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 federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

. 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 Gui ...

n community and known as "Little Jakarta". The majority of Indonesia's

Minangkabau Minangkabau may refer to: * Minangkabau culture, culture of the Minangkabau people * Minangkabau Culture Documentation and Information Center * Minangkabau Express, an airport rail link service serving Minangkabau International Airport (''see belo ...

, 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 mark ...

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 animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

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 an ...

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 partic ...

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

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

s 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. Th ...

Chow Kit Monorail station Chow Kit Monorail station is a Malaysian elevated monorail train station that serves as a part of the Kuala Lumpur Monorail (KL Monorail), located in Kuala Lumpur and opened alongside the rest of the train service on August 31, 2003. The statio ...

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 ...

PWTC LRT station PWTC LRT station is a light rail transit (LRT) station in Kuala Lumpur that is served by the Ampang Line and Sri Petaling Line. PWTC stands for "Putra World Trade Center", which was the former name of the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur. The Wor ...

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. Hi ...

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

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 A pitaya () or pitahaya () is the fruit of several different cactus species indigenous to the Americas. Pitaya usually refers to fruit of the genus '' Stenocereus'', while pitahaya or dragon fruit refers to fruit of the genus '' Selenicereus' ...

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 on ...

References

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