Tribes in Kiara Hills

The origins of the name "Bukit Kiara" are not well-documented. However, it is known that British planters named the area when they established the Bukit Kiara Rubber Estate in the late 19th century. This estate was the first of three rubber estates compulsorily acquired by the Federal Government after the creation of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur in 1974. Unlike the acquisitions of the Hawthornden Estate (now Wangsa Maju) and the Bukit Jalil Estate (now Bukit Jalil), which were intended to support urban population growth, the primary purpose of acquiring the Bukit Kiara Estate was for public use.

The government spent RM49 million of public funds to acquire the Bukit Kiara Estate from Ng Chin Siu & Sons, along with a few adjacent smallholdings, totaling 1,534 acres. Part of the land was allocated for the National Institute of Public Administration , the National Science Centre, and other public institutions and facilities.

DBKL then hired the world-renowned landscape architecture firm Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey to develop a master plan for the remaining area. The 1982 Taman Kiara Master Plan envisioned a "National Botanical Gardens" that included a 650-acre arboretum in the north, which would seamlessly transition into a park-like National Mausoleum and a public golf course in the south.

It has been a good twenty over years. The environment along the tracks, the people that we met up with, and the fellowships that was nurtured set the mood for me to try in recreating all the moods and memories associated with this place - Bukit Kiara This size of the park is188.93 ha equivalent 300 football fields.

To start with I was lucky to be able to retrieve some old pictures. Makes it easier to recall the scenes. In the mid-90s only some part of roads paved with mixture of unpaved road. Cows were grazing along the roads. Later it was paved and Mahatir used this set of road for his work out with the horses

1. The beginning of Kiara Hills

Kiara Hills road by the late 1990's

#1 To note here would be the vegetations and emptiness along the perimeter of he golf course, Most important of all, no traffic along this uphill stretch.

Horse riding along Kiara Hills road

#2 The walking crowd sharing the road with Horse riders

Kiara Hills road road

#3 This is a picture from the later year. The Tar road for the gold club properly manicured and the palm tress fairly tall/ The Bakti building most likely not up. The road to the hill a controlled area with a boom pole in front of Bakti Reason no cars allowed up the hills.

Kiara Hills road up the slope

#4 I am surprised and cannot recall when an why the back ground was bereaved of tall trees

Kiara Hills road by the late 1990's

#5 Another good shot minus the crowd showing how bare the whole surrounding was

2. The early days & the Kiara Bunch

In the days during the change of the millennium Bukit Kiara was a little known destination. The place looked like a rubber estate within the boundary of Kuala Lumpur City. The pick for recreation then was the Gasing Hills, attracting the main crowd from the PJ area. I was one of the disciples in Bukit Gasing.

Then on and off I would so some walking in Bukit Kiara. Getting familiar with a group of fellows in the year 2002. At that time,I would estimate the daily weekdays morning crowd visiting the Kiara Hills to be less than 200 people .As years passed by words of mouth opening of the jungle tracks. Mamy years later bringing in the MTB groups. The daily figures gradually rose. Just before the covid in the year 2020,1500 walkers were counted on weekdays

So the adoption of Kiara Hill as our our regular haunt, our group would exclude normally weekends The way we organized ourselves as the "Kiara Bunch" was the following the culture seen in Kiara Hills The like minded people who valued the daily exercises would turned up punctually each morning. We just simply became part of the community and in fact the morning session was like doing iy in a big home with our family members. I collected pictures those those regulars but most of them are picture shy So it is not nice to include their pictures in our page Of course not everyone shared that value of togetherness particularly having seen some of us walking bare breasted Then our rituals of gathered under the tree after our walk for fellowship and as a big crowd,

#6 As the in planted heading says - these are the earliest guys

Kiara Bunch during inception

#7 Their trade mark - bare chest - Now joined by Bernard

Kiara Bunch many years later

#8 With the newer members

Kiara Bunch

#9 Sometimes and on rare occasions I got into the picture

Kiara Bunch with non-members

#10 This was Yian - Peter's wife

Roaming around in the Kiara Hills

#11 Henry could ride his motorbike into the hills

A familiar scene in the Kiara Hills

#12 Richard had persisted in his own way

Another scene Kiara Hills

#13 This was Chan Kok Weng

More shots - Kiara Hills

#14 Henry and others went ahead

Kiara Hills Pee Junction

#15 A Cull de sacs where the guys do their pee-ing

After completing their walk

#16 It's fellowship time

Waiting for the slower group to reach

#17 Chatting and talking their own sweet time

The Junction

#18 Not all matter settled during fellowship time! They could take breaks at the top of the hills.

Yes Story Time too!

#19 That's Lawrence!. He did not walk with us that often but joined the fellowship Chit Chat

Gasing Hills

#19 I pick this picture to compliment the one below

My house neighbour - Linda

#20 She does not see eye-to-eye with Henry

This was Boon Chee's friend

#21 She hardly talk to us even when we walked side by side, but returned a friendly wave

That's Esther

#22 She did not or could not be seen to join an all men group for idle talks. She was very friendly with all of us

That's Esther again

#23 Always wearing a smiling face

A friendly guy KG Tan

#24 But I am varied about him, kept pestering me to show him the site of nesting Birds. Eventually he shifted his family to Rahman Putra which is too far for him to make that daily trip

A very charming and friendly Pamela

#25 We admired and adored her

Of course there were those who don't think that we were friendly

#26 This couple for example, never get to know them although we met daily

We painted the markings in Kiara - 3rd February 2003

#27 For those old timers walking the Kiara Hills, remember those marking n the road? Henry finished painting the letters on the Kiara Hills road. That's Henry doing inspection in the MGB"GT"

#28 That's Henry after having completed his painting.

15th February 2009

Funny eh? the Govt has legislated the hills. Then they had put up a super strong fencing around its perimeter to ensure no encroachment. This time they were there to reforest the hills

3. Tree Planting Ceremony

#29 The wife did the lobbying and all large companies participated and contributed to the project

#30 We were there to join in the fun. So were Henry with Lucy Teo

5th October, 2009

#31 I knew that the place would be out of bound for vehicular traffic, I better do something to remember this place by Got my car up to the upper guard house

9th November, 2009

#32 The days of the Kiara Bunch walking together was over. I did the walking myself Getting some stretching done

15th July, 2012

On July 29, 2007, Ong Ka Ting, the MCA President and Minister of Housing and Local Government from 1999 to 2008, who also served as Acting Transport Minister from May to June 2003, made a press statement outlining plans for a new park in Kuala Lumpur. This park is envisioned as Malaysia's own version of London’s Hyde Park or New York’s Central Park, reflecting the nation’s identity while providing a sprawling green space for city residents to relax and enjoy nature.

The theme for the park, “design with nature,” emphasizes the preservation of the area’s natural habitat and the addition of more trees to enhance its attractiveness and environmental friendliness. Ong Ka Ting stated, “We want to ensure this park retains its identity by adding more greenery to make it more attractive and environmentally friendly.” The park’s name will be decided by the Government at a later date.

The park will feature various facilities, including jogging and bicycle paths, picnic and camping areas, and courts for sports like basketball. Visitors will be able to engage in activities such as hill climbing, biking, science exploration of flora and fauna, and study tours of the arboretum and herbarium.

A section of the park will be dedicated to research and development projects. The planning and design will be overseen by the National Landscape Department under Ong’s ministry, in collaboration with other agencies such as Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia, and the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute. The Cabinet has approved the proposal, presented jointly by Ong’s ministry and the Federal Territories Ministry, with his ministry responsible for building and managing the park.

The park will be situated on government-owned land, with 146.3 hectares under DBKL’s jurisdiction and the remainder owned by the Information Ministry. Ong Ka Ting concluded, “The Cabinet feels that Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding areas should be transformed into a place for healthy living and a better sustainable environment for the people. We must preserve the limited green areas now before it is too late.”

If the status of the Kiara Hill Park was well documented then why was this rally held?

Save Bukit Kiara Campaign

#33 A prominent figure playing an important role in this rallying - Henry Goh

#34 Henry's gang

#35 The new Kiara group

#36 An extended family

#37 That's Tony Chin

#38 Kim with Miss Saw

#39 Oh! they were there too! The classic Kiara Bunch

#40 Henry surrounded - Zen with Eva

4. Updated - present walkers from Kiara Hills

Pre-Covid days

30th December, 2018

Walking was becoming less regular and more difficult, I settled on an idea to collect as much pictures as possible to remember this place by. So that explain why this tiny section with new kaces

Myself - most likely my last hike into Kiara.

#41 Just before the Covid hit' Not really Mm! that's what I thought