KUALA LUMPUR – Kuala Lumpur City Gallery (KLCG) was hoping for a plain-sailing restart to its business when it reopened its doors on December 15, after being shuttered for over 20 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
But barely four days after it was reopened to the public, the iconic tourist spot, strategically located in the heart of Dataran Merdeka, was once again brought to its knees – this time by the floods that swept across the country over two weeks ago.
Rather than dwell on it, the resilient Andrew Lee – the founder and chief executive of commercial concern Arch, which owns and operates KLGC – and his team of some 20 individuals picked up the pieces and got on with life.
On December 25, exactly a week after the disaster inundated the two-storey premises and damaged potentially hundreds of thousands of ringgit worth in items, KLCG once again accepted visitors.
Speaking to The Vibes, Lee recalled the experience he had to go through following the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, which saw the government impose various restrictions, including travel bans, effectively crippling KLCG’s business.
KLCG, housed in what was once the historic Selangor Government Printing Office building, is a tourist information centre of the city and serves as a sort of museum where visitors can learn about Kuala Lumpur’s past, present and future.
The place used to earn around half a million ringgit a month pre-pandemic.
However, the multiple lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 meant it was no longer practical to operate its business banking on foreign tourism alone.
During this period, the team moved online to sell baked goods, before upgrading the gallery to include a fine confectionery and bakery cafe to entice more local visitors.
Physical upgrading works began in October last year before the place officially opened to the masses last month.
“We spent an estimated RM300,000 for the upgrading and to purchase new equipment and ingredients for our delicacies. Then we were ready and announced our opening on Wednesday (December 15),” he said.
Three days later, the flood happened. It was a Saturday, and we were operating our business as usual during the day. The water rose and entered at night.”
According to Lee, the floodwaters damaged most of his furniture, food stocks, gallery exhibits and kitchen equipment, and it took his team a week to clean up and replace their items.
KLCG also had to replace some of the destroyed exhibits with makeshift line drawings of the old KL buildings, although the gallery’s main masterpiece – the Greater Kuala Lumpur model, which took Lee and his architecture modelling firm three years to build — was saved, as it is located on the upper floor.
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“I don't even want to be reminded about how much the flood had cost us. It's just so painful to remember. The damage is already done,” he said.
Despite the predicament KLCG had to go through in the past couple of years, Lee said everyone involved remained positive and were in high spirits as they ushered in the new year, driven by the gallery’s long and rich history serving locals and foreigners.
“For many years, we have been so proud of the gallery, and it is an award-winning centre.
We are always reminded of how we are able to attract and be useful to tourists wanting to learn about KL.
"While we don't have many international tourists now, this doesn’t mean we can’t attract the domestic crowd.
“Now is as good a time as ever for the locals to know KL. We want to give an insight to Malaysians into our capital city.” – The Vibes, January 5, 2022
