UNITY IN DIVERSITY // Malaysia has been a country consisting of people with various ethnicity and races for a very long time. Diversity has been shaping the very essence of the country's social structure and historical aspects. With so much history and culture, influence can also clearly be seen on Malaysia’s architecture and its activities. Each race consisting of Chinese, Indians, Malays and other races have their own unique culture and activities. Besides that, different culture brought in from other countries has also clearly influenced our country. In Bukit Bintang, we can see a row of Arab themed shops serving their own food and having a unique activity called smoking shisha. Further down the road, we have hawker stalls that open mostly at night serving all types of food. Finally,we have many bars as well including a Irish themed bar. The unique quality of our diverse country and how all the culture and activity is united has attracted tourist from other country to visit. Due to the fusion of so many forms of culture, tourist would probably feel at home in Bukit Bintang. Bukit Bintang is an excellence example of unity in a diverse country in all forms.
Ziyang Poh Kristopher Teoh Helsa Josephine Allen Jonathan
P H O T O G R A P H E R S / /
Gregorius Efrem Jevon Atmabrata
S U R V I V A L / / By Ziyang Poh
Survival is the most basic thing we all do. To survive, we need the basic necessities, like food, clothing and shelter. Then after fulfilling these essential needs, we look for ways to improve on our material life, through gathering valuables, or in today’s context, wealth. People can go to the very extent to look for a better life, some decided to leave their home town and move to cities far away.  Jalan Bukit Bintang has become increasingly popular for tourist from around the world, as it has a strategic location, a good walking distance from KLCC. As so, the street has become alive and people from all walk of life gathered here to catch on the tourism wave. Job opportunities are abundant here, and construction project goes on and on.  However, surviving in this city is not an easy task, some fares well but some struggles. In fact, many people have chosen Malaysia to look for a better life, and ended up in Bukit Bintang. This is a story of people making a living on Jalan Bukit Bintang.
Selling the newest and trendiest gadgets along Jalan Bukit Bintang has become the street’s tradition. It supports many street vendors, from the very young teens to the very old in their seventies. People do not mind to buy from street vendors even though they do not guarantee on quality and after sales service. Here, the boy was selling the camera selfie stick to the tourist couples as a means of survival. His business depended on the tourists.
This visually impaired gentleman has decided to take a chair and guarded at the junction of the five foot way not far away from the monorail. Holding a simple bucket, he tried his best to stand for most of time, as a gesture of doing some ‘work’ and paid respect to the people donating to him. Maybe one out of a hundred showed mercy to him, it is not an easy way for surviving at Bukit Bintang.
Looking back to the few months of effort put into this construction site, the Bangladeshi chap stared motionlessly into the air for a long long time. Alone in this part of the world far from his homeland, he must have mixed feelings, the struggle torn between being with his love ones back home and the work and adventure in foreign land. Bukit Bintang has filled with thousands, if not tens of thousands of foreign workers everyday, and construction line is one of the most foreign labour intensive field.
Written on the sign board, ‘Disabled hand craft’. This physically impaired gentleman sat on his wheelchair, but his trained hand non-stop popping out with new sculpture. As proud as he is with his profession as an wire sculpture artist, he put on a big smile to all those who stopped by and browsed through his works. Here you can find the ‘world smallest harmonica’ and have your name crafted in three dimensional wire art. Survival skills has not much to do with physical disability after all.
Everyone was shocked when heard his voice. He is no worse than professional singer, but has a free soul trapped in an impaired body. This chap pushed his wheeled speaker, crawled on bare feet and bare hands along the road, singing with confidence and asking dona>on along the way. He got all the a?en>on where ever he went, and people just literally dumping money into his bucket. I suppose if he dress well and be more presentable, his ‘dona>on’ will not be any less.
Being a ‘fake monk’ is not at all that shameful as one thought. It is definitely not an easy way of surviving depending on other’s mercy. He has to walk a lot and learnt to cope with disappointment and rejec>on most of the >me. When people donated to him, he would bless them with Buddhist beads and a smile.
This homeless and probably jobless chap smoked his home made cigare?es as though every passer by being invisible. He was in his own world enjoying the short relief away from the cruel reality. He survived probably on other’s leF over on table or floor or even in the bin. Nevertheless, he was s>ll coping fine and did not harm other people. Maybe it is just a temporary retreat and he will get back his self-‐esteem and improve his life when the >me comes.
These ladies with pre?y face and nice figure were standing and posing in front of a shop lot. They seemed to be wai>ng for someone or something to happen. Finally a guy approached the young lady and they talked. She passed her phone to him and he entered his contact number before passed it back to her. And he leF. Then came another guy and the same thing happened again. There they are, with their secret business happened behind the scene and life goes on.
Here at BB Plaza, a waitress in her uniform stood in front of the restaurant for the whole night. Most of the >me, there would be no customer in the early evening, un>l the night life began aFer 11pm. There she was, standing and leaning on the balustrade, with her eyes wide opened, gazed at the passing people for hours. She did not complain about her sore leg or and her aching back. Then came the customers and she greeted them with warmth and care. Contras>ng to the carefree li?le girl next to her, she has to stand there almost everyday to play the game of survival.
The old man, who live upstairs, told the drummer to lower the volume slightly so that he could have his good sleep. The two street musicians without hesita>on, considerately tone down the volume and con>nue their night gig. These local musicians, should have their day job, but were so passionate about music and have to perform here every weekend. They improve on the street atmosphere and people donate to them as a return. They may not need to rely on that money for survival, but there they were, joining the flow crowd at Jalan Bukit Bintang.
T R A N S F O R M A T I O N/ / By Kristopher Teoh
As I strolled along the street of Bukit Bintang, I no>ced that there were all sorts’ different people, different ac>vi>es and different types of buildings. With so many people with different lifestyles and ac>vity, I no>ced that the street seemed to transform itself from Pavilion all the way to Changkat of Bukit Bintang. At Pavillion, people there are most tourist and people that looked higher class as they can afford to shop at Pavillion. Ac>vity there was mostly shopping and people taking picture or just people siUng down and having a drink. Moving further down the street, I no>ced that there were different types of shopping outlets and a row of Arabian restaurants. There were many people just walking and crowding the street while some were siUng in restaurants. The transforma>on becomes clearer as I passed through Jalan Alor. Architecture there changed into old buildings and there were many hawker stalls just hogging the road especially in the evening. Finally, when I reached Changkat, I saw several rows of bars and many tourists just drinking and having a good >me. It was very clear to me that ac>vi>es, culture and architecture completely transformed as I moved through Bukit Bintang. This is what makes Bukit Bintang unique in its own way; being able fuse such diverse cultures and transform along the way.
The holiday spirit // Pavilion is always beau>fully decorated during the holiday season. Crowds of local and people from around the world can always be seen shopping or just strolling and enjoying the view.
Fusion of culture // Bukit Bintang is a very diverse place with no single iden>ty. Here we can see a long row of arabic restaurants with men standing outside promo>ng their unique cuisines
Lights and an overdose of signage // As the day ends and night arrives, the city gets livelier with many signs at lot 10 ligh>ng up a?rac>ng people to come.
A man on duty and a family having fun // A stands on duty throughout the night watching the construc>on site. Close to him, a family spends some quality >me together along the streets of bukit bintang.
The living statue and a man lost in thought
//
While exploring bukit bintang, I saw a man completely covered in gold tryig to make an honest living while close by I spo?ed a tourist looking at his map, lost in his own world.
Old but never forgotten // The old buildings and back alleys of the streets have been there for a long >me but they are s>ll widely used by the people living in the area.
Cheap items, low prices // Many shops selling cheap bags, toys and etc are setup along the street and they are open from day >ll night hoping to a?ract tourist and locals to buy their items.
Life of the street // During the night, more street vendors open their stores to sell food. This is when the street becomes very crowded with locals and tourists looking for food to try.
Food and beer // Many tourist are seen siUng and enjoying the local cuisine adding life to the street with their loud cha?er.
Earn for a living // Along the streets, I have seen many people trying to earn money in many ways. Some sell food while the less fortunate people try to make money by singing on the streets.
B U S Y // By Helsa Josephine
Everything. That is what Jalan Bukit Bintang offer to its visitor. With a very wide range type of visitors, locals and foreigns. With more than 8 shopping malls and more hotels that made up the street, this street has everything that both locals and foreigns needs. Whether its from daily need to luxury needs. Cuisines from both local and foreign country such as arabic, spanish, and many more. With such a wide range of goods that it offer, makes Jalan Bukit Bintang one of the busiest street in Kuala Lumpur. From tourist, locals that wants to hang out, sellers that having their income from the street, offering what they have, as well as street musician and performers, beggers, and many more. My series of photographs captures a lot of motions and crowds. To represent the business of this very interesting street that located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur
The Street // One of the busiest junction, in the heart of Jalan Bukit Bintang
Motions// Busy cars in Jalan Bukit Bintang
Motions take Two// More busy cars taking turn with human to u>lize the road to get from one POI to another
Movements // Human flows
Movement Take Two// People, visitors, from one point of interest to another one
Excitement// The Rush of exploring everything that the street offers
Motion in pause // Crowds heading different direc>on, to go to places they find more interes>ng to visit
Motion in Pause Take Two // Tourist taking pictures of this one of the place of interest in the street while locals are just passing by, can’t see the beauty and special thing of this point anymore.
Foods// One of the corner in the street that offers variety of foods and bars to hang out
Busy Signboards Not only humans and vehicles, signboards are placed and gives a very busy scenary
L I F E S T Y L E By Allen Jonathan
&
A C T I V I T I E S //
Bukit Bintang Street has its own diversity in lifestyle and it’s pre?y much obvious from Pavilion >ll Changkat Bukit Bintang road where if you travel along the street you will see the difference in clothing, jobs, food, architecture and so on. Pavilion area >ll LOT 10 is more higher standards kind of people and stuff sold there with all the latest fashion and gadgets available in those area. Meanwhile aFer that area visitor will find more cultural elements like the Arabian shop alley and Jalan Alor hawker stall. The lifestyle of this people here at Bukit Bintang Street can see dras>cally change from one end of the street to another end.
Changkat Bukit Bintang Street is a place where exciting lifestyle in contrast can be experience. During day time the street is quiet, almost like a dead street. Shops are close and you rarely see visitor or people walk around this place. Then came the night time where this place is so pact with people from all around the city area. Foreign people can be spotted almost 70% from this place so you can see a lot of mix culture in this area.
Even the shops are decorated and design with overseas theme such as Healy Mac – apparently a theme from the Irish and they provide drinks and food accordingly to the Irish tradition. Since a lot of the shops have their own unique theme from each other culture and tradition, they even celebrate some celebration from their country example like Healy Mac celebrated the St. Patrick Day here as well to attract customer. Changkat Bukit Bintang Street is well known for party area and a place to dine some wonderfull food and drinks at the same time to chill in the city night life.
Hos>ng a lot of hawker stalls and seafood restaurants, Jalan Alor is one of the most famous roads in Kuala Lumpur for food. Located just behind Jalan Bukit Bintang and a short walk away from Changkat Bukit Bintang, it is a favourite aFer clubbing dining spot in the Golden Triangle area. The seafood restaurant are good an inexpensive but the main a?rac>on here is the hawker food where they serve from barbeque meats, noodles and desserts are some of the best and cheapest in the city. Sure, the food is the main draw but the atmosphere is also truly memorable. The place stays loud and vibrant throughout the night with vendors furiously fanning grills of chicken and beef skewers, the metallic clang of frying woks and the air is thick with charcoal smoke. Called the cultural hearth of the city’s local cuisine, tourists rarely venture here largely because of its ‘hidden’ loca>on. A sharp contrast to trendy Jalan Bukit Bintang and Changkat Bukit Bintang, Jalan Alor has a tradi>onal charm to it with atmospheric air-‐condi>oned Chinese seafood restaurants, bright fluorescent restaurant signage ligh>ng and mini red Chinese lanterns strung up in the trees.
Bukit Bintang is known for all kinds of a?rac>on but mostly people go there for shopping. High end branded stuff like H&M, Gucci, Tag Heuer Louis Vui?on etc. usually a?ract people all over Kuala Lumpur and it surrounding to this area. It’s a place where fashion lovers can enjoy and explore all kinds of design so basically most of the people around pavilion un>l lot 10 are high standard in social class where the way they think and dress is a bit different from the lower parts of Bukit Bintang Street near Alor Street & Changkat Street. The H&M at Bukit Bintang Street is one of the largest and is the 1st H&M opened here in Malaysia so there is a lot of new designer will publish their 1st collec>on at this place. We were lucky that there is an event launching of a designer called Alexander Wang and fana>c fashion lovers even take >me to line up for the merchandise as it is limited.
This area is behind the area between Changkat and Jalan Alor where people who works around the Bukit Bintang area stayed there, usually foreign workers that works during the busy night life at Changkat Bukit Bintang streets. The place is a bit dodgy and the building itself is not maintain well. The life of these people is hard without proper facili>es and clean environment.
A Reflexology place where people can have a place to relax aFer a long day of shopping ac>vity. This kind of treatment is alot along the Bukit Bintang street where you can see promoter from each Reflexology shop is outside promo>ng packages to customer at the road side.
Bukit Bintang Street has a lot of different cultures along the street. One of the fascina>ng sights in that area is the Arabian culture. There is a row of old shop building with Arabian architecture interior and exterior. You can even see their lifestyle like clothing and food style are a bit different compared to people along the street. The lady at the shop is smoking Hookah or be?er known as Shisha here in our countr. It is a single or mul>-‐ stemmed instrument for vaporizing and smoking flavoured tobacco called shisha in which the vapor or smoke is passed through a water basin ‒ oFen glass-‐based ‒ before inhala>on. The origin of the waterpipe is from the >me of the Safavid dynasty in the Persian and now famous in most of the Arabian countries. You can smell different aroma from the flavour as you pass by this shopping lot area. Most of the people here (the workers and owners as well as some foreign visitors are wearing Arabic cloths called the Thawb which means garment in Arabic word. It’s a place to relax and chill from the busy street where you can smoke the Hookah and enjoy some Arabic delicacies
Along the street of Lot 10 building & H&M there is an alley where you can see a lot of colourful signage. This alley is where people that work at lot 10, H&M, office blocks around the area and even pavilion gather for lunch break and is the busier street during lunch >me. The signage brings out the Chinese culture and the atmosphere during lunch break is pre?y much hec>c. Most people who visited here are non-‐Muslim and tourist from other countries as the Chinese cuisine here is one of the best. There is also a café example like Starbucks and Chat Time along the alley for people to have their tea break >me. The alley is mostly covered with plants and bridge that connect to the LRT so its pre?y much being protected by direct daylight.
Street vendor is common along the street of Bukit Bintang. This is how they make a living here for the unprivileged people. They don’t have a stall or licence as and they promote their items by using visual and verbal only. They are friendly and funny compared to the standard shop assistant in Pavilion or any shopping complex. The items they mostly sales are small gadgets like the camera extension s>ck, light shining toys for children, some snack food like burger and “jagung pangang” etc.
The street vendor here mostly dressed normally compared to other visitor here where they are well dressed with latest fashion and office wear aUre. From here you can see how difficult their life is and how they have to work hard every day from day to night >me regards on the weather condi>on. Some are foreigners from other countries like Thailand, Myanmar and some are locals from a rural area in Malaysia trying to earn a living here in this city. Compared to the stall near Changkat road, the place there is much be?er organized because they have a proper stall and covered area. Some of the stall sells fruits, cloths, souvenirs etc.
T R A D E M A R K / / By Gregorius Efrem Jevon Atmabrata
With the varia>on of ac>vi>es that happened in Bukit Bintang , people are interested to come and enjoy the variety of this street. Start from the culture, shops, transporta>on , lifestyle, and food which are really extensive. Symbol is the most important thing which guide the people around to do their ac>vity and determining their des>na>on towards places. Symbol can come from any method such as paint, fruits, Building, etc. This trademark is really important in Bukit Bintang because it is really a diverse place and every single place is visited by different type and culture of people. Such as in Arabian store over Fahrenheit88 and Lot 10 which usually will be visited by the Middle East type of people even though some>mes local people also take a trip to it. And the same situa>on is happening in jalan Alor which is will be dominated by the Chinese seller and being visited by white people tourist and several tourists.
Starhill, Bukit Bintang // Marrio? and Starhill. Those name is trying to explain and show something. With a different style of coloring on each name and Font on it. From the symbol or naming that they used, we kindly can straightly iden>fy a hotel which is the Marrio? and a shopping mall which is the Starhill.
Changkat St // Changkat St is the name of this picture. We might be assume this street is at western country or Singapore or somewhere else because of the style of the architecture of the store, but we can straightly iden>fy if its in the Malaysia because the appearance of the Red-‐blue color taxi in the middle. That is why symbol is very important which giving us clue of something.
Diverse store is a place doesn’t mean it has to be come from the same country or locality. In this junction, we could see Giordano ( International clothes store) with Watson ( International Pharmacy in between Arabian store, Asian store and a clinic which is each of them have different stiffs to sell and also culture.
Jalan Bukit Bintang // Different kind of mark or symbol will be iden>fied in this street. Firstly, the Money changer and ATM which is showing their mark or iden>ty by some words, color, and logo which has a very big sign board. Whereas, H&M and Timberland(green circle logo) is using mark just by small sign board and highly designed and famous. In terms of architectural element, it can be used as a wall covering glass to show their iden>ty of their brands.
Kebabs is a dish of pieces of meat, fish and vegetables roasted in a griller on spit. It is represen>ng a middle east food which is selling along jalan Bukit Bintang . Because of the diversity that happened there, even people that come from different culture and race also come and try this kebab.
Tourist counter informa>on, is providing tourist a loca>on map, area’s a?rac>on, lodgings, and other stuff which is relevant to tourist. This visitor center is a focal point in Jalan Bukit Bintang which as we can see it has an unusual color on it and Big words to let the tourist easily spot this Tourist Informa>on counter. So, trademarks is not all about iden>ty and brands but it also to show people of a place which is important enough to be visited when we need to.
Interna>onal food chain restaurant/ café in Bukit Bintang is easily spo?ed everywhere. Because it is a mark which is spread in all over the world , whereby the tourist will already know the range of the price in this restaurant/ café because they also have it on their home country. The variety of the restaurant which is located in jalan Bukit Bintang will be rivaled by this interna>onal brand .
Chinese lantern here symbolizing Alor St which has a viscous Chinese culture in it. Whereby it sits well with the view of the extraordinary KL tower on top of the Post Modern hotel building.
Restaurant here is very diverse star from selling seafood, chicken, Char Kwe Tiau, Mee,etc. But, from tourist view, Durian here is also famous and also will reflect Alor as a city of food.
Here we go in Alor St again, whereby Chinese Lantern is flying everywhere on this street. Which can be iden>fied as a Chinese culture straightly on it. But, don’t you know? If there is a blue Cross mark on the top of it which a Trademark of a Chris>an Church in the middle on Alor Street.
S U M M A R Y // Bukit Bintang is a place filled so much culture, activity, architecture and people. All of them are so different yet they are clearly so unified throughout the area and none of them feels alien in this area. You can see so many types of people in Bukit Bintang just going about doing their own activities and creating life in the area. During the day or night, along the row of Arabian restaurants, we can the waiters just standing outside trying to promote their food and usher people into the restaurant. Sometimes, we can see people just sitting outside the restaurant smoking these objects called Shisha bongs or hookahs. These instruments are used to vaporize and smoke flavoured tobacco. This particular instrument was very popular in Arabian countries and was introduced into our country. The culture of smoking shisha is done widely not just in Bukit Bintang but throughout the country. The Arabian culture is now a part of the Malaysian culture creating more diversity. Besides that, there are many other unique activities throughout Bukit Bintang. Although Bukit Bintang is known as a large shopping area giving the impression that the place is only for the higher class of Malaysian society, this is not truly the case. Walking through the area, I have seen many beggars and random people just selling gadgets or watches along the street. Some people just sit on the floor and display the objects that they want to sell. One of the most depressing sights is seeing certain people without limbs along the street looking for money. Despite their disadvantages, they are constantly working hard. These people start singing throughout the streets of Alor while pushing a small speaker so that they can be heard. I was truly impressed by what these people could do despite their condition. Sometimes, we can also see street musician in different parts of Bukit Bintang just setting up their instruments and making music and creating a lively atmosphere. These activities are unique regardless of what they may be and they help Bukit Bintang create its own identity. Besides the activities, the architectural language of the surrounding buildings also helps create an identity for Bukit Bintang. As seen in the pictures, there is a clear transformation of activity and architectural language as we walk along Bukit Bintang. There is a form of movement from the upper class activities of window shopping in shopping malls like Pavillion or H&M to the lower class and cheaper area like Jalan Alor. Jalan Alor is a place mainly for finding cheap food and the people there also sell cheap clothes and souvenirs. The architecture also changes as we move through the street. In the higher class area, there are tall, glass buildings all around representing a newer form of architecture. In the lower class area, we have older forms of architecture like old condominiums. Despite these old buildings, this place is still filled with so much life as this area is occupied. You can see the street vendors and hawkers just running their shops. They are constantly making food, yelling to attract people and crowding the Jalan Alor. If you observe the old apartments and buildings, you can just see people sitting outside or by the balcony or moving in and out of the building. Sometimes, there are people just hanging their clothes on the upper floors to dry the clothes. Along Jalan Alor, there are also people selling pirated DVDs which is an activity that is very well known in Malaysia. Although it is a form of negative activity, it is also part of the identity of our country.
Other than dividing the architecture in terms of new and old, there are many unique buildings that diversify the architecture in the area. Near Pavilion there is a uniquely shaped glass building of Sephora. There is also a large glass and brick building known as Tous Les Jours. The interior decoration of that large building is truly unique and beautiful as well. On the building of Lot 10, these are multiple sign boards all piled up together just for promotion. These sign boards create a very unique faรงade for this building. In Jalan Alor, there is a church that was hidden in plain sight to me. All these unique buildings form a type of symbol that becomes known to the people representing the streets of Bukit BIntang. This is how people will know about these places. All these unique attributes help my team mates along with myself to develop our themes based on how we feel about the place during our time there. The lower class of society work hard to make money. For the less fortunate people, they do not make any excuse nor do they just lie on the ground and beg for money, instead, they move around the street with the intent of entertaining the tourists and locals in the area in hopes that they can earn some money. The other people mainly set up shop and they sell food, clothes or gadgets for a low price. They are clearly doing whatever it takes for their own survival. Personally, I could not help but feel sorry for the poor with disabilities but I also admire them. Furthermore, various unique architecture and activities clearly transforms and acts as a form of symbolism for people to know about the place and remember about the place as well. Pavilion shopping centre is also a form of symbol because this shopping mall is very well known for the extensive decoration done during festivals such as Chinese New Year, Christmas and etc. This symbol represents the various cultures of Malaysia. In conclusion, all these unique cultures, architecture and human activities are what make the streets of Bukit Bintang very diverse and unique. Despite so many different attributes, somehow they are unified as one and fused together in such a way that they help Bukit Bintang form its very own identity. This is how Bukit Bintang is known to so many people and why the streets are always so crowded with different people. The mixture of different people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds in one place also acts as a symbol of unification of diversity.