Yap Ah Loy

Who was Yap Ah Loy?

Yap Ah Loy, also known as Yap Tet Loy and Yap Mao Lan. He is regarded as the founding father of modern Kuala Lumpur, he developed Kuala Lumpur as a commercial and mining centre during the mid-19th century. Yap Ah Loy became a Kapitan Cina and the headman of a settlement of Chinese inhabitants. After the independence of Federation of Malaya from the British Empire on August 31, 1957 and later the Formation of Malaysia in 1963, Kuala Lumpur became the capital of Malaysia. Today, there is a street named after him in the heart of Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur, known as 'Jalan Yap Ah Loy'.