It has since been classified as a Heritage Site by the Malaysian Heritage Society and is now a landmark for Malaysian culture and heritage. It is also strategically located within public transport facilities.
Central Market has created a corner to display the country’s multi-ethnicity and the stalls are zoned based on the features of each race. The new zone therefore would consist of three lanes namely Lorong Melayu, Straits Chinese and Lorong India.
The purpose of this new zoning is to let visitors have an insight of the cultural difference of the various races in Malaysia.
These is also a Malacca Jonker Street – a street featuring double-storey and single-storey Baba- Nyonya styled architectural buildings, a Batik Emporium which houses well-known designer labels with the best Malaysian-made batik items ranging from clothes, shoes, bags to home finishing.
Central Market is a one-stop shopping centre for Malaysian products such as handicraft, art, kebaya, songket, batik and the wide variety of Malaysia cuisine.
Efforts to improvise and upgrade facilities in Central Market also include having a variety of food and beverage outlets such as Secret Recipe, Old Town Kopitiam, King Confectionary, Famous Amos, Precious Restaurant (Traditional Baba Nyonya Cuisine, Ginger Restaurant (Malaysian-Thai Cuisine) and many more.
Colourful Malaysian cultural and arts events are presented at the Central Market Outdoor Stage. Central Market celebrates all the traditional festivals of each race in Malaysia.
Moreover, Central Market supports the local contemporary arts in The Annexe Gallery.
The building was build in 1888 by the British who were ruling Malaya at that time and it was used as a wet market for Kuala Lumpur citizens and tin miners.
Further expansions were made in 1889,1895, 1920 and 1921. By 1933, the expansions to the warehouse shaped the market into its present size and cost around $167,000
As Kuala Lumpur experienced its own development at a rapid pace in the 1970s, there were plans to demolish the site. The intervention of the Malaysian Heritage Society proved timely as it successfully petitioned against its deconstruction and the site was declared a “Heritage Site”.
The wet market was very convenient for the early city dwellers because it was within the vicinity of Klang bus stand, then the hub of service for Kuala Lumpur and the train station.
During construction of Dayabumi near the Klang River banks in 1981, the market was saved from demolition. In 1985, the market was renovated into vibrant and colourful new style and on April 1986 was officially known as Pasar Budaya until now. PHOTOS: Norizan Murshid
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