Pudu Jail...

[kensington]

Last night Pudu Jail was demolished for the land that it has stood on for the past 115 years. Prime piece of real estate for the ruling party to sub-divide. Goldmine, actually...

A place where they hang Angmohs on Monday,
Singaporeans on Tuesday,
Chinese and Indians Malaysians on Wednesday,
and Malays on Friday after morning prayer...

Botak Chin, real name Wong Swee Chin, was one of Malaysia's most wanted criminals. His first taste of the underworld was when he joined Gang 306, participating in his first armed robbery in April 19, 1969. He was caught once and sentenced to seven years in jail after committing eight robberies. When he got out though, he did try to make a decent living as a vegetable trader but found the earnings to be pitiful. He eventually went on to form his own gang with Ng Cheng Wong, Beh Kok Chin and Teh Bok Lay; robbing banks, illegal gambling dens and initiating gang wars (with the Lima Jari Gunung gang). It all went downhill for Botak Chin when they tried to assassinate assistant police commissioner S. Kulasingam, and failed. His attempt spurred the formation of The Dirty Dozen: 12 policemen who established a force to specifically capture Botak Chin. This lead to his arrest in February 1976 after a shoot-out where he was shot SIX times but SURVIVED. Thrown into Pudu Jail under the ISA, he attempted escape in 1981 but failed. He was finally hung to death on 11 June 1981.

The famous mural, almost 400 metres long painted in the early 80's, a Guinness Book of Record Holder.
Khong Yen Chong showing the award he received for painting the mural when he was an inmate at the prison in the 1980s.

 

[red amoeba]

Pudu jail looks harmonous leh, blend in with the drape background formed by the low houses. Preserve at least the wall lah....just like how we preseve the 2 towers of Changi prision.

 

[kensington]

Probably before Altantuya's, the most prolific and sensational murder case in Malaysian history, Mona Fandey (real name: Maznah Ismail) along with husband Mohd Affandi Abdul Rahman and helper Juraimi Hussin were responsible for the death of UMNO State Assemblyman, Mazlan Idris. They chopped his head off with an axe before dismembering him into parts and burying him in the storeroom of Mona's Pahang residence. Incidentally Dain Said's film Dukun is said to be loosely inspired from this morbid but fascinating story .... well apparently lah - we never saw it cos it was never released. Mona Fandey's time in Pudu Jail was transitory - she was moved to the new Kajang Prison to hang on 2 November 2001.


Barlow and Chambers, Drug Running Inc.

This refers two Australian citizens who were charged for drug trafficking. Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers were arrested in Bayan Lepas airport in Penang on 9 November 1983. What tipped airport security off was the fact that Barlow was reported to have acted extremely nervous. When they eventually opened the maroon suitcase the duo carried, they found 141.9g of heroin. The Barlow & Chambers case made international headlines and soured diplomacy ties between Malaysia and Australia considerably when the Malaysian government denied an appeal of clemency from Australian politician, Bill Hayden. Barlow and Chambers were transferred from Penang to Pudu in 1985 and hung at the gallows on 7 July 1986.

Dr. Mahathir then famously remarked that the Australian Govt were welcome to return the favours by hanging two Malaysian inmates in Australian's jails.

Jimmy Chua, real name Chua Chap Seng, was a Singaporean crime ringleader and a former member of the Singaporean police force. He was thrown into Pudu for murdering police constable Mohd Yasin Ismail in 1984. On 17 October 1986, Jimmy and his six henchmen took hostage of skin specialist Dr Radzi bin Jaafar and medical technologist Abdul Aziz Abdul Majid. The ordeal was over on 22 October 1986 with no blood spilled. Jimmy and his gang was charged under Section 3 (1) of the Kidnapping Act 1961 that carries a maximum death penalty upon conviction. They were hung on 10 October 1989.

 

[kensington]

Pudu jail looks harmonous leh, blend in with the drape background formed by the low houses. Preserve at least the wall lah....just like how we preseve the 2 towers of Changi prision.

$$$$$.... It's the bottom line that counts. How much are they going to squeeze out from that piece of land.

Work in progress

camwhores, groupies dan lain lain...Selamat Tinggal

 

[kensington]

KUALA LUMPUR, June 22 – The mural wall of the 115-year-old Pudu Jail was demolished last night amid protesting honks of cars along Jalan Pudu.

Demolition of the 394-metre Pudu Jail wall fronting Jalan Pudu started at 10.10pm as hundreds of onlookers shouted their dismay while snapping last photographs of the historic wall.

However, work halted about 20 minutes later as a large crowd ignoring the moving excavator walked through the gap in the wall and casually strolled on the wide path between the decaying mural and a newly-constructed wall near the deserted prison building.

Boasting notorious former inmates like armed robber Botak Chin, Singaporean gang boss Jimmy Chua and bomoh Mona Fandey, Pudu Jail was first used as an army command centre by the British but became the central prisoner of war camp during the Japanese Occupation from 1941 till 1945.

“They should not destroy (the wall) as it is a reminder to people…although it had a grim history,” said 30-year-old IT trainer Sharifah Sharina who had come here after work at Ulu Kelang to take a picture of the historic wall at about 9.30pm yesterday.


The mural featuring peaceful scenes of nature was painted by prisoner Khong Yen Chong and other inmates as community service in the early 1980s.

It entered the Guinness Book of Records as the longest mural in the world at 394 metres completed in one year using 2,000 litres of paint.

Unlike many others posing in front of the wall, part-time photographer Garry Lin had set up his mini tripod and camera a few feet away from the Pudu Jail entrance where the Berjaya Sompo building loomed against the night sky in the background.


It should be a tourist attraction rather than to have (the wall) taken down,” 23-year-old Garry told The Malaysian Insider yesterday, while adding that he was taking shots from this angle to indicate the location of the wall, compared to mere shots of the wall.

Although Garry was aware that the actual demolition was targeted at the wall facing Jalan Pudu, Sharifah and a few others were not.

In fact, there were about 100 people last night taking pictures of the wall facing Jalan Hang Tuah compared to the 10 people snapping shots of the actual wall that would be demolished outside Jalan Pudu.

“I am not sure,” said administrative assistant Mazliza Muhamad Yusof aged 28 when asked if she knew which part of the wall would be demolished.

“However, they should preserve history,” she added, saying that the government could restore and beautify the prison.

The government had decided that the 115-year-old Pudu Jail was “not something to be proud of” and hence should not be turned into a heritage site, said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Awang Adek Hussin yesterday.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) public works director Siti Saffur Mansor said that the demolition of the wall had been scheduled at 10pm because heavy traffic on Jalan Pudu would have ebbed by then.

“It (the demolition) will be done on three nights…tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday night,” said Siti, adding that they would continue in the wee hours of the morning once the crowd dispersed.

“There are many people going out at night on Saturdays, especially during school holidays,” she added when asked why the demolition was scheduled on a Monday instead of on a weekend.

While the wall makes way for an underpass project aimed at reducing traffic congestion at the Jalan Hang Tuah and Jalan Pudu interchange, the 7.6ha Pudu Jail will be turned into a mixed development project where 40 per cent of the development would house residential properties and the remaining 60 per cent would be for commercial purposes.

The development project which will be spread over 10 years beginning the first quarter of next year is to include a transit centre, serviced apartments, office spaces, recreational areas, hotel and commercial spaces, which will be developed by UDA Holdings Berhad.

 

[kensington]

The Murals...

 

[red amoeba]

i suppose it makes sense as well, no point keeping something not as "glam" as a prison wall...

but hopefully they keep at least a portion of it bah...or one of those KLers can dig and haul back one piece ha ha...

 

[kensington]

That place is quite spooky considering the history that it had endured.

After the fall of Singapore, during World war II, the Japanese occupation forces incarcerated many English, Australian and New Zealand prisoners there.

There are rumours that Pudu Prison is haunted. There have been reports of a strange Indian man walking the halls of the prison and disappearing around the corner. Supposedly, screams have been heard from rooms where hangings have taken place, and there are certain areas of the prison that are far colder than others. Russell Lee, the author of the book series True Singapore Ghost Stories, although the jail is in Malaysia, included a story of a prisoner in Pudu Prison in one of his books. The prisoner reported hearing screaming from the rotan caning area, and he also heard the story that one prisoner committed suicide in order to avoid being caned. Supposedly his ghost stops the last stroke of the cane being given, and the prisoner personally reported this experience happening to him.-wiki

 

[kensington]

While the hundreds of people shouted in protest at the tearing down of Pudu Jail's mural wall last night, an ex-prisoner and two former wardens expressed mixed feelings about the building's demolition.

“It (the demolition) is part of development and we have to pay a price for it,” prison director Narander Singh told The Malaysian Insider yesterday. He used to serve as a warden officer in Pudu Jail from 1988 till 1995.

“I have mixed feelings,” he said, adding that the Pudu Jail once housed 8,000 prisoners in 1993 or 1994.

The ex-prisoner who did not want to give his name spoke about the cramped conditions of the jail during his time there in 1980 as he and seven other inmates took turns to sleep in a cell meant to house three people.

Leong feels change is part of a developing city. - Picture by Choo Choy May
“I am not sure what to say,” he answered when asked how he felt about the wall being torn down.

The 34-year-old man who had just lost his job as a security guard a week ago after his manager discovered his criminal record stayed two years in prison for trafficking heroin.

“The Chinese and Indians are hanged on Wednesday mornings while the Malays are hanged on Friday mornings,” he added.

Former Pudu Jail warden Mohamad Simin, who had worked at the historic jail for 17 years from 1979 till 1996, said his most terrifying experience was when Jimmy Chua with four other inmates took two doctors and a medical assistant hostage in 1986.

“They (the prisoners) said that they wanted to escape…and overcame the doctors using the doctors’ scissors and other sharp equipment at the prison hospital,” said Simin.

The 54-year-old man who is currently working as a warden in the Sungai Buloh prison was, however, non-committal when asked about his response towards the Pudu Jail wall being demolished.

But what do the people who work around the area feel about the "passing" of Pudu Jail? Shop owners along Jalan Pudu and Jalan Hang Tuah also had differing opinions about the demoliton of the mural wall which once entered the Guinness Book of Records as the longest mural in the world.

Teochew porridge seller Leong Wei Peng was optimistic about the future development of the prison site, expressing hopes that it would draw more people to his shop located at Jalan Pudu.

“The prison is right in the middle of the city…it will stop development,” said 60-year-old Leong.

“Business is very slow. Hopefully with new development, there will be more people,” he added.

Leong is a second-generation owner of the 51-year-old restaurant, which used to serve mixed rice to Pudu Jail wardens 20 years ago.

The prison was closed for several years following the executions of Australian nationals Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers for trafficking heroin, and finally closed its doors in November 1996 whereupon Urban Development Authority (UDA) took over.

It was opened briefly as a museum from 1997 till 1998 for a short time, reopened again as a museum in 2004, but finally closed due to poor visitor rate.

Bamboo and wooden chicks maker Tham Kok Koon aged 73 had ventured into the prison itself when he was asked to install blinds in the prison’s administrative centre 30 years ago.

“Preferably, it should not be demolished,” said Tham while he painted some blinds with his wife.

“At least they should preserve the wall for remembrance’s sake since the inside is already destroyed,” he added.

Tham’s Thye Fah Liki shop located on Jalan Pudu used to be a furniture shop when he started working there 59 years ago at the tender age of 14.

On the other hand, 60-year-old Yong Tai Wai who repairs motorcycles in a small shop on Jalan Pudu, did not specifically support or protest the destruction of the wall, saying that his only concern was whether his shop would be forced to close down in the event of road expansions.

“I am just afraid that my shop will be pushed backwards…if the road is expanded,” said the motorcycle repairer who once did repairs for wardens back in 1978.

 

[CheesePie]

eerie...............