Kompleks PKNS Shah Alam, a Truly 'Rakyat' Destination

By Johan Ishak
14 October 2019

KOMPLEKS PKNS SHAH ALAM, is the subject matter of my recent Whatsap conversation. Some friends accused me of being high class and up market because they only see me visiting KLCC or Pavilion shopping centres. The truth is, I am not. I would occasionally visit places that shaped my childhood and many of these places provide me with ample nostalgia. These places actually soothe my mood when I am down. The contemporaries of Kompleks PKNS Shah Alam are Pertama Kompleks, Ampang Park, Wisma Yakin, Kota Raya and many more.

So, to amplify this matter, I decided to go down the memory lane specifically to justify why Kompleks PKNS is a truly people's place, i.e. Rakyat's place. The recent (2014) Government's concept of Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) was actually present four decades ago during the early 80's when Kompleks PKNS was erected. Everything was there, literally. As a child following my parents for groceries shopping, I used to wonder why do we have to go all the way to Greatwall in Klang or Jaya Supermarket in Section 14, Petaling Jaya. I kept telling myself, 'they, whoever they are, should open a supermarket in Shah Alam, where we stayed'. Lo and behold, Kompleks PKNS was launched with a new supermarket, also by Jaya Supermarket.

The complex then grew in its offerings as well as visitors. It became the central for Shah Alam. There were Government offices there especially those involving dealings with the citizen: Transport Department, Immigration Department, Registration Department, Bank Simpanan Nasional, Bank Bumiputra, Maybank, Post Office, Land Office, Taxation and many more including an ample bunch of Commissioner for Oaths, Justice of Peace and firms of solicitors. It was, and still is, the grandfather of UTC. All one had to do to settle all administrative matters is to just spend the whole morning there, then have lunch at the famous FC Fried Chicken, and end the day with groceries shopping.

It was the place to go for almost everyhing those days. Name what you want, you will get it: florists, nurseries, Berita Book Centre, McDonalds, KFC, Malay restaurants, Mamak restaurants, Guardian Pharmacy, sports equipment repair shop, hardware shop, wedding accessories shop, tailors, frame shop, Islamic items product (such as clothing for Hajj), barbers, music shop, jewellery shop, Bata, photography shop, toy shop, travel agents, optometry, leather shop, curtain shop, bakery, sundry shop, newsagent, cooperative shop (MOCCIS), driving school, property developers, valuation and real estate firms, audit firms, computer shop, carpet shop, furniture shop and many more. It was like no other shopping centres you could find in the whole of Klang Valley.

The teenager I was, I practically grew up quite closely to the activities that happened there. My first acoustic guitar, a Kapok guitar, was purchased there. Not to mention the numerous musical album cassettes were purchased there too including some really famous 1980's local tastes such as Search, Wings, Lefthanded and Bloodshed. When Nintendo was too damn expensive to be procured, we reverted to playing snooker and bowling that was operating on the top floor of the complex. It had the ambience suitable for dating a girlfriend too (or more). The Shah Alam lake was just across the street. The mini buses came in handy to move within Shah Alam and if need be, the 222 bus that stops there provides you the route to escape to Bus Stand Klang in Kuala Lumpur.

So there you go. My childhood was perfectly fine without Suria KLCC, Megamall Midvalley, One Utama, Pavilion or Paradigm Mall. If I didn't have 80 Sen to pay for the mini bus, I could just walk from my house in Section 2 Shah Alam to Kompleks PKNS as it would only take 30 minutes to 40 minutes. There were green trees everywhere. The sky was blue with no haze to be worried about. Sometimes, a BMX would provide the alternative that speeds up the travelling time to 10 minutes to 15 minutes. We didn't need handphones. A date and time commitment made on a rotary dialer fixed line phone would suffice. Above all, when we are really, really tired to walk back, a 20 Sen call to Mak (Mother) would end with her driving a cute little white German Mini Minor down to Kompleks PKNS Shah Alam, the place where everything can be found.

Muslims are the Reason Why the World Became Modern

(Unknown author as this article was viralled via the Whatsapp application)

ISLAM has always been underestimated. An American Professor imagined the World without Muslims and found out the most surprising results! Ian Bremmer, a political scientist and a University professor, highlighted an important point that overall, Muslims account for just 0.00625%. Moreover, he actually imagined a world without Muslims and the post went viral in no time as the result is actually the opposite. Muslims are the reasons why the World became modern.

The professor, Ian Bremmer, highlighted all the inventions made by Muslims, right from toothbrushes to hospitals. Without Muslims you wouldn’t have: Coffee, Cameras, Experimental Physics, Chess, Soap, Shampoo, Perfume or spirits, Irrigation, Crank-shaft, Internal Combustion Engine, Valves, Pistons Combination Locks, Architectural Innovation (pointed arch - European Gothic cathedrals adopted this technique as it made the building much stronger, rose windows, dome buildings, round towers, etc.), Surgical Instruments, Anesthesia, Windmill, Treatment of Cowpox, Fountain Pen, Numbering System, Algebra and Trigonometry, Modern Cryptology, 3 Course Meal (soup, meat or fish, fruits or nuts), Crystal Glasses, Carpets, Cheques, Gardens (used for beauty and meditation instead of for herbs and kitchen), University, Optics, Music, Toothbrush, Hospitals, Bathing, Quilting, Mariner’s Compass, Soft Drinks, Pendulum, Braille, Cosmetics, Plastic Surgery, Calligraphy, Manufacturing of Paper and Cloth, and many more.

It was a Muslim who realised that light enters our eyes, unlike the Greeks who thought we emitted rays, and so invented a camera from this discovery.

It was a Muslim who first tried to fly in 852, even though it is the Wright Brothers who have taken the credit.

It was a Muslim by the name of Jabir ibn Hayyan who was known as the founder of modern Chemistry. He transformed alchemy into chemistry. He invented: distillation, purification, oxidation, evaporation, and filtration. He also discovered sulfuric and nitric acid.

It is a Muslim, by the name of Al-Jazari who is known as the father of robotics.

It was a Muslim who was the architect for Henry V’s castle.

It was a Muslim who invented hollow needles to suck cataracts from eyes, a technique still used today.

It was a Muslim who actually discovered inoculation, not Jenner and Pasteur to treat cowpox. The West just brought it over from Turkey.

It was Muslims who contributed much to mathematics like Algebra and Trigonometry, which was imported over to Europe 300 years later to Fibonnaci and the rest.

It was Muslims who discovered that the Earth was round 500 years before Galileo did. The list goes on and on.

Muslims are the Reason Why the World Became Modern. Had there be no Muslims, imagine how our lives would be today? Perhaps we would still be in the dark ages?

References:

German documentary https://youtu.be/L1boEHaKAzE

British film https://youtu.be/dOsHenGodD0

BBC report https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2550624671839359&id=1391449297756908