Trips

Office Matters

Lebuh Ampang

This is a vibrant area, with predominantly Indian restaurants, spice and sundry stores and money-lenders. There are also street vendors selling fresh flower garlands. This is a street where examples of Utilitarian, Neo-classical and Art Deco features can be seen.

Shophouses No 16-18, built in 1930, has as Art Deco ornamentation stylized plaster peacocks between the two upper floors. No 24-30 is a linked group of Neo-classical shophouses elaborately decorated with distinctive plaster carvings, scrolls and roof-top balustrade. Columns on the top floors divide each façade into two bays, with a window in each bay. No 32-34 are two-storey Utilitarian shophouses. The jack roof, the carved wooden fanlights and unusual butterfly grills provide ventilation. The roof is clad over but the original old tiles are still evident.

Lebuh Ampang was the street of the Chettiars, a south Indian caste of money-lenders. An economic force in Kuala Lumpur's early development, the Chettiars' assessment of the credit worthiness of their clients was to prove invaluable. Their role has diminished with the establishment of banks and other financial institutions.

An example of a Chettiar house exists at No 85, which is decorated with glazed ceramic tiles of peacock designs. The peacock is the carriage of Lord Muruga who, in his bachelor manifestation, is the Hindu deity of the Chettiar caste. Inside the shophouse, the traditional low benches, chests and an old safe, are visible expressions of this activity.