Beautiful Masjids in Malaysia

I am fascinated with architecture. Whenever and wherever I travel, the first thing I look at and admire is the local architecture. Looking at the many beautiful, grand old buildings everywhere else in the world makes me feel very sad thinking of the many grand old buildings we tear down here in Kuala Lumpur.

Fortunately, we are not in the habit of tearing down masjids. I list below some of the beautiful masjids I have seen in this country, I have even been to some of the masjid listed below (which may come as a surprise to most people who know me!)

Billion Dollar Questions

If PM Najib goes ahead with his 100 storey Wawasan Merdeka Tower, I'll call him the 5 billion dollar man. Not only will he beat Dr M by 12 stories (Petronas Twin Towers has only 88 floors), Najib will also beat Lee Majors* by a lot of billion Ringgit multiplied by the prevailing USD/MYR exchange rate. 

I went to school at the location of Najib's dream tower. If I remember correctly, there isn't much space left for a row of shophouses let alone a skyscraper. Unless of course he's planning to tear down the iconic stadiums. These are sporting facilities which I presume are still usable and probably are still being used. Maybe he's planning to tear down my alma mater to make space for his fantasy and being a Johanian, I won't be surprised if he does. 

Najib also wants to build an international financial centre somewhere near RSGC/RHB Centre. I'm sure the final details have yet to be finalised but if it does go through, I wonder who is going to occupy the centre. CIMB and BIMB have spanking new HQs in the city, Maybank moved a large chunk of their non-commercial banking operations to Bangsar recently and RHB is already in the "KLIFD". Last I heard JP Morgan scaled down their KL office. Yes, we have a few new banking licences but their immediate effect will merely involve relocating bankers from other Malaysia based banks to their offices and disrupting the wage structure in the process.  I personally know a few Islamic banking professionals who have successfully transported themselves to the Middle East. So, I ask again, who is going to occupy KLIFD? 

Traffic in KL is already worse than bad. These projects will only make it even worse. 


Another question is, who is/are the lucky contractors who will be getting these projects? We all know the construction workers from Indonesia and Bangladesh are the major beneficiary of these projects. I'm not sure how the ordinary Malaysians will benefit though.


*Lee Majors = The 6 million Dollar Man, a 70s TV series

Another Piece of History Disappears

Pudu Jail (formerly Pudu Gaol) in Jalan Hang Tuah (formerly Shaw Road), was built and designed in 1891 and completed 1895 led by British state engineer and Director of Public Works Department, Charles Edwin Spooner at a cost of RM 15,360.90 Its design was copied from the Kandy prison in Bogambia, Africa and shaped like a butterfly or X structure.

Every morning for five years I pass Pudu Jail on my way to school. At 10 p.m. 23 June 2010, Pudu Jail is no more.

Micasa Sucasa

That’s Spanish for my house your house.

My house is a very nice house; it has a few bedrooms and bathrooms, an area to receive guests and another area to dine. It also has a kitchen! It cost some hundred thousand Ringgit and hopefully one day it will be worth six figures.

I heard they are building a house costing RM800 million. It comes with a dedicated flyover costing RM130 million. I also heard that initially the house only needed RM450 million to build but after further negotiations with the contractor, the figure ballooned to RM 800 million.

I’m quite disappointed with the revelations. I’m now actually paying for two houses, my house and that house. My employer takes a part of my salary and pays to Lembaga Hasil every month but every March, the e-filing system tells me I owe the Lembaga more money so I pay more money to the Lembaga. I’m sure some of the money I paid to the Lembaga goes towards building that house.

That house will be empty most of the time because the occupants have another house in another town in another state. A new family moves in every five years into the house.  

But wait … there is already a nice house. I used to go eat ikan bakar behind that house. It’s a nice house, I heard there is even a 6 hole golf course within the 28 acre compound.

AND there is another house in Putrajaya. Both the houses are in excellent condition, maintained by a team of PWD directors. So, why the need for another house?

I have no qualms about paying my hard earned money to the Lembaga but please use it wisely. Building live-able houses for the poor would be a good idea.

Do We Need a New Building?

There is this ‘rumour’ that the government is considering moving parliament to Putrajaya; that is, if you believe The Malaysian Insider lah.

The MI report says that the government is considering moving the Parliament to the Putrajaya administrative capital, a move which could cost up to RM800 million. However, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz told reporters that the Cabinet had yet to discuss the relocation. “It’s not decided yet. We will bring it to the Cabinet to be discussed,” he said. He added that the Cabinet would also look into possibly demolishing the current Parliament building. “We will look into every aspect. The Parliament is actually a heritage building so we would have to see if we could demolish it.

The minister said another option would be to refurbish the existing building, which would cost substantially less than a new construction. “We would need the RM150 million for upgrading [works], like fixing the roof and the electricity supply. while for the construction of a new Parliament [building], we might need RM800 million. So we will consider on the best proposal,” Nazri said.

This news/rumour is indeed shocking especially after we have been threatened with bankruptcy if we don’t cut down on our spending.

The current parliament building is one of the first national monuments built after independence. We shouldn’t even think of demolishing it. And what is wrong with convening our national assembly in that building? And what’s with this [bad] habit of demolishing buildings and erasing history? Who is the ‘identified’ contractor for the new parliament building? The existing building is a beautiful piece of architecture, why can’t we just maintain and preserve it for the future generations to enjoy?

Let’s not waste money la ok? We don’t need a new parliament building.

Art Deco

I’m a fan of architecture and structural design which is kind of odd for some one who can’t draw and not qualified to be an engineer due to mathematical deficiency. I’m a numerically challenged person, maths was my weakest subject; C5 in Modern Maths for SPM isn’t exactly the mark of a genius huh?

Anyway, back to architecture and structural design, my favourite is Art Deco. The term Art Deco was coined from the Exposition des Arts Decoratifs held in Paris in 1925. However, the term Art Deco was not widely used until it was popularised by art historian Bevis Hillier's 1968 book, Art Deco of the 20s and 30s. Art Deco architects often lavished their buildings with symbolic images such as stylized flowers, sunbursts, birds, machine gears and other abstract motives. The Chyrsler Building in New York City is a famous architectural example of Art Deco.

Randy Juster of decopix.com defines Art Deco as a label we now apply to a group of buildings and objects which, in their day, were simply "modern". The Depression saw the emergence of a new architecture that really was modern, the Streamline Moderne which was both a reaction to Art Deco and a reflection of austere economic times of the day.

Wikipedia describes Art Deco as a mixture of many different styles and movements of the early 20th century, including Neoclassical, Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, Art Nouveau, and Futurism. The structure of Art Deco is based on mathematical geometric shapes. It was widely considered to be an eclectic form of elegant and stylish modernism, being influenced by a variety of sources. Among them were the so-called "primitive" arts of Africa, Ancient Egypt and Aztec Mexico. It also drew on Machine Age or streamline technology such as modern aviation, electric lighting, the radio, the ocean liner and the skyscraper for inspiration.

Famous Art Deco buildings in KL are the Central Market, the Oriental Building on Jalan Melaka/Tun Perak, MMC/Mahkota College/Ekran building on Jalan Tangsi, The ODEON Cinema on Jalan Dang Wangi, the OCBC Bank branch in Jalan Hang Kasturi and if I’m not mistaken, the JB hospital. The Coronade Hotel is a new building based on Art Deco architecture.

The popularity of Art Deco sadly declined in the late 1930’s.

References:
Hauffe, Thomas (1998). Design: A Concise History (1 ed.). London: Laurence King.
Wood, Ghislaine. "Traditional Motifs". Essential Art Deco. London: VA&A Publications. p. 21.
http://www.decopix.com/New%20Site/Pages/Directory%20Pages/Intro.html
http://www.vam.ac.uk/nal/guides/art_deco/index.html
http://char.txa.cornell.edu/art/decart/artdeco/artdeco.htm
http://www.vintagemalaya.com/index.html