Sungai Besi (formerly known as ''Sungei Besi'') (English: Steel River) is a town and suburb within the

Federal Territory A federal territory is an administrative division under the direct and usually exclusive jurisdiction of a federation's national government. A federal territory is a part of a federation, but not a part of any federated state. The states constit ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

. It was also a federal constituency in Kuala Lumpur from 1974 to 1995. Sungai Besi was a historical mining town with many heavy industries such as

steelworks A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-finis ...

, waste steel plants and other steel industries. Sungei Besi Tin Mine site was the largest and deepest open cast alluvial

tin mine Tin mining began early in the Bronze Age, as bronze is a copper-tin alloy. Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth's crust, with approximately 2 ppm (parts per million), compared to iron with 50,000 ppm. History Tin extraction and use can ...

in the world and in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

. The town has since developed from a large area of village settlements.

Background and progress

The town is still in its original settings. The village structures are from the early days of the town. Most of the buildings are built from wood and the pathways are narrow. There is also a modest century-old

Chinese temple Chinese temple architecture refer to a type of structures used as place of worship of Chinese Buddhism, Taoism or Chinese folk religion, where people revere ethnic Chinese gods and ancestors. They can be classified as: * '' miào'' () or ''d ...

( 仙四師爺廟(新街場) ) which is founded in 1901 inside the town area. The vibrant area of Sungai Besi is located within the shops and the area near with the police station. Sungai Besi has many street vendors and traders in wet markets who sell mostly food items and fruits. The Sungei Besi Tin Mine site was once upon a time the largest and deepest open cast alluvial

in the world, as deep as 100 metres in some parts of the pit and with dangerously unstable slopes. Today, the site has been developed and occupied by Mines Wellness City. Sungai Besi is also known for the

Sungai Besi Airport RMAF Kuala Lumpur was an air base in Kuala Lumpur. It is also known as Sungai Besi Air Base, Simpang Airport, Old Airport. History It served as the main airport for Kuala Lumpur from 1952 to 1965 under the name Kuala Lumpur International Airpo ...

(Simpang Airport) which was once the main airport for

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

until 1965, where it got relocated to

Subang International Airport Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport ( ms, Lapangan Terbang Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah), (formerly Subang International Airport/Kuala Lumpur International Airport), often called Subang Airport or Subang Skypark, is an airport located in Subang, Petali ...

. The airport then housed the RMAF Museum and the Sungai Besi Air Base. It was used by the

Royal Malaysian Air Force The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF, ms, Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia; TUDM; Jawi: ) was formed on 2 June 1958 as the Royal Federation of Malaya Air Force (; ). However, its roots can be traced back to the Malayan Auxiliary Air Force format ...

as well as the Police, Fire and Rescue services for

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes airplane, fixed-wing and helicopter, rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as aerostat, lighter- ...

purposes until it ceased operations in early 2018 to make way for the construction of MRT stations and Bandar Malaysia development project.

Accessibility and transport

The township is easily accessible from the North–South Expressway Southern Route. The road into the township is only 400 metres from the Sungai Besi Expressway exit. The main road in Sungai Besi is

Jalan Pasar Like all other historical urban centres, the capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, contains a number of current and old roads and streets across the city. This article contains an alphabetical list of notable roads within ...

which is the main trading centre. Sometimes, it is packed with heavy vehicles and cars of many tourists who are in town to enjoy Sungai Besi's famed seafood. The township is also served by the

Sungai Besi LRT Station ta, சுங்கை பேசி , image = Sungai Besi LRT Station platform (211106).jpg , image_caption = Platform view of the station. , address = Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur , other = Proposed connection to future Maju KL station on KT ...

on the Sri Petaling line of Kuala Lumpur's Light Rapid Transit system.

References

{{coord, 3, 03, N, 101, 42, E, display=title, region:MY_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Suburbs in Kuala Lumpur