"Oil, Oil, Oil" Kuala Lumpur by Assenczo

Kuala Lumpur is the obvious entry to the country especially for the long-haulers. As a capital it certainly offers a glimpse of the major characteristics of the country in a more condensed form readily available to the inquisitive visitors. The tale that architecture narrates and this is rather convincing one considering the scale, is one of history repeating itself on more than one occasion. There are the dilapidated buildings from the colonial era (European style) that have been left to crumble as if to visualize the departure from the hated, submissive past.

Then there are the buildings of the colonial era but of Islamic background (mosques of the time etc.) that have been identified as the core value which the contemporary Malay has to stick around. And above it all there are the high-rises of modern times closely following the construction cannon of the contemporary dominant factor – America, much to the disbelief of the onlooker who might easily notice a slip in the same trap that has already been in place in the previous century, but hey, this was long, long time ago. As for the Malay culture and its representation in stone and wood, there is not much if anything to see around; fairly enough, it is necessary to add that Malay is probably the stilt housing still in use en mass in the coastal areas of Brunei and Kota Kinabalu or in the jungle interior. But there is no room or the appropriate environment for it in the stripped hills of Kuala Lumpur. Nevertheless the “progress” from tiny settlement to a mega polis says a lot about the drive to move in certain direction with lots of determination.

• Pros:Variety of influences at your finger tips
• Cons:The bloody weather
• In a nutshell:Concrete jungle shooting up from the jungle jungle