Shah Alam

Shah Alam () is a city and the state capital of Selangor, Malaysia and situated within the Petaling District and a small portion of the neighbouring Klang District. Shah Alam replaced Kuala Lumpur as the capital city of the state of Selangor in 1978 due to Kuala Lumpur's incorporation into a Federal Territory in 1974. Shah Alam was the first planned city in Malaysia after independence from Britain in 1957.

History

Malaysia grew rapidly after its independence in 1957 under its second Prime Minister of Malaysia, Allahyarham Tun Abdul Razak Hussein. Shah Alam was once known as Sungai Renggam and was noted for its rubber and oil palm estates. Later, the same area was identified as Batu Tiga prior to Malaysian independence, and has been a centre of rubber and palm oil trade for centuries. The Sungai Renggam Plantation was earmarked for the development of a township by the Selangor government in 1963, and under the recommendations of Vlado Antolic, a town planning advisor from the United Nations, chose the present site strategically located between Kuala Lumpur and Port Klang.

Its current name was chosen by the then state Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, after his late father Sultan Alam Shah. Many other monuments, buildings and even a street are named after the late Sultan. Shah Alam was opened in 1963 with the purpose of making it the new administrative centre of Selangor, replacing Kuala Lumpur which was made a Federal Territory on 1 February 1974. With the consent of the Sultan, Shah Alam was proclaimed the capital of Selangor on 7 December 1978 with an initial area of 41.68 km², and administrated by a municipal council.

Enlargement

Shah Alam was enlarged several times between 1983 and 1997, the last annexation on 1 January 1997:
* 1983: Annexed Section 25-28 ( Sri Muda) from Petaling District Council; 11.41 km² annexed
* 1994: Annexed Setia Alam, Bukit Jelutong and Subang Airport from Petaling District Council, and Kota Kemuning and Sg Kandis from Klang Municipal Council; 208.6 km² annexed
* 1997: Annexed Paya Jaras and parts of Sungai Buloh from Petaling District Council, but ceded Putra Heights and Subang Hi-tech Industrial Park to Subang Jaya; 28.6 km² annexed

Through the Gazette Plan 1190, Shah Alam was extended to its present-day area of 293 km².

City status

Shah Alam was granted city status on 10 October 2000 with Dato' Haji Abu Sujak Haji Mahmud as the first mayor. He recently served as deputy Menteri Besar, or Chief Minister of Selangor. Abu Sujak declared the vision of making Shah Alam a modern city with a unique identity of a ''Bandaraya Melayu'' ("Malay City"), showcasing the achievements of the Malay race in all sectors.

Geography

Shah Alam is located within the district of Petaling and a portion of the district of Klang in the state of Selangor with total area 290.3 km². Due to its recent expansion, it is bordered by the cities of Subang Jaya and Petaling Jaya in the east, the district of Klang in the west, the district of Kuala Selangor and Selayang in the north, and the district of Kuala Langat in the south. Shah Alam is also one of the major cities within the Klang Valley, an area in Malaysia comprising Kuala Lumpur and its suburbs, and adjoining cities and towns in the state of Selangor, due to the Klang River flowing through it on its way westward to the Strait of Malacca.

Located in Klang Valley, Shah Alam topography is mostly flat, except in the northern part of the city where it features a prominent rolling hill.

Cityscape

Shah Alam has a similar urban layout to Petaling Jaya or Subang Jaya with housing areas occupying most of the city (55.2 km²) and commercial centres scattered around the different 'Seksyen' (sections). There are 56 sections in total. Generally Shah Alam can be divided into three parts; the north, central and south parts. North Shah Alam consists of 18 Sections including Sections U1 and U2 and Kampung Melayu Subang. The Central Shah Alam is where all the state administrative buildings and agencies are situated. It consists of Section 1 until Section 24 (seen in the map as beige coloured areas). South Shah Alam consists of 12 sections including Section 25 (Sri Muda), Section 30 (Jalan Kebun), Section 31 (Kota Kemuning) and Section 32 (Bukit Rimau). In the map, south Shah Alam is seen as the light purple coloured areas.

The city has a number of shopping malls (''Aeon Shah Alam Seksyen 13'', ''Plaza Alam Sentral'', (also known as PAS), ''SACC Mall'', ''Plaza Shah Alam'' (formerly known as Shah Alam Mall, also known as Plaza Masalam), ''Ole-Ole Seksyen 18'', ''Central i-City Mall'', ''Anggerik Mall and Kompleks PKNS''). Vibrant commercial areas are situated mostly at the city centre (''Seksyen 14''), ''Seksyen 13'' and ''Seksyen 9''.

All of the main roads and streets in Shah Alam including the new townships such as Setia Alam and Kota Kemuning have signs with their names shown in both Roman and Jawi scripts.

Climate

As with other cities across Peninsular Malaysia, Shah Alam experiences a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification ''Af''). Temperatures are consistent throughout the year with an average high temperature of 31.9 °C and an average low temperature of 23.2 °C. The city is warmest in the month of March, and experiences heavy rains and showers during the month of November as the northeast monsoon moves in from October to March. Overall the climate is fairly humid.

Governance

The Selangor state government's decision to develop the present land into a township saw the formation of the Shah Alam Town Board, a body governed by the Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (PKNS) or Selangor State Development Corporation in 1963. With the declaration of Shah Alam as the state capital by the Sultan of Selangor at the time, the Majlis Perbandaran Shah Alam (MPSA) or Shah Alam Municipal Council was formed in accordance to the Local Government Act 1976.

Local government

Shah Alam is presently administrated by Shah Alam City Council ( ms, Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam) (MBSA), which is an agency under the Selangor state government. It was founded as Shah Alam Municipal Council ( ms, Majlis Perbandaran Shah Alam) (MPSA) at the same time Shah Alam was declared the capital city of Selangor. Operating from a shophouse in Section 3, the council began operations on 1 January 1979 before moving twice; first to the Kompleks PKNS building on 1981 and later to a newly built 28-storey building called Wisma MPSA on 1988. With the declaration of Shah Alam's city status on 10 October 2000, the agency was upgraded into a city council. Since then, nine mayors have been appointed, with the latest being Zamani Ahmad Mansor, who have been in office since 14 June 2021.

Politics

Within the Dewan Rakyat, the parliamentary constituency of (P108) is represented by Azly Yusof of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) while the southern part of the city - (P111) is represented by Mohamad Sabu of the Pakatan Harapan (PH), both of them are from AMANAH. Currently there is a number of State Assembly located in the administrative area of MBSA, namely YB Rodziah, YB Zawawi Mughni, YB Najwan Halimi etc.

Economy

Shah Alam economy consists of government-related for the state government as it's the capital of Selangor, outside of government, Shah Alam major economy are mostly in the manufacturing sector followed by services.

The Malaysian supermarket chain Giant Hypermarket is headquartered at the Giant Hypermarket Shah Alam Stadium in Shah Alam.

Manufacturing plays a big role in Shah Alam economy, it predates Shah Alam existence, most of them are concentrated in the Batu Tiga area and Seksyen 26, 27, and 28. Major plant include CSR Sugar Refinery, Fraser and Neave, Panasonic-Matsushita and more.

Shah Alam also features few automotive industry operation, most notably Volvo being the first and the oldest surviving automobile assembly plant in Malaysia. Proton was founded in Shah Alam and has it headquarters here. PROTON still operates their Shah Alam assembly plant despite having built a bigger assembly plant in Tanjung Malim, Perak. Toyota (under UMW) has an assembly plant here as well.

Education

The Universiti Teknologi MARA (''UiTM'', formerly known until 1996 as ''Institut Teknologi MARA'' or ''ITM'') is located nearby the state capital. The whole university area occupies an entire section on the western hills of the city known as Seksyen 1. At Seksyen 17, there is also a branch campus of UiTM called INTEC UiTM (International Education College), where its students undergo preparation programmes for overseas studies. INTEC UiTM is the only UiTM campus where non-bumiputra students are accepted for admission.

Other institutions of higher learning in Shah Alam include University of Selangor, Management and Science University (MSU), and its affiliate college, MSU College, Shah Alam also has several industrial-related education centres namely Shah Alam Polytechnic (or Politeknik Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah), CIAST, and ADTEC.

Shah Alam is also served by many primary and secondary schools such as SK Bukit Rimau and SMK Kota Kemuning. In some cases, the maximum capacity of students enrolled in schools exceeds the number of potential students in the residential areas. For example, in Taman Alam Megah, Taman Bunga Negara, and Taman Bukit Saga, which are situated in Section 27 and Section 28, there are three secondary schools and seven primary schools. In contrast, in Section 16 and 17, the only secondary school there is Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seksyen 16. Currently, Shah Alam has 23 secondary schools, 1 technical school, 1 vocational school, and 37 primary schools. The SMJK Chung Hwa is the only national-type secondary school within the city.

Chinese Taipei International School (Kuala Lumpur)

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