Serdang, Selangor

Seri Kembangan, also known as Serdang, formerly known as Serdang New Village, is a town located in Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia. It is located in between Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. 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 villagers living around Sungai Besi to a centralised location due to the Communist threat during the Malayan Emergency as part of the Briggs Plan.

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.

The only form of entertainment around the vicinity in the 1950s until the 1970s was a cinema.

After the 1998 Commonwealth Games, more developments took place from 2000 onwards and other prominent developments includes AEON Equine Park, McDonald's, Pasar Borong Selangor (wholesale market), Maybank, Giant Hypermarket and other businesses transformed this area into a business hub.

Climate and weather

Protected by the Titiwangsa Mountains in the east and Indonesia's Sumatra Island in the west, Seri Kembangan has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification ''Af'') which is warm and sunny, along with abundant rainfall, especially during the northeast monsoon 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 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 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 the 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 turn 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 Yeo Bee Yin from DAP. Meanwhile, Seri Kembangan forms its own constituency in the Selangor State Legislative Assembly. The incumbent assemblyperson is Wong Siew Ki, also from DAP. Earlier in 1959 till 1964, it was known as Damansara Constituency before it was called Serdang and later Puchong Constituency. The first MP was Karam Singh Veriah from Socialist Front and won the Damansara Constituency twice.

Demographics

, Seri Kembangan has a population of 130,252 residents. Close to 60% of the population are Chinese followed by Malays at 21%, Indians at 6% and others at less than half a percent.

Leisure

Shopping

Seri Kembangan has three major malls: the aforementioned The Mines Shopping Mall, an AEON 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, a healthcare-oriented resort city. There used to be a theme park known as ''Mines Wonderland'', which operated between 1997 and 2011.

Transportation

Car

Seri Kembangan is located at the intersection of three tolled highways - , and . The , and runs near the western fringe of this township. The interchange with , , , MRR2 and Federal Route 28 lies nearby.

Consequently, Seri Kembangan is regarded as the ''southern gateway'' into Kuala Lumpur for motorists travelling from southern Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca or Johor.

Public transportation

The main rail station serving Seri Kembangan is KTM Serdang, part of the KTM Komuter network operated by state railway operator KTMB.

The MRT Putrajaya line Phase 2 project that was completed and opened on March 16, 2023 features six stations that are located in Seri Kembangan which are Serdang Raya Utara, Serdang Raya Selatan, Serdang Jaya, UPM, Taman Equine and Putra Permai.

Alternately there is the Sungai Besi MRT station which is about 4 km north.

Education

* Universiti Putra Malaysia

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
* SMK Bandar Puncak Jalil
* 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. 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

Notable people

* Aidil Aziz (born 1987), actor

References

{{Coord, 3, 02, N, 101, 43, E, region:MY_type:city, display=title

Petaling District
Towns in Selangor