Chow Kit is a suburb in central

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, Malaysia. It is located around Jalan Chow Kit (Chow Kit Road) and is enclosed by the parallel streets of Jalan Raja Laut and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. It is named after Loke Chow Kit () a well-known miner, municipal councilor, public official, and also the first local owner of a department store - Chow Kit & Co – which was the largest in KL at the time. Today the area features a large

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

n community and known as "Little Jakarta". The majority of Indonesia's Minangkabau, Javanese, and Acehnese open restaurants and as retailer. Recently, a small African community also lives there. There is a night market also known as ''Bundle Chow Kit'' along Lorong Haji Taib which is known for the sale of used clothing and accessories.

Wet market

A daily wet market known as Bazaar Baru Chow Kit is the largest wet market in Kuala Lumpur, and a tourist attraction. A wide variety of

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

and seafood products are available for customers.

Red-light district

Chow Kit has traditionally been known as one of the major red-light districts in

. Many of the

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

s are daughters of prostitutes that have grown up in the area. Malaysian director Justin Ong's 2013 film, ''Ida's choice'', is about a young woman in the red-light district.

Transportation

The

KL Monorail The KL Monorail Line is the only operational monorail system in Malaysia. Operated as part of the Rapid KL system by Rapid Rail, a subsidiary of Prasarana Malaysia, it is one of the components of the Klang Valley Integrated Transit System. Th ...

Chow Kit Monorail station is situated in this area, while the PWTC LRT station ( Ampang Line) and Hospital Kuala Lumpur MRT station ( Putrajaya Line) are located nearby.

In popular culture

*Chow Kit Road became the subject of the hit song, ''Chow Kit Road'', made famous by the late Sudirman Arshad. Sudirman held an open-air concert on the road in 1986 to a 100,000-strong audience.Good ol’ charm of Jalan Chow Kit
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Gallery

File:SHOPPING_2_0042.jpg, The wet market File:MURTABAK_1_0031.jpg, Murtabak (pancake) seller File:CHICKEN_1_0050.jpg, Chicken meat in Chow Kit File:ANCHOVY_1_0058.jpg, Small-sized anchovies in Chow Kit File:Bazaar Baru Chow Kit 631.jpg, Carambola File:Bazaar Baru Chow Kit 632.jpg, Pitaya File:Bazaar Baru Chow Kit 634.jpg, Durian

References

{{Greater Kuala Lumpur African diaspora in Malaysia Suburbs in Kuala Lumpur Indonesian diaspora in Malaysia Red-light districts in Malaysia