‘Little India’ won’t sideline Brickfield’s diversity

KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 — The “Little India” development project in Brickfields here will not sideline the colonial, Chinese and Buddhist cultural heritage that has long existed in the area, said Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin.“The cultural aspects of buildings, arches, street decorations and stalls in the area will be preserved although the project stresses on Indian culture,” he said.


He said the project would not only be a boon for Brickfields residents but also serve as an economic driver for areas in the vicinity like Lembah Pantai, Seputeh and Bangsar. “Although, the project is being undertaken for Indian traders, other communities too will be invited to conduct business in Little India,” he told reporters after performing the ground-breaking ceremony for the project in Brickfields today.The project, which will be undertaken by Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB), involves Jalan Travers and Jalan Tun Sambanthan and will be carried out in two phases with the total cost amounting to RM35 million.
The biggest gainers, he said, would be residents of the government quarters in Jalan Rozario and Jalan Chan Ah Tong as they would be relocated to new housing units to be built by MRCB.Raja Nong Chik said the project also served another purpose, that was making Kuala Lumpur and Chennai in India twin cities.
“A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on this will be signed by the two cities when India’s Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh visits Malaysia later this year,” he said, adding that this would boost ties further between Kuala Lumpur and the capital city of Tamil Nadu state as most of the residents of Brickfields were descendants of immigrants from that state.

Source — Bernama