Tolin's 2024 World Cruise blog posts, Day 69 Mar 18, 2024, Port Klang, Malaysia, A Glimpse of Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur, officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and colloquially referred to as KL, is a federal territory and the capital city of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of 94 square miles with a census population of 2,163,000 as of 2022. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.564 million people as of 2018. It is among the fastest growing metropolitan regions in Southeast Asia, both in population and economic development. Klang Valley (Kuala Lumpur) is ASEAN's fifth largest economy after Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, and Manila.

The city serves as the cultural, financial, political and economic center of Malaysia. It is also home to the bicameral Parliament of Malaysia (consisting of the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara) and the Istana Negara, the official residence of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (monarch of Malaysia). Kuala Lumpur was first developed around 1857 as a town serving the tin mines of the region and served as the capital of Selangor from 1880 until 1978. Kuala Lumpur was the founding capital of the Federation of Malaya and its successor, Malaysia. The city remained the seat of the executive and judicial branches of the Malaysian federal government until these were relocated to Putrajaya in early 1999. However, some sections of the political bodies still remain in Kuala Lumpur. The city is one of the three federal territories of Malaysia, enclaved within the state of Selangor, on the central west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

Since the 1990s, the city has played host to many international sporting, political and cultural events, including the 1998 Commonwealth Games and the 2017 Southeast Asian Games. Kuala Lumpur has undergone rapid development in recent decades and is home to the tallest twin buildings in the world, the Petronas Towers, which have since become an iconic symbol of Malaysian development. Kuala Lumpur is well connected with neighboring urban metro regions such as Petaling Jaya via the rapidly expanding Klang Valley Integrated Transit System. Residents of the city can also travel to other parts of Peninsular Malaysia as well as to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) via rail through KL Sentral.

Kuala Lumpur was ranked the 6th most-visited city in the world on the Mastercard Destination Cities Index in 2019. The city houses three of the world's ten largest shopping malls. Kuala Lumpur ranks 70th in the world and the second in Southeast Asia after Singapore for the Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Livability Ranking and ninth in ASPAC and second in Southeast Asia for KPMG's Leading Technology Innovation Hub 2021. Kuala Lumpur was named World Book Capital 2020 by UNESCO.

More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuala_Lumpur

Petronas twin towers

The Petronas Towers (Malay: Menara Berkembar Petronas), also known as the Petronas Twin Towers and colloquially the KLCC Twin Towers, are an interlinked pair of 88-storey supertall skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, standing at 1,483 feet. From 1998 to 2004, they were officially designated as the tallest buildings in the world until they were surpassed by the completion of the Taipei 101. The Petronas Towers are the world's tallest twin skyscrapers and remained the tallest buildings in Malaysia until 2019, when they were surpassed by The Exchange 106. The Petronas Towers are a major landmark of Kuala Lumpur, along with the nearby Kuala Lumpur Tower and Merdeka 118, and are visible in many places across the city.

More info (especially interesting construction details): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petronas_Towers

City Hall

Malaysian Parliament

Merdeka 118 tallest building in SE Asia/second tallest in world

Huge indoor soccer field

Night time

Saloma train link

The National Museum is a museum located in Jalan Damansara, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The museum is situated in close proximity to the Perdana Lake Gardens and it provides an overview of Malaysian history and culture. Its facade comprises elements from both traditional Malay and modern features. It was inaugurated on 31 August 1963, and it serves as a repository of Malaysia's cultural and historical heritage.

The National Museum is a three-story structure, 359 feet 11 inches long and 49 feet 6 inches wide, which is 123 feet 4 inches high at the central point. The museum houses four main galleries allotted to ethnology and natural history (geology). The displays range from free-standing tableaux showing cultural events like weddings, festivals and costumes; to traditional weapons, musical instruments, arts and crafts, ceramics, and flora and fauna.

Frieze depicting Malaysian history

WW I, WW II, Japanese liberation war memorial

A similar replica has been presented to the White House

National Monument (Malaysia): The Tugu Negara is a national monument that commemorates those who died in Malaysia's struggle for freedom, principally against the Japanese occupation during World War II and the Malayan Emergency, which lasted from 1948 until 1960. It is located in the Federal capital, Kuala Lumpur. The Malaysian Houses of Parliament is situated near the monument.

It is the world's tallest bronze freestanding sculpture grouping. Until 2010, on 31 July on Warriors' Day, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the Prime Minister, and the heads of the Malaysian Armed Forces and the Royal Malaysia Police pay their respects to the fallen heroes by laying garlands at the monument. Warriors' Day is now commemorated on Merdeka Square, after ultra-conservative religious bureaucrats declared the sculpture to be idolatrous.

More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Monument_(Malaysia)