[VIDEO] People of KL: The Descendants of a great Kapitan – Yap Ah Loy

THE history of early Kuala Lumpur is inseparable from Yap Ah Loy's story, as it was mainly due to his willpower and determination that Kuala Lumpur rose from numerous calamities to become a thriving metropolis and ultimately, establishing itself as our nation’s capital. 

He was a leader of the Chinese community in Kuala Lumpur who had left China in search of a better life, landing in Melaka first in 1854, before making his way to Kuala Lumpur.

The Vibes Culture and Lifestyle speaks to his great great grandchildren of five generations, in conjunction with the 50th Golden Jubilee Year of Kuala Lumpur, since it became the first settlement in Malaysia to be granted city status on February 1, 1972.

“There was a big (civil) war – fought over a few years, which ended in 1873, and when the enemies were fleeing, they destroyed Kuala Lumpur (KL). Everything in KL was burnt to the ground and people started leaving.

“Yet, my great-great-grandfather stayed back and persuaded for the people not to leave – believing that they can build KL together,” said Glenn Yap, a fifth-generation descendant of Kapitan Yap Ah Loy.

However, after rebuilding Kuala Lumpur back from ground zero, Glenn who is a funeral planner said, several more calamities struck the city – two fires and a flood.

This had resulted in Yap Ah Loy taking loans totalling up to approximately RM20,000 (during that era) to rebuild the shophouses that were destroyed by floods and later by fire that same year.

“With the help of his workers, they dredged up mud from the Klang River and baked them into bricks to rebuild the shophouses – he laid out infrastructure. That showed he was truly committed to the city,” said Grace Yap Sook Ping, who is 57 years old, and is also a fifth-generation descendant of Kapitan Yap Ah Loy.

According to Grace Yap, she believes that Yap Ah Loy was able to anticipate that Kuala Lumpur would boom into a multi-cultural society some day.

“My great-great-grandfather was working alongside with the Malays … the Malay Sultans, then also with the Indians and other races, and I believe it was all out of goodwill.

“I would say he had a ‘Muhibbah’ spirit, and did his utmost to bring up Kuala Lumpur,” said the Sri Sempurna International School English language teacher.

It was known to Yap Ah Loy’s descendants that he built many other public amenities such as schools, hospitals, temples, homes for the aged and more.

Amongst those is the largest Taoist-Buddhist temple on Jalan Tun HS Lee; the Sin Sze Si Ya Temple, that is also said to be the oldest standing structure in Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, for 55-year-old Yap Wai Ming, another fifth-generation descendant of Kapitan Yap Ah Loy, he believes there is no other person who loved Kuala Lumpur as much as his great-great-grandfather.

Experiencing six years of civil war, surviving two fires and a major flood, it was evident that Yap Ah Loy was not willing to back down and abandon Kuala Lumpur.

“Even though he was facing financial bankruptcy, he still stuck to Kuala Lumpur. He took all sorts of lengths to rebuild this city.

“Yap Ah Loy didn’t just stop at that, he even named his sons after Kuala Lumpur,” said Wai Ming, who is the deputy general manager in corporate management for Yamazaki Mazak Malaysia.

According to Wai Ming, Yap Ah Loy’s sons were named after three significant changes that took place in Kuala Lumpur – (i) when he was made third Kapitan China of Kuala Lumpur, (ii) when Kuala Lumpur was prospering and (iii) when Kuala Lumpur was progressing.

Kapitan Yap Ah Loy helped raise Kuala Lumpur from an obscure mining village into the most significant town in the Malay Peninsula and was known as as 'Mr Kuala Lumpur' until 1879 by British Orientalist JM Gullick, and his descendants hope that the Kapitan’s memory will remain pertinent until the end of time as one of the prominent individuals who brought Kuala Lumpur to great heights. – The Vibes, June 12, 2022

*This article is part of a series of content produced for Lens KL, The Vibes Culture & Lifestyle’s fortnightly series that sheds light on the past, present and future aspirations of Kuala Lumpur.