July 11, 2015
 The bridge over the Klang River leading to Little India, where the Royal Town of Klang Heritage Walk starts.
By MEI MEI CHU “Did you have to show them your passport before they let you past the Klang toll?” If I had a sen for every time someone from Kuala Lumpur made fun of me just because I’m from Klang, I would be a Datuk. The
last time I played host to a group of KL-ites, they stopped at a petrol
station on the highway for road trip snacks and arrived equipped with
sunglasses, caps and cameras. I looked at them quizzically, the same
look of bewilderment I get when I see ang moh tourists in town. “Bring tourists here for what? Nothing to see in Klang. To eat, yes lah. Nothing to see,” any Klangite would say. That
was my perception too until I saw my friends excitedly posing for
photos with the food and in gritty back alleys like real tourists. That,
and the Star2 Monthly Challenge for Travel, got me thinking – have we
been underrating ourselves? Maybe there is much more to our little
town than the stereotypes of Indian gangsters and Hokkien Ah Bengs,
starting with our history and folklore. Last year, the Klang
Municipal Council launched the Royal Town of Klang Heritage Walk,
highlighting beautiful historical buildings around the Klang Railway
Station. Left out from the list is the popular all-boys school called
High School Klang, lovingly known as STK (Sekolah Tinggi Klang).  Built
in 1927, Sekolah Tinggi Klang (STK) was used as a military base and
medical hospital during British and Japanese occupation.STK’s
history goes all the way back to 1927 when it was established by the
British to provide an English education for the community. However, it
wasn’t just for nurturing young minds. This is a school that has seen
war and bloodshed. During World War II, the British used it as a
military hospital. When the Japanese invaded then Malaya, they turned it
into a military base and medical camp. One can only imagine the number
of innocent civilians and wounded soldiers that died on these school
grounds. Close to 90 years later, the school’s eerie past still
lingers on the lips of its students. The most popular urban legend is
said to come from a group of young scouts who were camping in school one
night. It was late, and the moon was shining. They were all alone when,
suddenly, they heard the sound of marching footsteps. It echoed from
the basketball court. Who else could be at school at this hour? Curiosity
drove them towards the sound of the vigorous marching. When they
arrived at the basketball court, all the blood immediately drained from
their faces. They turned pale, as white as the troop of Japanese
soldiers marching before them. Some of the army men were headless. Ironically
enough, the school is also located right next to a Chinese cemetery.
Sitting strategically on a hill, the cemetery overlooks the school
football field. We laugh and call STK Sekolah Tepi Kubur (school beside a
grave). We also joke that these are some of the most expensive cemetery
plots in Malaysia. The hill may not be high enough to be close to
heaven, but at least its “residents” have front row seats to daily
football matches.  STK
is also known as ‘Sekolah Tepi Kubur’ (School Beside The Grave) as a
Chinese cemetery sits strategically beside the school’s football field.Now,
I can’t write a story about Klang without mentioning bak kut teh, can
I? There have been many debates about the origins of the meaty dish, but
for obvious reasons we like to believe that it originated from our
town. To the surprise of many visitors, we typically have bak kut teh,
so heavy in rice and meat, for an early breakfast. Many have asked me
why. The story goes back to when the British brought Chinese
coolies, mostly people from the Fujian province, here to work in the
ports. The labourers needed a good strong breakfast to endure the
back-breaking work of the day. With little money to spare, they chopped
up pork and threw the meat, along with all its innards and bones, into a
pot. Various herbs were added to give them energy to last the day.
Every morning, the coolies would drink a bowl or two of the herbal soup
and fill themselves up with meat and rice before setting off for work.
Thus, the humble bak kut teh was created. The future generation of
this Hokkien community would later come to be known as Pa Sang Lang
(Klang people). With no phonetical similarity, how the Hokkien name of
Klang translates to Pa Sang is a rather amusing story featuring another
famous icon – the Klang river. The name of this new town was a
mystery to the Chinese when they first arrived. One day, a Hokkien man
was standing by the gushing river when he stopped a Malay man passing
by. “What is the name of this place?” he asked in Chinese, finger pointing down to indicate ”this place”. The
Malay man didn’t understand a word of Chinese and thought the man was
pointing at the river. Coincidentally, the river was at high tide, and
he proudly answered in Malay, “Pasang! Pasang! (High tide! High tide!)” From then on, the Hokkien name of Klang was cemented as Pa Sang, and the Mandarin name was translated to Pa Sheng.  The Hokkien translation of Klang, Pa Sang, refers to high tide at the Klang River.With
curious stories like this, perhaps the town on the other end of the
Federal Highway is not as drab as we think it is, after all. But before
you come over, there is one small note to those from the city making fun
of us: Can you speak Hokkien? If you can’t, they won’t let you past the
toll into town. Source: The Star Online |