EXPLORATION STAGE

Prior to independence, Malaya was a British colony. When Malaya's independence, to be attained on 31 August 1957, was approved by the British Government in 1956, the first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman announced it to the public in Malacca at what is today Dataran Pahlawan. On the evening of 30 August 1957, crowds gathered at what was then known as the Selangor Club Padang (Green) to celebrate the historic event. As the clock on the State Secretariat Building (today's Sultan Abdul Samad Building) struck midnight, the crowds, led by Tunku Abdul Rahman, shouted "Merdeka" seven times. The Union Jack was lowered and the flag of the new country was raised to the strains of the national anthem, Negaraku. The Selangor Club Padang is today known as Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square). The next day, the official handing over of power by the British was held at Stadium Merdeka (Independence Stadium). The country was renamed Malaysia on September 16, 1963, when Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak and Malaya formed a new federation.

During World War II, Kuala Lumpur was captured by the Imperial Japanese Army on 11 January 1942. They occupied the city until 15 August 1945, when the commander in chief of the Japanese Seventh Area Army in Singapore and Malaysia surrendered to the British administration following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Kuala Lumpur grew through the war, the rubber and tincommodity crashes and the Malayan Emergency, during which Malaya was preoccupied with the communist insurgency. In 1957, the Federation of Malaya gained its independence from British rule. Kuala Lumpur remained the capital through the formation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963.

On 13 May 1969, the worst race riots on record in Malaysia took place in Kuala Lumpur.The so-called 13 May incident refers to the occurrence of violence between members of the Malay and theChinese communities. The violence was the result of Malaysian Malays being dissatisfied with their socio-political status. The riots resulted in the deaths of 196 people,and led to major changes in the country's economic policy to promote and prioritise Malay economic development over that of the other ethnicities.

Kuala Lumpur has its origins in the 1850s, when the Malay Chief of Klang, Raja Abdullah bin Raja Jaafar Raja Abdullah,hired some Chinese laborers to open new and larger tinmines for tin prospectors.The miners landed at the confluence of Sungai Gombak(previously known as Sungai Lumpur, meaning "muddy river") and Sungai Klang (Klang River) to open mines at Ampang, Pudu and Batu. These mines developed into a trading post that became a frontier town. Kuala Lumpur started to prosper and made capital of the Federated Malay States in 1896. Malaysia's independence was declared in 1957 at Stadium Merdeka (Independence Stadium), and Kuala Lumpur continued as the new nation's capital. The economic boom of the 1990s brought KL the standard trappings of a modern city, bristling with skyscrapers and modern transportation systems.

During the early times, Kuala Lumpur had many problems, including the Selangor Civil War. It was also plagued by diseases and constant fires and floods. Around the 1870s, the third Chinese Kapitan of Kuala Lumpur (Yap Ah Loy-leader) became responsible for the survival and subsequent systematic growth of this town. He began to develop Kuala Lumpur from a small, obscure settlement into a booming mining town. In 1880, the state capital of Selangor was moved from Klang to the more strategically advantageous Kuala Lumpur.

In 1881, a flood swept through the town, following a fire that had engulfed it earlier. These successive problems destroyed the town's structures of wood and roof. The aftermath had rendered the town in a muddy state. As the town lies in the confluence of two rivers: Klang River and Gombak River, the town was later given its name Kuala Lumpur, which means muddy estuary. As a response, Frank Swettenham, the British Resident of Selangor, required that buildings be constructed of brick and tile. Hence, Kapitan Yap Ah Loy bought a sprawling piece of real estate to set up a brick industry, which spurred the rebuilding of Kuala Lumpur. This place is the eponymous Brickfields. Hence, destroyed roof buildings were replaced with brick and tiled ones. He restructured the building layout of the city.

Development intensified in the 1890s, leading to the creation of a Sanitary Board. Kapitan Yap Ah Loy spent a sum of $20,000 to expand road access in the city significantly, linking up tin mines with the city, these roads include the main arterial roads of Ampang Road, Pudu Road and Petaling Street. As Chinese Kapitan, he was vested with wide powers on par with Malay community leaders. He implemented law reforms and introduced new legal measures. He also presided over a small claims court. With a police force of six, he was able to uphold the rule of law. He built a prison that could accommodate 60 prisoners at any time. Kapitan Yap Ah Loy also built Kuala Lumpur's first school and a major tapioca mill in Petaling Street of which the Selangor's Sultan Abdul Samad had an interest.

In 1896, Kuala Lumpur was chosen as the capital of the newly formed Federated Malay States. A mixture of different communities settled in various sections of Kuala Lumpur. The Chinese mainly settled around the commercial centre of Market Square, east of the Klang River, and towards Chinatown. The Malays, Indian Chettiars, and Indian Muslims resided along Java Street (Jalan Tun Perak). The Padang, now known as Merdeka Square, was the centre of the British administrative offices.

Kuala Lumpur was administered by a corporation sole called the Federal Capital Commissioner from 1 April 1961, until it was awarded city status in 1972, after which executive power transferred to the Lord Mayor (Datuk Bandar). Nine mayors have been appointed since then. The current mayor is Ahmad Phesal Talib, who has been in office since 18 July 2012.

Kuala Lumpur later achieved city status in 1972, becoming the first settlement in Malaysia to be granted the status after independence. Later, on 1 February 1974, Kuala Lumpur became a Federal Territory. Kuala Lumpur ceased to be the capital of Selangor in 1978 after the city of Shah Alam was declared the new state capital. On 14 May 1990, Kuala Lumpur celebrated 100 years of local council. The new federal territory Kuala Lumpur flag and anthem were introduced.

Kuala Lumpur is home to the University of Malaya (UM). It established in 1949 and founded in 1962, the oldest university in Malaysia, and one of the oldest in the region. Tunku Abdul Rahman College was established in 1969 and followed by the International Islamic University Malaysia in 1983. In addition, the Malay-language National University of Malaysia opened in Kuala Lumpur nearby Bangi in 1970.

The local administration is carried out by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall, an agency under the Federal Territories Ministry of Malaysia. It is responsible for public health and sanitation, waste removal and management, town planning, environmental protection and building control, social and economic development, and general maintenance functions of urban infrastructure. Executive power lies with the mayor in the city hall, who is appointed for three years by the Federal Territories Minister. This system of appointing the mayor has been in place ever since the local government elections were suspended in 1970.