Chow Kit is a suburb in central

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. It is located around Jalan Chow Kit (Chow Kit Road) and is enclosed by the parallel streets of Jalan Raja Laut and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. It is named after Loke Chow Kit (陸秋傑) a well-known miner, municipal councilor, public official, and also the first local owner of a department store - Chow Kit & Co – which was the largest in KL at the time. Today the area features a large

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

n community and known as "Little Jakarta". The majority of Indonesia's Minangkabau, Javanese, and Acehnese open restaurants and as retailer. Recently, a small African community also lives there. There is a

night market Night markets or night bazaars are street markets which operate at night and are generally dedicated to more leisurely strolling, shopping, and eating than more businesslike day markets. They are typically open-air markets popular in East Asia, So ...

also known as ''Bundle Chow Kit'' along Lorong Haji Taib which is known for the sale of used clothing and accessories.

Wet market

A daily

wet market A wet market (also called a public market or a traditional market) is a marketplace selling fresh foods such as meat, fish, produce and other consumption-oriented perishable goods in a non-supermarket setting, as distinguished from " dry mar ...

known as Bazaar Baru Chow Kit is the largest wet market in Kuala Lumpur, and a tourist attraction. A wide variety of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...

and

seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus a ...

products are available for customers.

Red-light district

Chow Kit has traditionally been known as one of the major

red-light district A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are parti ...

s in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

. Many of the prostitutes are daughters of prostitutes and have grown up in the area. Malaysian director Justin Ong's 2013 film, ''Ida's choice'', is about a young woman in the red-light district.

Transportation

The

KL Monorail The KL Monorail Line is one of the operational monorail systems in Malaysia. Operated as part of the RapidKL system by Rapid Rail, a subsidiary of Prasarana Malaysia, it is one of the components of the Klang Valley Integrated Transit System. The l ...

Chow Kit Monorail station is situated in this area, and the

Ampang Line The LRT Ampang Line and the LRT Sri Petaling Line are medium-capacity light rapid transit (LRT) lines in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. The combined network comprises 45.1 kilometres of tracks (28.0 miles) with 36 stations and was the first r ...

PWTC LRT station is located nearby.

In popular culture

*Chow Kit Road became the subject of the hit song, ''Chow Kit Road'', made famous by the late

Sudirman Arshad Dato' Sudirman bin Haji Arshad, (25 May 1954 – 22 February 1992), known mononymously as Sudirman, was a Malaysian singer and songwriter. His singing career kicked off after winning the Bintang RTM singing competition on 11 August 1976. His ...

. Sudirman held an open-air concert on the road in 1986 to a 100,000-strong audience.Good ol’ charm of Jalan Chow Kit
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Gallery

File:SHOPPING_2_0042.jpg, The wet market File:MURTABAK_1_0031.jpg, Murtabak (pancake) seller File:CHICKEN_1_0050.jpg, Chicken meat in Chow Kit File:ANCHOVY_1_0058.jpg, Small-sized anchovies in Chow Kit File:Bazaar Baru Chow Kit 631.jpg,

Carambola Carambola, also known as star fruit, is the fruit of '' Averrhoa carambola'', a species of tree native to tropical Southeast Asia. The mildly poisonous fruit is commonly consumed in parts of Brazil, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the South Pacif ...

File:Bazaar Baru Chow Kit 632.jpg, Pitaya File:Bazaar Baru Chow Kit 634.jpg,

Durian The durian (, ) is the edible fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus ''Durio''. There are 30 recognised ''Durio'' species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. '' Durio zibethinus'', native to Borneo and Sumatra, is the o ...

References

{{Greater Kuala Lumpur African diaspora in Malaysia Suburbs in Kuala Lumpur Indonesian diaspora in Malaysia Red-light districts in Malaysia