How has Kampung Cempaka retained its village feel amidst urbanisation?

Question

Accepted Answer

Kampung Cempaka has kept its village feel through its tightly clustered, village-style layout and long-running community routines despite being surrounded by commercial development.
Even though it sits within Petaling Jaya and is bordered by commercial areas such as Aman Suria and Sunway Mas Commercial Centre, Kampung Cempaka is described as looking like a “time warp” with haphazard single-storey wooden houses alongside multi-storey brick homes and narrow roads suited to one-way traffic. Its main entrance is via a small roundabout near Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong and St. Ignatius Church, and locals refer to the area as “Tai Kong,” where daily life remains centred on the wet market and shophouses.
Its physical setting keeps the neighbourhood looking and moving like a village
The village’s built form mixes wooden and brick homes, with narrow internal roads that resemble village streets rather than the wider road grids typical of newer townships. The activity hub is concentrated around two rows of shophouses adjacent to a multi-storey wet market, keeping errands and social time close together within a compact area. Even the approach into the settlement is small and local, starting from a tiny roundabout with the Kampung Cempaka signboard.
Its size and longstanding settlement pattern anchor residents’ routines
Kampung Cempaka is said to have started in 1969, when 1,000 families were resettled after the May 13 riots of the same year. A 2012 city council claim placed the settlement at 898 lots with about 4,500 residents, as sub-divided by the Petaling Land office in the 1950s. This long-standing residential base helps explain why the area’s daily rhythm—especially market visits and coffeeshop chats—has continued even as nearby development expanded.
Social life stays local around coffeeshops, tea, and the market
Life in the village is portrayed as slower and more laidback, with residents often seen chatting in coffeeshops while sipping Chinese tea. Some older residents who moved away after selling or renting their property still visit daily to meet neighbours and friends, reinforcing a continuing local presence. The food court and wet market, completed about 10 years ago, are described as a central hub where villagers and nearby office workers gather early in the morning and around lunch.
Food culture and long-running stalls reinforce “village” continuity
The village’s market and coffeeshop scene is anchored by long-running stalls that operate as regular meeting points, including Sin Hoy Kee and the multi-storey market’s food court. Stall M12 is noted for homemade lai fun, with Loh Kooi Tong, 76, making it for 40 years using a traditional hand-grinding method, and the stall often finishes before 9am. Stall M42’s nasi lemak starts selling at 5am and sells out by 9.30am, run by Pak Sau Moy and her husband Low Fook Seng, who have been selling it for more than 30 years—details that reflect continuity of everyday routines rather than a purely transient urban dining scene.

Reading history

Hide →

This history is cleared when the page is closed.

How has Kampung Cempaka retained its village feel amidst urbanisation?

Loading

Was this article helpful?

Helpful

Not helpful

Report an issue

1

0

0

Share with friends