's six Kapitan Cinas, who is generally credited as the city's
founder.
YAP AH LOY
He was only 17 when he left his village in southern China in search of work in Malaya. Fifteen years later, in 1868,
Yap Ah Loy had shown sufficient political nous, organisational ability and street smarts to secure the role of KL's
third Kapitan Cina. He took on the task with such ruthless relish that he's now credited as the founder of KL.
Yap's big break was being the friend of KL's second Kapitan Cina, Liu Ngim Kong. When Liu died in 1869, Yap
took over and managed within a few years to gather enough power and respect to be considered the leader of the
city's previously fractured Chinese community. According to legend, Yap was able to keep the peace with just six
policemen, such was the respect for his authority.
Yap amassed great wealth through his control of the tin trade as well as more nefarious activities, such as opium
trading and prostitution, which thrived in the mining boomtown. He founded the city's first school in 1884 and, by
the time he died a year later, was the richest man in KL. A short street in Chinatown is named after him and he is
worshiped as a saint at the Sze Ya Temple, which he founded.
