Seri Kembangan, formerly known as Serdang New Village, is a town located in
Petaling District
The Petaling District is a district located in the heart of Selangor in Malaysia. Petaling is not to be confused with the city of Petaling Jaya located in it, nor the ''mukim'' of Petaling under Petaling Jaya City. The district office is located ...
,
Selangor
Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...
,
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 ...
. The town is now a considerable city in size. It is located near the northern end of the
PLUS Expressway Southern Route .
History
Seri Kembangan was established as the Serdang New Village in 1950 when the British moved
Malaysian Chinese
Malaysian Chinese (; Malay: ''Orang Cina Malaysia''), alternatively Chinese Malaysians, are Malaysian citizens of Han Chinese descent. They form the second largest ethnic group after the Malay majority constituting 22.4% of the Malaysian po ...
villagers living around
Sungai Besi
Sungai Besi (formerly known as ''Sungei Besi'') (English: Steel River) is a town and suburb within the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. It was also a federal constituency in Kuala Lumpur from 1974 to 1995. Sungai Besi was a historical mining ...
to a centralised location due to the
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
threat during the
Malayan Emergency
The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...
as part of the
Briggs Plan
The Briggs Plan ( ms, Rancangan Briggs) was a military plan devised by British General Sir Harold Briggs shortly after his appointment in 1950 as Director of Operations during the Malayan Emergency (1948–1960). The plan aimed to defeat the Ma ...
.
In its early days, the village had 50 houses and all were built from scratch because the British only provided empty plots of land. The area was close to rubber estates and the jungle posed dangers of a different kind. Most of the 15,000 inhabitants earned meagre incomes as mining workers and rubber tappers.
At one point, the Seri Kembangan New Village was known for cottage industries like shoe-making and type settings services but this has been overtaken by more profitable ventures.
There are now 2,500 houses with only a smattering of the original wooden houses left and the population is estimated to be 150,000, largely made up of entrepreneurs, businessmen, professionals, government servants who are working in Putrajaya and other multinational corporations employees located in
Cyberjaya
Cyberjaya (a portmanteau of ''cyber'' and ''Putrajaya'') is a city with a science park as the core that forms a key part of the Multimedia Super Corridor in Malaysia. It is located in Sepang District, Selangor. Cyberjaya is adjacent to, and deve ...
.
The only form of entertainment around the vicinity in the 1950s until the 1970s was a cinema.
After the
1998 Commonwealth Games
The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unprecedent ...
, more developments took place from 2000 onwards and other prominent developments includes
AEON
The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timeles ...
Equine Park,
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
, Pasar Borong Selangor (wholesale market),
Maybank
Malayan Banking Berhad (doing business as Maybank) is a Malaysian universal bank, with key operating "home markets" of Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. According to the 2020 Brand Finance report, Maybank is Malaysia's most valuable bank b ...
,
Giant Hypermarket
GCH Retail (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (doing business as Giant Hypermarket) is a hypermarket and retailer chain now mainly in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Cambodia, and formerly Indonesia and Vietnam. In 2016, Giant was the largest supermarket chain ...
and other businesses transformed this area into a business hub.
Climate and weather
Protected by the
Titiwangsa Mountains
The Titiwangsa Mountains ( Malay: ''Banjaran Titiwangsa,'' بنجرن تيتيوڠسا, ), also known as ''"Banjaran Besar"'' (Big Range) by locals, is the chain of mountains that forms the backbone of the Malay Peninsula.
The northern section ...
in the east and Indonesia's
Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
Island in the west, Seri Kembangan has a
tropical rainforest climate
A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''Af'') which is warm and sunny, along with abundant rainfall, especially during the
northeast monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscill ...
season from October to March. Temperatures tend to remain constant. Maximums hover between and have never exceeded , while minimums hover between and have never fallen below . Seri Kembangan typically receives minimum of rain annually; June and July are relatively dry, but even then rainfall typically exceeds per month.
Politics
The early Community leaders of the village since 1952 who had greatly contributed towards the development of Serdang New Village were Mr Hee Kon Swee, JP, PPN and Mr Chow Pak Fah, PJK, PPM. Various Government dignitaries were invited by them to assist in improving the conditions and developing the infrastructure of the village. In 1964, the first Prime Minister,
Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ( ms, تونكو عبد الرحمن ڤوترا الحاج ابن سلطان عبد الحميد حليم شاه, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 8 Febru ...
visited the village to have the first hand knowledge about the village. This was followed by Assistant Education Minister, Mr Lee Siok Yew.
On 12 November 1968, Deputy Prime Minister
Tun Abdul Razak
Tun Haji Abdul Razak bin Dato' Hussein ( ms, عبد الرزاق بن حسين, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 11 March 1922 – 14 January 1976) was a Malaysian lawyer and politician who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of Malaysia f ...
came to open ceremony of the Serdang New Village Secondary School. In 1969, Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak came again for the groundbreaking of Serdang New Village Clinic.
On 10 March 1972, Minister of Health, Mr Lee Siok Yew and Minister of Finance,
Tun Tan Siew Sin visited the village. The village also saw the visit of Chief Minister of Selangor,
Dato Harun Idris.
These two pioneers Mr Hee and Mr Chow never thought their efforts in improving the lives of the village residents would one day turned this backwater village to become a bustling city today.
At the national level, Seri Kembangan is part of the Puchong parliamentary constituency, currently represented by
Gobind Singh Deo
Gobind Singh Deo s/o Karpal Singh ( pa, ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਦਿਓ, Gobind Siṅgh Dio; born 19 June 1973) is a Malaysian politician and lawyer who served as the Minister of Communications and Multimedia in the Pakatan Harapa ...
of the
DAP
DAP or Dap may refer to:
Science
* DAP (gene), human gene that encodes death-associated proteins, which mediate programmed cell death
* Diamidophosphate, phosphorylating compound
* Diaminopimelic acid, amino acid derivative of lysine
* Diamin ...
.
Meanwhile, Seri Kembangan forms its own constituency in the
Selangor State Legislative Assembly
The Selangor State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Negeri Selangor) is the unicameral state legislature of the Malaysian state of Selangor. The State Assembly is composed of 56 members representing single-member constituencies throughout the sta ...
. The incumbent assemblyperson is Ean Yong Hian Wah, also from the DAP.
Earlier in 1959 till 1964, it was known as Damansara Constituency before it is called Serdang and later Puchong Constituency. The first MP was Karam Singh Veriah from Socialist Front and won the Damansara Constituency twice.
Leisure
Shopping
Seri Kembangan has three major malls: the aforementioned The Mines Shopping Mall, an
AEON
The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timeles ...
store in Taman Equine, Giant Hypermarket, and South City Plaza.
Food
Seri Kembangan is known for its good and varied street food, incorporating Chinese, Malay, Indian and other races' influences into its literal melting pot.
The best places to savour street cuisine include Seri Kembangan Night Market and Seri Serdang Night Market (opens every Monday and Friday nights). The more prominent local dishes include nasi lemak, asam laksa, char kway teow, curry noodle, mamak fried mee, rojak and cendol.
Tourism
Seri Kembangan is home to the
Mines Wellness City
Mines Wellness City, formerly known as Mines Resort City, is an integrated Health and Wellness resort township in Seri Kembangan, Selangor, Malaysia.
Background
The land was formerly the world's largest open cast tin mine. Currently the develo ...
, a healthcare-oriented resort city. There used to be a theme park known as ''Mines Wonderland'', which operated between 1997 and 2011. The development project also featured
shopping malland th
Palace of the Golden Horses a luxury hotel.
Transportation
Car
Seri Kembangan is located at the intersection of three tolled highways -
PLUS
Plus may refer to:
Mathematics
* Addition
* +, the mathematical sign
Music
* ''+'' (Ed Sheeran album), (pronounced "plus"), 2011
* ''Plus'' (Cannonball Adderley Quintet album), 1961
* ''Plus'' (Matt Nathanson EP), 2003
* ''Plus'' (Martin Ga ...
,
Besraya and
KLS . The
Maju Expressway
The Maju Expressway (MEX) (formerly known as Kuala Lumpur–Putrajaya Expressway (KLPE) and KL–KLIA Dedicated Expressway) ( Malay: ''Lebuhraya Kuala Lumpur-Putrajaya'') is an expressway network in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The -long expressway li ...
runs near the western fringe of this township. The interchange with
KESAS and
MRR2
Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2 or Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 2 Scheme), Federal Route 28, is a ring road built by the Malaysian Public Works Department (JKR) to connect neighborhoods near the boundary of Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur ...
lies nearby.
Consequently, Seri Kembangan is regarded as the ''southern gateway'' into
Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, su ...
for motorists travelling from southern Selangor,
Negeri Sembilan
Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the s ...
,
Malacca
Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...
or
Johor
Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan ...
.
Public transportation
The main rail station serving Seri Kembangan is
KTM Serdang, part of the
KTM Komuter
KTM Komuter is a commuter rail system in Malaysia operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM). It was introduced in 1995 to provide local rail services in Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding Klang Valley suburban areas. Services were later expanded to ...
network operated by state railway operator
KTMB.
Under the
MRT Putrajaya line
The MRT Putrajaya Line is the second Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in Klang Valley, Malaysia, and the third fully automated and driverless rail system in region. The line stretches from to Putrajaya and runs through densely populated areas ...
Phase 2 project which is opening in 2023, six stations were located serving areas in Seri Kembangan, Serdang Jaya, Serdang Raya and
Universiti Putra Malaysia
University of Putra Malaysia ( Malay: ''Universiti Putra Malaysia''), abbreviated as UPM, is a Malaysian public research university located in Serdang, Selangor. Formerly it was named Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (Agricultural University of ...
.
Alternately there is the
Sungai Besi Station
ta, சுங்கை பேசி
, image = Sungai Besi LRT Station platform (211106).jpg
, image_caption = Platform view of the station.
, address = Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur
, other = Proposed connection to future Maju KL station on KT ...
which is about 4 km north.
Education
*
Universiti Putra Malaysia
University of Putra Malaysia ( Malay: ''Universiti Putra Malaysia''), abbreviated as UPM, is a Malaysian public research university located in Serdang, Selangor. Formerly it was named Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (Agricultural University of ...
PORTMAN College* SK Taman Universiti
* SK Seri Serdang
* SK Serdang
* SK Desaminium
* SK Taman Sungai Besi Indah
* Sekolah Menengah Universal Hua Xia
* S.J.K.(C) Bukit Serdang
* S.J.K.(C) Serdang Baru 1
* S.J.K.(C) Serdang Baru 2
* S.J.K.(C) Kung Man
* S.J.K.(T) Serdang
*
SMK Seri Serdang
* SMK Seri Indah
*
SMK Seri Kembangan
* SMK Desaminium
* Hua Xia International School
* Kingsgate International School
*
Alice Smith School, Secondary Campus (International & Private School)
*
Australian International School Malaysia - located in MINES Resort City.
[Contact Map]
." Australian International School, Malaysia
The Australian International School Malaysia (AISM) is a private international school located in The MINES Resort City, Seri Kembangan, Selangor, Malaysia.
The school provides a pre-school and K-12 education to its students; and it follows the ...
. Retrieved on 23 September 2015. "Australian International School Malaysia 22 Jalan Anggerik, The MINES Resort City, 43300 Seri Kembangan, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia"
*Rafflesia International & Private School
References
{{Coord, 3, 02, N, 101, 43, E, region:MY_type:city, display=title
Petaling District
Towns in Selangor