A Malay village of wooden stilt houses that has held out in the middle of the city for 125 years, with the Twin Towers behind it.
Two hundred metres from the Petronas Twin Towers, on land now worth an almost unimaginable amount, there is a village of wooden houses on stilts with chickens under them.
Why it exists
In 1900 the British colonial administration gazetted this land as the Malay Agricultural Settlement, reserved for Malay ownership and use.
The reasoning was mixed. Partly it was to keep a Malay population in a city that was becoming overwhelmingly Chinese through tin-mining immigration; partly it was a paternalist attempt to preserve rural Malay life. Whatever the motive, the effect was a legal protection that has held for over a century.
The land is held under restrictive title: it can generally only be owned by Malays, it is divided among a very large number of heirs after generations of inheritance, and it cannot easily be sold or consolidated.
What that means now
The site is valued in the billions of ringgit and has been the subject of redevelopment proposals for decades. Every government has had a plan; none has succeeded.
The obstacle is the title structure. A single plot may have dozens or hundreds of co-owners scattered across the country, all of whom must agree. Buyout offers have been made and repeatedly rejected — sometimes because the price was thought too low, sometimes because owners simply did not want to sell.
There is a genuine argument on both sides. The infrastructure is poor, some housing is in bad condition, and the residents are sitting on wealth they cannot access. Against that: this is the last Malay kampung in central Kuala Lumpur, a living community with 125 years of continuous history, and once it goes it does not come back.
You are walking through a live political dispute. Behave accordingly.
What to see
The wooden houses — traditional Malay architecture, raised on stilts for ventilation and flooding, with carved fascia boards, verandas and steep roofs. Many are in poor repair; several are beautifully kept.
Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru, the neighbourhood mosque.
The Sultan Sulaiman Club, founded 1909, an early centre of Malay political organisation.
The contrast, which is the whole point: kampung roofs, then the towers.
The food
Kampung Baru is one of the best places in the city to eat Malay food, as opposed to Chinese or Indian.
Nasi lemak — coconut rice with sambal, anchovies, peanuts, egg and cucumber, the national breakfast — from the stalls that have been doing it for decades.
Nasi campur, rice with a spread of curries and vegetables chosen from a counter.
Satay, ayam percik, rendang, kuih — the vast family of Malay sweet cakes and steamed snacks.
The Saturday night market — pasar malam — is the big one, running along Jalan Raja Muda Musa, and it is where the neighbourhood comes out.
Ramadan transforms it: the Ramadan bazaar here is among the largest and best in the city, running through the afternoon before the fast breaks.
Practical
LRT Kampung Baru on the Kelana Jaya line.
Free to walk around. This is a residential neighbourhood — ask before photographing people or the inside of a compound.
Dress modestly. This is a conservative Malay Muslim community.
Alcohol is not sold here.
Chow Kit market, one of the great wet markets of the city, is a short walk north — and Brickfields, the Indian quarter, is the other neighbourhood worth a half-day.
