My splendid 15 minute - walk to school

Our family moved from Parit Buntar to Petaling Jaya in 1961.  My father placed me in a school in Kuala Lumpur.  I had to take a bus from Petaling Jaya to Kuala Lumpur to go to school, a journey which took about half an hour to 45 minutes.  After arriving in Kuala Lumpur I had to take a walk which took 15 minutes.   I still remember I thoroughly enjoyed the 15 minute-walk from the bus stop to my new school every morning.  Coming from a small rural town, everything was so different and exciting for me. 

The bus would stop at a station opposite the Sulaiman Building, which was then the headquarters of the National Registration Department and later housed the Federal Territory Syariah Court.  The Sulaiman Building was constructed in the early 1920s and has now been declared a heritage building.  I understand that it is now being renovated and will soon be the new premise for the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA).

As I walked towards my school, Sulaiman Building would be on my right.

The Sulaiman Building as it looked then 

The Sulaiman Building as it looks now

After a very short distance I would pass the Majestic Hotel on my left.  Built on the site of the German Consul General's house during World War I, the Majestic Hotel was completed in 1935 in a luxury art-deco style. The original building was designed by a Dutch architectural firm Keyes and Dowdeswell for the Trustees of the Estate of Loke Wan Tho, the youngest son of the businessman and philanthropist Loke Yew. The hotel was the place for glamorous social events, government receptions and was the favourite hotel for prominent international visitors.  It seems that in its heyday, Majestic Hotel was the largest and grandest hotel in Kuala Lumpur, favoured by the colonial elite and prominent visitors and was the venue for extravagant parties, Sunday curry tiffin lunches as well as the most European of traditions, the tea dance.  It witnessed many important events in the nation's history before it closed down in 1984, following which it housed the National Art Gallery for a time.  The Majestic Hotel has since been declared a heritage building.

The Majestic Hotel then

The frontage view of the Majestic Hotel then

Now the old Majestic Hotel has been renovated and restored as a luxury classic hotel with a modern 15 storey extension by conglomerate YTL.

The Majestic Hotel now 

Just after walking past the Majestic Hotel I would see the Railway Station to my right.  The station was completed in 1910 and designed by a talented British colonial architect, Arthur Benison Hubback. The Kuala Lumpur Railway Station has a Moorish and Edwardian architectural style and Mughal features, such as the elegant dome-capped pavilions of Indian origin along its roof line.  The station served as the city's main rail hub until the modern KL Sentral station took over in 2001.  The station building used to house the Heritage Station Hotel which closed down in 2010.

The Railway Station with its elegant dome-capped pavilions.
The Railway Administration Building can be seen on the left

Just opposite the Railway station on my left hand side on my walk to school, was the Railway Administration Building, another Moorish and Edwardian-inspired masterpiece by British architect Hubback. It was completed in 1917 as an administration building for the railway company and it still serves that purpose today.

The Railway Administration Building

Both the Railway Station and the Railway Administration Building still look largely the same today. Both had been declared heritage buildings.

As I continued on my walk, after passing the Railway Administration Building I would come to the site of  the Venning Road Brethren Gospel Hall, which had been there since 1922 but was acquired by the Malaysian government for the construction of the National Mosque.  The Mosque was completed in 1965. I can say that having to walk pass the site 5 days a week, I actually witnessed the construction of the Kuala Lumpur National Mosque.

The site of the Kuala Lumpur National Mosque before its construction.  On the extreme left
is part of the Railway Administration Building.   

This is the splendid Kuala Lumpur National Mosque as it looks today

The original structure of the mosque was designed by a three-person team from the Public Works Department,namely,UK architect Howard Ashley, and Malaysians Hisham Albakri and Baharuddin Kassim.  Its key features are a 73-metre-high minaret and a 16-pointed star concrete main roof.

My school, the Methodist Girls’ School, is just next to the mosque. 

Methodist Girls School Kuala Lumpur

My school which still stands there is now 113 years old.  It was one of the earliest all girls' school in the country established by the Government and was called The Government Girls' School then. Mrs. Stratton-Brown, an American, was the first Headmistress of the school. In 1900, the Methodist Mission took over the running of the school. It was renamed The Methodist Girls' School Kuala Lumpur.  In 1910 Ms Mabel Marsh, a pioneer educationist, was assigned to take up the post of Headmistress of the school. She is fondly regarded as the founder of the Methodist Girls' School of Kuala Lumpur as she was the longest serving pre-war Headmistress and for her dedication and tireless pursuits. When war broke out in 1941- 1945, the school was used as the Japanese Military Headquarters. The school reopened in 1945 after the war.

All along the stretch of road from the Sulaiman Building to my school were big  angsana trees.  Every morning, the trees looked so glorious with their bright yellow flowers and the road was carpeted with the flowers in a sea of yellow. 

That was my 15 minute - walk to school.  How much more splendid can it be!