Went to Petaling Street on Monday (Feb 4), trying to catch some Chinese New Year (CNY) mood… came back feeling moody indeed, for the wrong reason though.
To begin with, you can’t really feel like CNY is approaching in Petaling Street; there are not many stalls selling CNY goods… a few flower stalls, a few bakkwa (dried meat) stalls and a few candy stalls… that’s it.
The elements that are severely lacking though… are things that could reflect the Chinese culture and influence in Malaysia.
I was not really happy when Petaling Street was being branded as Chinatown, as I always felt that Chinese could be seen everywhere in Malaysia, thus we don’t really need a Chinatown. Still, it’s kinda disappointing when this famous street is losing its Chinese charm and is dominated by foreign merchants instead.
The only worth mentioning Chinese stuff is the food… but then, lots of the workers in the restaurants are not Chinese as well. In fact, you can hardly hear anyone speaking Chinese in Petaling Street.
You probably won’t feel that Petaling Street is a China Town these days… in fact you might not feel like you are in Malaysia when visiting the street. Malaysia truly Asia… such irony.