The Royal Selangor Club () is a
social club
A social club or social organization may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation or activity with in an organizational association known as a Club (organization), club. Exampl ...
in
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
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
, founded in 1884 by the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
who ruled
Malaya at the time. The club is situated next to the ''
Dataran Merdeka
Independence Square () is a square located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is situated in front of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building. It was formerly known as the Selangor Club Padang, or simply the ''Padang'' (meaning "field" in Malay), and was ...
'', or Independence Square, ''padang'' (field), and is accessible from Jalan Raja (King Road).
History and overview
Establishment
The club was founded as the Selangor Club in 1884 as a meeting point for educated and high-ranking members of
British colonial
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, while not forming p ...
society. Most of its early members were British, the founding members include H.C. Syers, the Superintendent of Selangor State; A.R. Venning, Treasurer of Selangor and head of the Sanitation Board (who also created the
Lake Gardens
Lake Gardens is a neighbourhood of South Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India.
It has Kalighat to the north, Jodhpur Park to the east, Prince Anwar Shah Road or Tollygunge to the south and Charu Market to the west.
The famous ...
);
A. C. Norman who designed some early buildings of Kuala Lumpur; and H.F. Bellamy who headed the Selangor Public Works Department. Nevertheless, membership to the club was primarily determined by high educational standard or social standing, rather than race or citizenship; for example an original founding member was
Thamboosamy Pillay and its first Secretary was a German,
Count Bernstorff. Count Bernstorff however left the club with an unexplained deficit of $1,100, and later Henry Huttenbach steadied the club's finances as Secretary.
The club house was built with funds from the British colonial administration, and the
British Resident
A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of in ...
of Selangor was ''
ex officio
An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by r ...
'' the President of the club – the first three Presidents were
John Pickersgill Rodger
Sir John Pickersgill Rodger, (12 February 1851 – 19 September 1910) was a British colonial administrator. He served as British resident to several Malay states, before ending his career as Governor of the Gold Coast from 1904 to 1910.
Early ...
,
William Edward Maxwell
Sir William Edward Maxwell, (5 August 1846 – 14 December 1897) was a British colonial official who served as colonial secretary of the Straits Settlements and governor of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast, then a British colony.
Ea ...
, and
Frank Swettenham
Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham (28 March 1850 – 11 June 1946) was a British colonial administrator who became the first Resident general of the Federated Malay States, which brought the Malay states of Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and ...
.
The club was initially based in a small wooden building with an attap roof near the north eastern corner of the ''padang''. In 1890, this early building was replaced by a two-storey structure designed by the Government Architect
A.C. Norman at the current site of the club on the west side of the ''padang''. In 1910, the building was rebuilt using a design by architect
Arthur Benison Hubback
Arthur Benison Hubback (13 April 1871 – 8 May 1948) was a British Army officer and architect who designed several important buildings in British Malaya, in both Indo-Saracenic architecture and European "Wrenaissance" styles. Major works cr ...
(notably credited with the design of the
Kuala Lumpur Railway Station) in
Mock Tudor
Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...
styling, with two additional wings on either side of the main building.
The club was nicknamed "The Spotted Dog", one explanation is that it referred to its mixed community membership and began with a remark that "frequenters of The Spotted Dog pub must accept the company as they find it".
Another suggestion it refers to two
Dalmatians belonging to the wife of H. C. Syers, one of the club founders, that were left to guard the entrance of the club whenever they visited the club. Yet another suggestion is that the first emblem club was supposedly a spotted leopard that was so badly drawn that some mistook it for a dog. The club is also simply referred to as "The Dog".
Over the years, the club's membership increased and had also begun to include high-ranking Malaysian civil servants: judges, lawyers and important people in society. The club's proximity to the old
High Courts at the other side of ''Dataran Merdeka'' has also made the club a popular meeting place for the legal fraternity.
Flooding and fire
The Royal Selangor Club was not spared from frequent
flood
A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...
ing in Kuala Lumpur. Between the start of the 1910s and the 1930s, the club was recorded to be hit by floods in 1911, 1917, December 1925 and December 1926.
On 20 December 1970, the main section of the club was razed in a fire which was believed to have started in its kitchen at around 10.30 p.m. and was contained within an hour by 50 fire fighters (including 20 who were off-duty). Property damage from the fire was estimated at more than
M$1.5 million, but there were no casualties. During the fire, guests of a children's Christmas party in the club were safely evacuated with "no panic". The then president of the club,
Khir Johari
Mohamed Khir bin Johari (; 29 January 1923 – 19 November 2006) was a Malaysian politician and the former Minister of Education (Malaysia), Malaysian Minister of Education.
Born on 29 January 1923, in Alor Setar, Khir received formal educati ...
, stated that the club was insured for M$1 million. Shortly after,
another flood struck Kuala Lumpur and the club premises three days after the start of 1971.
While the club is more than 100 years old, much of its early records were lost during the three-year
Japanese occupation of Malaya
Malaya, then under British administration,, was gradually occupied by Japanese forces between 8 December 1941 and the Allied surrender at Singapore on 15 February 1942. The Japanese remained in occupation until their surrender to the Allie ...
from 1942 to 1945, and the 1970 fire that damaged the club .
Rebuilding after the fire
After the fire, plans were made by the club to rebuild what was damaged. Proposals were made on a new wing and submitted to the
Kuala Lumpur City Hall
The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (, Abbreviation, abbreviated DBKL or KLCH) is the city council which administers the city of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. This council was established after the city was officially granted city status on 1 February 1972. ...
in 1972. However, City Hall was suggesting the construction of a civic center over the site of the club's field and club. The initial response by the club was to search for a new site in the surrounding area (including
Jalan Duta
Taman Duta refers to the area that Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim (previously also named Jalan Duta) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia passes through. The area spans from the adjoining roundabout of Jalan Kuching, where a high flyover takes traffic straight int ...
, an area near the
Houses of Parliament
The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...
, an area near a
polo
Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...
club in
Ampang, and
Damansara) with little success. Discussions were eventually made with City Hall to agree on the club's rebuilding. As a result, plans for a civic center in the area were abandoned, and City Hall granted the reconstruction of the club's new building in July 1978. The new wing, which was built in a similar
Mock Tudor
Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...
style as the rest of the club building, was constructed between 5 November 1978 to December 1980 at a cost of M$6 million.
Sports and recreation
The club has organised various sporting activities since its early years, including
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
(where it has been a key player in the history of
cricket in Malaysia
The Malaysia national cricket team represents the country of Malaysia in international cricket matches. The team is organised by the Malaysian Cricket Association which has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) ...
). Rugby Union has been played at the Club since 1894.
Sporting events at the club can be viewed from the Long Bar, a portion of the club which has been off limits to women, purportedly because men "would drink and get very excited when they watched the games and they didn't want the ladies to see their exuberant behaviour, hence it was decided to ban women visitors from the Long Bar". The ban was repealed by vote at an
extraordinary general meeting
An extraordinary general meeting, commonly abbreviated as EGM, is a meeting of members of an organisation, shareholders of a company, or employees of an official body that occurs at an irregular time.' The term is usually used where the group wo ...
in October 2023; the repeal required an amendment to the club's constitution, and thus will not take effect until the amendment is approved by the Registrar of Societies as required by the
Societies Act 1966.
Members of the club are said to have introduced
hash running in 1938. Legend has it that some members of the Selangor Club decided that it would be a good idea to run to work after heavy drinking the night before so they could rid themselves of their hangovers, which apparently they did. As the club was once also called Hash House (so named because some of its members thought its food unpalatable) the members therefore named themselves
Hash House Harriers
The Hash House Harriers (HHH or H3) is an international group of non-competitive running social clubs. An event organized by a club is known as a Hash or Run, or a Hash Run. A common denominal verb for this activity is Hashing, with participant ...
. During the World Interhash in 1998, an exception was made to allow women into the Long Bar.
''Dataran Merdeka'' field
The field or ''padang'' fronting the Royal Selangor Club, now known as ''
Dataran Merdeka
Independence Square () is a square located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is situated in front of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building. It was formerly known as the Selangor Club Padang, or simply the ''Padang'' (meaning "field" in Malay), and was ...
'', had long been used by the club but was leased from the Government under a "Temporary Occupation License - TOL" before it was taken back by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall in 1987 to be used specifically for events organised by City Hall. Throughout the time the field was used by the club, sporting activities such as cricket, rugby, hockey and football matches were held there almost on a daily basis. The club's loss of the field was compensated with a piece of land in
Bukit Kiara
Bukit Kiara is a densely forested area of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The area is in proximity to the suburbs of Bukit Damansara, TTDI, Mont Kiara, Sri Hartamas
Sri Hartamas (Golden Estates in English language, English) is an affluent reside ...
, which is currently the site of the
Royal Selangor Club Bukit Kiara Annexe.
Recognition

Effort has been made to accumulate support from various bodies to recognise the club as a national heritage building and institution, due to its intertwined link with the country's history.
The club is one of the oldest in the country, serving as a British institution, and is witness to the first hoisting of the
Malayan flag in place of the
Union Jack
The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags.
It is sometimes a ...
on the night of 30 August 1957 and declaration of independence by
Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman (8 February 19036 December 1990), commonly referred to as Tunku, was a Malaysian statesman who served as prime minister of Malaysia from 1957 to 1970. He previously served as the only chief minister of Federation of Malaya ...
(to which club members broke into cheers of happiness), signifying the country's independence from the British. In 1984, the club was awarded a royal status under the patronage of the
Sultan of Selangor
Sultan of Selangor (سلطان سلاڠور) is the title of the constitutional ruler of Selangor, Malaysia who is the head of state and head of the Islamic religion in Selangor. The current monarch, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah ascended the t ...
,
Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah
Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah Al-Haj ( Jawi: ; 8 March 1926 – 21 November 2001) was the Sultan of Selangor from 1960, and the eleventh Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia) from 1999, un ...
, who has voiced his support for the club's preservation during its 100th anniversary celebration, stating that "This institution should remain forever."
Royal Selangor Club Kiara Sport Annexe
The Royal Selangor Club Kiara Sport Annexe is a branch of the Royal Selangor Club built over a piece of land in
Bukit Kiara
Bukit Kiara is a densely forested area of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The area is in proximity to the suburbs of Bukit Damansara, TTDI, Mont Kiara, Sri Hartamas
Sri Hartamas (Golden Estates in English language, English) is an affluent reside ...
5.5 kilometres away from the original clubhouse, which was given as compensation after the original club's field was acquired by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall in 1987. The facility was officially opened on 7 June 1998 by then
Yang di-Pertuan Agong
The King of Malaysia, officially ''Yang di-Pertuan Agong'' ( Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ), is the constitutional monarch and Figurehead, ceremonial head of state of Malaysia. The office was established in 1957, when the Federation of Malaya gained ...
Tuanku Jaafar
Tuanku Ja’afar ibni Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman ( Jawi: ; 19 July 1922 – 27 December 2008) was Yang Di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan from 1967 until his death in 2008, and the tenth Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia), from 1994 ...
. The annexe is laid out in a similar manner as the original club, with the main club building facing a large field and designed in a similar architectural style as the original club building. The annexe also includes a swimming pool at the rear of the building.
Cricket
In 1997, the ground held ten matches in the
ICC Trophy
The Cricket World Cup Qualifier (previously called the ICC Trophy and officially known as the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier) is a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that serves as the culmination of the qualification pro ...
. The following year it held five
List A
List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...
matches as part of the
cricket competition at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. These matches saw Malaysia play
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
play
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, Malaysia play
Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
play
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, and
Barbados
Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...
play South Africa. The Bukit Kiara ground was used for some matches at the
2008 Under-19 Cricket World Cup
The 2008 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was held in Malaysia from 17 February 2008 to 2 March 2008. It was the seventh edition of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup. The opening ceremony took place on 15 February 2008. The final was played between S ...
.
See also
*
Royal Selangor Golf Club
*
Royal Selangor Flying Club
References
*
*
External links
Official Royal Selangor Club websiteOfficial Royal Selangor Club Hash House Harriers website
{{coord, 3, 8, 57, N, 101, 41, 34, E, type:landmark, display=title
Buildings and structures in Kuala Lumpur
Gentlemen's clubs in Malaysia
1884 establishments in British Malaya
Cricket grounds in Malaysia
Rugby union stadiums in Malaysia
Organisations based in Malaysia with royal patronage