Pudu Jail?

...what Pudu Jail? It's history now.

From Wikipedia.

First built in 1891 along Jalan Hang Tuah, the prison was built in stages by the British colonial government, and was completed in 1895. The construction began with its 394-metre prison wall at a cost of RM$16,000, and had been adorned with the world's longest mural at one point in its history. Circa 1911, Richard Alfred Ernest Clark, a former soldier of the third battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, was one of the European warders in the history of Pudu.

Sadly, the mural wall of the 115-year-old Pudu Jail was demolished on 21 June 2010 amid protesting honks of cars along Jalan Pudu. Demolition of the 394-metre Pudu Jail wall fronting Jalan Pudu started at 10.10pm as hundreds of onlookers shouted their dismay while snapping last photographs of the historic wall.

Sad... but what has it gotta to do with me?

Pudu is essentially my hometown - born and grew up here, went to school here (except in college years), even worked (& working) around here. I still remember those days when I was young (in the 80s) - I could see the inmates painting the mural. I can still recall seeing them finger-painted the leaves on the trees.

The mural featuring peaceful scenes of nature was painted by prisoner Khong Yen Chong and other inmates as community service in the early 1980s. It entered the Guinness Book of Records as the longest mural in the world at 394 metres completed in one year using 2,000 litres of paint. (Source: Malaysian Insider)

I don't really understand why the government went ahead with the demolition despite the objection and protests from so many sectors. They destroyed a part of history just like that. I am sure if they had worked at it harder and put in more effort - they could have came up with some better ways to preserve this part of history, rather than wipe it all off save for the main entrance. I think besides the prison's building, the mural wall was truly significant - it had been the landmark of Pudu for almost 30 over years.