Petaling Jaya

Sister cities

• Bandung

History

Under plans developed by Francis McWilliams, the city was developed during post-war British Malaya on a 1,200-acre (486 ha) rubber estate, the Effingham Estate, around Old Klang Road to address the overpopulation of the capital Kuala Lumpur in the 1950s. Since 1952, PJ witnessed a dramatic growth in terms of population size and geographical importance. The development of Petaling Jaya commenced in 1952 with the construction of 800 houses centred on the area known as "Old Town" today. Lieutenant-General Sir Gerald Templer (then the British High Commissioner of Malaya and Petaling District council chairman) planned for Petaling Jaya to be a satellite town to prevent people from assisting the communists; the earlier housing areas were fenced off from the surrounding area. The first two main roads built in Petaling Jaya were simply called "Jalan 1" or Road 1 and "Jalan 2" or Road 2. Road 1 was later named Jalan Templer after former British High Commissioner in Malaya, Sir Gerald Templer, while Road 2 was named Jalan Othman. Until the end of 1953, the town was administered by the Kuala Lumpur district officer. The Petaling Jaya Town Authority headed by N.A.J. Kennedy commenced administering Petaling Jaya in 1954. On 24 August 1959, Encik Abdul Aziz bin Haji Mohd Ali became the first Malayan to head the PJ Authority. Administratively and historically, it was considered part of Kuala Lumpur. However, Petaling Jaya ceased to be part of Kuala Lumpur when the latter became a Federal Territory on 1 February 1974. It then became a township in its own right within the state of Selangor. Petaling Garden Berhad was the pioneer private development company, responsible for the development of some areas of Petaling Jaya. It was started in 1957 by a group of Chinese businessmen…