IN NEW MALAYSIA, PLEASE DON’T ERASE YAP AH LOY’S LEGACY LIKE UMNO-BN DID: ‘KL WAS GROUND ZERO, MINES WERE DESTROYED, MANY LOST HOPE & LEFT BUT YAP AH LOY DIDN’T GIVE UP’

PETALING JAYA – The third Kapitan China of Kuala Lumpur Yap Ah Loy’s efforts in rebuilding the tin mining settlement after the Selangor Civil War, or better known as the Klang War, in the early 1870s should not be forgotten.

His great-grandson James Yap Mook San, 80, said Yap should be remembered as the developer of Kuala Lumpur.

“Kuala Lumpur was ground zero, mines were destroyed. Many lost hope and left the place after the war, but my great-grandfather stayed on to rebuild the city.

“He began by asking people to grow padi and other crop, he took up loans to develop the place and was almost bankrupt due to the slump in tin prices, but he never gave up,” he told Bernama recently.

James said despite facing another catastrophe in 1881, when part of the settlement was destroyed in a fire, and a flood which swept through the town at the end of that year, they did not deter Yap from rebuilding Kuala Lumpur,

“Will KL be what it is today if not for Yap Ah Loy and his people who had stayed put and continued rebuilding it?” he asked.

It was also due to the development of Kuala Lumpur that the British Resident moved its office to Kuala Lumpur from Klang and paved the way for Kuala Lumpur to become the capital city of Malaysia, James said.

James’ son Glenn Yap added that Yap laid the foundation for Kuala Lumpur to become what it is today.

“He did a