Most of us living in Petaling Jaya know little about the origins of the sprawling metropolis we live in. Vimala Sundram gives some insight into the early days of Pee Jay.

Petaling, named after a very valuable forest timber species found in the area, was the district in which a new town was to be established. “Jaya” says Federal Town Planner, T.A.L. Concannon, 1957, “was chosen by General Sir Gerald Templer as appropriate for this progressive enterprise as it was regarded as a glorified New Village.”

“Petaling Jaya was designed for an estimated population of 70,000 on a site of 3000 acres, with areas for industry, commerce, government buildings, public recreation, schools, housing and other private and community use. It was a means to solve the problems of overcrowding, squatter housing (which was assumed more than ordinary social importance with the ‘Emergency’ as suspected hideout and source of food supply for communist terrorists), non-conforming industry and legitimate demands for industrial sites that had arisen in Kuala Lumpur,” said Concannon.

So in 1952, the first residents were translocated into Petaling Jaya from squatter areas in Kuala Lumpur and villagers in ‘communist sensitive’ areas around the country. The Colonial Government at the time thought that this first New Town would allow for systematic development.

But “PJ’s development took off like wild fire” says Hilton Paul, 85, retired Malayan Railway District Traffic Superintendent. ” This small town came under fire with the ever increasing population growth, and development took off at a rapid pace with housing construction, rubber and oil palm plantations, infrastructural development, shops and factories and then a major highway linking PJ, Kuala Lumpur and Port Klang.

“The promise of quiet understated homes nestled into hillsides, and a town built in a grid system where everyone lived in a square, with a community playing field in the center wasn’t quite implemented as planned,” Hilton reminisces. ” Around the old town market there is still some evidence of a lovely balance between recreational and residential areas,” he adds referring to the tiny cluster of coffee shops and retail stores (now called Old Town) that was the nucleus for the satellite town of Petaling Jaya. We used to have nightly visits from wild boars, pythons and cobras and monitor lizards and tree iguanas. Sun bears used to roam wild as well as a black panther. All sorts of monkeys were always seen playing up in the trees or hassling the wild dogs. Where have they all gone?

Today, Petaling Jaya is home to over 1 million people and has spread to encompass other small townships in the area. The resulting urban sprawl is viewed as a success story. To some extent this is true. Per capita income of the residents of PJ is one of the highest in the country. Health and hygiene levels are generally considered adequate. And yet with all this, we’ve lost our green spaces.