The Two Special Places in Kuala Lumpur: Wat Chetawan Temple and Petaling Street

The Two Special Places in Kuala Lumpur: Wat Chetawan Temple and Petaling Street

I love my country, Malaysia. Malaysia was once under British rule for more than 70 years. In 1957, our first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman has declared for Malaysia Independent Day. There are 28 million of people living in this country and the weather in Malaysia is always hot. The main city of Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur. Kuala Lumpur is a multiracial city which consists of few races: Malays, Chinese, Indians and numerous native peoples. Although we have different cultures, we still live together peacefully in Kuala Lumpur as we accept each other’s history. There are two main places in Kuala Lumpur that can reveal our unique culture: Wat Chetawan Temple and Petaling Street.
One of the interesting places is Wat Chetawan Temple, which is located nearby to the federal of Kuala Lumpur. Basically, Wat Chetawan Temple is a Thai Buddhist temple. Wat Chetawan Temple is one of the largest Temple in Malaysia and it was built completely in 1962. With the hard work of skillful craftsmen and some of the local builders, Wat Chetawan Temple has become the most beautiful Buddhist Temple in Malaysia. It was decorated with different colors of glass tiles, crowned with a series of rows of roofs with some tiny dragon statues and also roofs were gilded with gold leaves. The dragon statues have represented the unique culture of Buddhism. The purpose of building this Temple is to show people about the special culture of Buddhism. Traditionally, different religions were not allowed to visit this Temple as they were not Buddhist. They think that the people of different religions would not respect their God (Buddha) as the people have their own God to worship. Nowadays, they have changed the rules. They allowed the other religion people to visit their Temple so that Buddhist culture will be known by other countries. As time passed, more and more people started to believe in Buddhism and to become His followers. Wat Chetawan Temple meant much more than the building for Buddhists as it is the symbol for all followers for their society. Therefore, Wat Chetawan Temple has shown its unique culture to other people from all across the country. And because of that, Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur are becoming more and more famous.
Another fascinating place in Malaysia is Petaling Street. Petaling Steet is also located in Kuala Lumpur. Yap Ah Loy, who developed Petaling Street since 1800s. Basically, Petaling Street is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Malaysia as they sell practically everything: clothes, accessories, and shoes. There are two places that sell good quality and cheap equipment. First, Loh Tim Kee, a famous shop that sells a variety of traditional clothes. This shop has specialized in traditional clothes for more than 60 years. This is the only shop that sells our unique traditional clothes. No doubts that there are different traditional clothes exist in Malaysia, since Malaysia is a multiracial country. First, we talk about Malays clothing. For Malay men, they wear the Baju Melayu (Malay shirt) with a Songkok (a traditional cap) on the head. They can also choose to wear Batik Shirt (colored design or textile shirt) with trousers. On the other hand, for Malay women, they usually wear Baju Kurung (enclosed dress). Furthermore, for Chinese men, they wear Han Fu (ancient clothing) whereas women wear Cheongsam (long dress, mandarin gown or qipao). Besides Malays and Chinese traditional clothes, there is also traditional attire for Indians. Indian men usually wear Kurta (a loose collarless shirt). For Indian women, they can choose to wear either Sari (a strip of unstitched cloth) or Shalwar kameez (Punjabi suit). All of these clothes have its own special geometric patterns on it that reveal the special culture of Malaysia. Besides, the second place is called Restaurant Kim Lian Kee. This is a restaurant that sells famous Chinese food. In Malaysia, almost everyone knows about this restaurant as they have tasty and cheap Chinese foods which are recommended by people. Mainly, this restaurant is famous for their noodle, which is called “Hokkien Mee”. “Hokkien Mee” is a dish of noodles braised in dark sauce with prawn, pork and chicken slices. Every morning, they need to be ready for their ingredients earlier as this restaurant will be crowded once it is open. Basically, this restaurant has attracted loads of Malays and Indians. Sometimes, there are no places to sit; Malays or Indians will be sitting with Chinese. At that moment, we can know more about different cultures by talking to each other. Not only Malaysians like this noodle, but also many foreigners come to Kuala Lumpur just to try our foods. Therefore, Petaling Street is definitely a place that can reveal Malaysia’s culture as the people are selling clothes and foods that other countries would not have. Indeed, this will help Malaysia’s status become higher in the whole world.
In conclusion, Malaysia is a unique place as Wat Chetawan Temple and Petaling Street have revealed Malaysia’s unique culture. Although we have different cultures or religions, we still can live happily together as we accept each other completely.