Malaysia's KL Once Known For Thriving Meat Industry

By Shanika Abdul Latib KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur may have been known for its tin mining industry in the 19th century, but there were other industries that contributed quite significantly to the economy. A lesser known part of Kuala Lumpur history was that it was also a meat supply and distribution centre between 1890 and 1929. A Kuala Lumpur history researcher Dr Shapiza Sharif said the rising Kuala Lumpur population at the time had contributed to a higher and more varied demand in food supply, including for raw meat. In 1891, the Kuala Lumpur population was 19,021 people. By 1911, the population had increased by 40.71 percent to 46,718 people. “The figure soared to 80,424 by 1921, resulting in a spike in demand for raw meat like buffalo meat, beef, mutton and pork,” she told Bernama in an interview. HIGH DEMAND In the beginning, the British in Kuala Lumpur obtained their meat supply from the John Little company, a major supplier in Singapore. The raw meat supply was brought into Kuala Lumpur once a week via rail through Port Klang. “When the meat supply reached Kuala Lumpur, a few issues cropped up. These included the spike in prices and the quality of meat supplied. “The Sanitary Board Kuala Lumpur (SBKL) was then established to address the issues,” she revealed. SBKL was the brainchild of the then British Resident in Selangor, W. E. Maxwell. It was set up as a special board in 1890 to manage the rapidly growing settlement of Kuala Lumpur. The ruling British government then found that they could no longer rely on the leaders of the small communities in Kuala Lumpur to manage what was fast becoming a city. Among the solutions SBKL employed to ensure a balance between supply and demand was to reduce the dependency on imported raw meat. Thus, imported meat were no longer allowed after 1900. “This opened up huge market prospects for meat supply in Kuala Lumpur as there was tremendous demand for raw meat despite prices rising from 24 sen per kati (0.5kg) for beef in 1895 to 36 sen per kati in 1924 before jumping to 44 sen per kati by 1925. “SBKL, however, took several measures to ensure that traders do not abuse the spike in demand and did not even give them the opportunity to decide the selling price of meat,” said Shapiza, who is now with the Education Ministry. MODERN SLAUGHTERHOUSES To address the rise in demand for raw meat, SBKL opened several slaughterhouses that were more modern and systematic in their operations to ensure efficient processing and distribution throughout Selangor. “At first, six slaughterhouses operated under SBKL namely in Kuala Lumpur, Ampang, Sungai Besi, Salak Selatan, Kepong and Setapak. However, these slaughterhouses could only handle between 40 and 45 animals a day when the market demand was actually 60 to 65 a day. “To overcome the problem, SBKL built bigger slaughterhouses in Pudoh (now Pudu), High Street (Jalan Tun H.S.Lee) and Petaling Street (Jalan Petaling) with one of the buffalo slaughterhouses located in Ampang,” she said. SBKL also introduced the Law Relating To Slaughter Houses on Oct 5, 1895 that states that slaughterhouse operators were fully responsible for their premises. Two things that were made top priority were hygiene and speed. Every slaughterhouse needed to have a proper water supply so that any waste in the form of liquid or carcass remains from the slaughtering process could be easily cleaned. “Operators also need to remove all slaughtered animals within three hours. “From here we can see that another profession had been created – that of a health inspector, whose job was to ensure the optimal level of hygiene and cleanliness at the slaughterhouses,” said Shapiza. LUCRATIVE PAY Slaughterers at the time were given lucrative pay. According to an SBKL report in 1897, the wage set for slaughterers in Kuala Lumpur were determined by the size and type of the farm animal. Slaughterers were paid $1 per pig and $2 per buffalo. “Slaughterers can also earn up to 25 sen per goat or sheep,” she said. A problem that arose was finding a place to freeze and store slaughtered meat to avoid the spread of the Sonne bacillus bacteria which causes dysentery as well as the spread of the Staphylococcus salmonela, Clostridium welchii and Clostridium botulinum bacteria which can cause food poisoning. Both illnesses were leading causes of death in Kuala Lumpur at the time. (Dysentery is an inflammatory disease of the intestine, especially of the colon, which always results in severe diarrhoea and abdominal pains.) “The cooling technology available in Kuala Lumpur at the time was still primitive. As such, careful monitoring at slaughterhouses was not enough to reduce the risk of food poisoning. “Ice was then used to reduce the risk of bacteria spread. Ice supply was not a problem as there were two factories manufacturing ice in Kuala Lumpur at the time,” she explained. MODERN COLD STORAGE The situation changed when the first freezer storage was placed at the Old Market Square (near Pasar Seni) and by 1909, most of the slaughterhouses had their own cold storage rooms. “The rate of animal slaughter exceeded the limit in 1911, forcing SBKL to utilise nine shophouses and buildings in (the no longer existing) McArthur Street as freezer storage. “It can be said that the economic landscape in Kuala Lumpur transformed completely in 1929 when a cold storage premises was opened in Central Market and subsequently propelled the raw meat industry into a significant economic activity of the city,” she said. The boom in the industry enabled it to be exported to Singapore and resulted in the opening of more meat markets around Kuala Lumpur. By 1914, there were eight meat markets in Kuala Lumpur from the three in 1890. These were Pasar Besar (Pasar Seni), Pasar Pudoh (Pudu), Pasar Batu Road (Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman), Pasar Ampang, Pasar Setapak, Pasar Sungai Besi, Pasar Sentul and Pasar Kepong. Translated by Sakina Mohamed -- BERNAMA