Sri Petaling

The Sri Petaling LRT station (Sri Petaling Line), Sri Petaling, Malaysia. Photograph taken in February 2007.

Sri Petaling is a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia. It is located to the south of the city, near Happy Garden, and was formerly known as Bandar Baru Seri Petaling, Kuchai Lama and Bukit Jalil. This suburb was first developed in 1981; before this, there was a rubber plantation there. From the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s it was widely-known as the 'rubbish area' as it was the location of a landfill site. Garbage disposal was discontinued and the land it had occupied turned into a playground and car park area for the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

Locality

Sri Petaling has easy access to the Government departments in Putrajaya, which is the administrative capital of Malaysia, to Cyberjaya and to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Sepang International Circuit (venue for the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix) is only twenty-five minutes away, Kuala Lumpur city centre, Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Damansara and Puchong, is 15 minutes away whereas the Shah Alam is 20 minutes away by modern transport, and the royal town of Klang is 45 minutes away.

Recent history

Transport

The population in Sri Petaling was not high in the early 1980s as it was relatively distant from the city of Kuala Lumpur and a little isolated. The population grew in the late 1980s when two routes of access were opened to neighbouring suburbs; one to Salak Selatan, also known as Salak South, and another to Taman Gembira, or Happy Garden. Over the course of the next decade, development continued and the population grew. In 1997, the Shah Alam Expressway (KESAS) was opened, allowing people to travel to Subang Jaya in as little as 10 minutes. The opening of the Shah Alam Expressway was one of the reasons for the rapid growth in Sri Petaling. Test1

Shops

By 2009, Sri Petaling had its own Carrefour hypermarket located in the Endah Parade Shopping Complex, the largest shopping complex in the area. Although Carrefour declared its intention to move from Sri Petaling in 2010, by this time Endah Parade accommodated more than 100 shops, including a The Store hypermarket, shops selling items of fashion, watches, food and beverage, jewellery, music, drug stores, a spa and a massage parlour. Sri Petaling has its own hotel, the Hotel Sri Petaling, and there are a lot of 24-hour food stalls. A Persian mini-market, the Aria, is located next to Endah Villa condominium.

Sri Petaling has bakeries, book stores and cafes.

Housing

The three areas of Sri Petaling that were first developed for residential use were the area of Jalan Puteri Senggang near the main road, Jalan Wan Empok 1 and Jalan Wan Empok 2. In the 1980s, these districts were the main areas of population in Sri Petaling. In the 1980s, the houses sold for between RM40,000.00 and RM60,000.00. By 2010, the value of the houses had increased to RM500,000.00–RM1,000,000.00 although the area mostly consists of leasehold titles.

Large apartment buildings of the condominium type have been built; these include ones named Endah Villa, Endah Regal, Endah Puri and Endah Ria.

Schools and education

Sri Petaling has many kindergartens, primary schools and two secondary schools. In addition, Seri Petaling has a music school, an art centre, a dance school, a yoga centre and a language centre. Primary schools include Sekolah Sri Petaling. The two secondary schools are SMK Bandar Baru Seri Petaling and SMK Seri Saujana.

Amenities and nightlife

A large mosque is located near the centre of Sri Petaling. There is also Masjid Jamek, near SMK Bandar Baru Seri Petaling, which is always packed with Muslim worshippers on Fridays and in the month of Ramadhan.

The Sri Petaling Community Centre is often used by Seri Petaling residents to play badminton, and it has a football field, basketball court and a playground for children.

For lovers of night life, there are two Night Markets on separate nights; one is located at the front of The Store hypermarket and it is open every Tuesday. The other opens every Friday and is located further along the street next to the BHP Petrol Station. There's a nightclub in the Endah Parade which is open from 10 midnight to 6 am.

A new police station was under construction in 2009.

External links

• Sri Petaling Community Online
• Sri Petaling Community Portal
• Sri Petaling Residents Association Highway Action Committee Online
• Sri Petaling Residents Association Website