Like many of Malaysia’s shophouse dominated urban spaces, the cluttered and colourful kaki-kaki-lima (five-foot-ways) of old Klang are a joy to wander through. Intended as a sheltered walkway, the five-foot-way is thought to owe their existence to Singapore’s Town Plan of 1822, in which it was stipulated that “all houses constructed of brick or tile should have a uniform type of front, each having a verandah of a certain depth, open at all times as a continuous and covered passage on each side of the street”. This led to a degree of uniformity in the shophouse lined pre-war urban centres in both Malaya and Singapore.
More on the five-foot-ways of Malaysia and Singapore:
https://thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com/tag/five-foot-way/
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