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Sunday 27 June 2010

Imagine this, Pudu Prison Hotel

I'm a bit upset when the government decided to tear down the historical Pudu Prison, so that the land can be developed into a place that houses those new swanky hotels, apartments. Blah blah blah. Like Malaysian doesn't have enough shopping malls and apartments already. *rolled eyes*.

 Pudu Prison


"The government has studied the matter and decided that the site is not a heritage site and will not be made a heritage site," Deputy Finance Minister Awang Adek told lawmakers.
"The government is of the opinion that it is not something we can be proud of, there may be many (other) things we can be proud of compared with a jail," Awang added.

(Malaysian Mirror, 2010)

Yeah, right. Whatever. Many other things that we can be proud of? Example? Shopping Malls? Now why don't you guys demolish all those abandoned apartments? *rolled eyes again*

There are many shopping malls in Malaysia but we only have ONE! I repeat again, ONE! SATU Pudu Prison. Once it is being torn down, there will be no other buildings that can replace Pudu Prison.

They have this narrow materialistic thinking that more tourists would come to Malaysia to SHOP. As if! If I were to go to other countries, I couldn't care less about shopping! I would like to see something original. I would want to explore the country's culture and heritage.

Seriously, those Malaysians should think out of the box. Check this out. Alcatraz Prison turned Alcatraz Hotel.

Before

 After


The room is nicer than my hostel room. -_____-
Receptionist

 See, it is  10 times WAYYY scarier than Pudu Prison as it is located on an island, UNLIKE Pudu Prison which is located in the heart of busy bustling city.



 What's more, there are LRT stations and LOTS of shopping complexes around Pudu Prison. Do we need MORE?

  I'm not saying that Pudu Prison should be converted into a hotel. I'm terrified of the idea of staying in one of the prison cell myself. But, any other ideas, anyone? Museum? Pudu Prison Museum? Pudu Prison Disneyland (or whatever). Anything.

Sad, right? Like Julia said, "The developers have a close-minded view on what development is," They are only thinking about gaining more profits without taking the sentimental and historical values of that certain things into consideration. In this case, it's the Pudu Prison.
There are many other buildings in Malaysia that are torn down to give place to guess what? SHOPPING MALLS! Ughh.

17 comments:

Jooleeyah said...

"Not something we can be proud of"? What? D: I agree with you. Some people have twisted ideas about everything.

I read on the newspaper that a private developer had tried preserving the place and making it a tourist attraction, but tak mendapat sambutan. But like you said, instead of just giving up and abolishing the whole place, why not renovate it into a more attractive tourist attraction.

The Alcatraz Prison on the island is pretty scary D: Getting room service through the food hole? Erk. Based on what we're getting from the media, it sounds like the government and developers aren't trying hard enough to salvage the prison. They're giving excuses to tear down the place. It's not like the place jadi tempat penagih dadah or anything that they have to destroy it, right?

It's not that the developers are "too occupied with those so-called developments". It'll be more accurate to say that they have a closed-minded view on what 'development' is. They're not being creative or innovative. Did the government say what they're going to do with the site? Maybe the government is out of money and is planning on selling the land to private developers.

Sarah said...

Yes, you're right, Julia!.That's exactly what I wanted to say. I should change the sentence. Thanks! :D

They should convert the building into something useful. Something that people HAVE to use, not something that they can make a choice on whether to use it or not.

Yeah, the decorations of the Alcatraz Prison are pretty impressive, but it must be scary to sleep alone in any of the cells at night.

And as for Pudu prison,I don't even know why they closed it in the first place. Can't they just continue using it? Instead of spending more money building MORE rehabs and prisons?

Lisa said...

sape nak duduk dekat pudu hotel?
haunteddddddddddddd :/

Sarah said...

Haha Liz. Your response sama macam my mum. XD
Not necessarily a hotel la. Maybe a youth centre, like what they have in Singapore- *scape. Well, something like that. Haha.

But of course, they have to demolish the walls around the Pudu Prison, so that it will not be called a prison anymore. And also, they should demolish the sites where the death sentence took place. But then, I think Pudu Prison should be converted as a museum too. A prison museum. Just like what they have in London. We don't have any prison museum in Malaysia, don't we? :)

bunny ;) said...

sugeii 8D;

erghh more shoppingcomplx/hotels? cukup2 la tu XD; and uhh bekas penjara? hello, no pls XD;; yada~ kowaii yo~

MAJIDE? s-serious tu prison? 8D;
arienaaiii~ the fact that its on an island makes it scary. tp lawa nye! my room pun x de sekemas mcm tu and ade dekstop and laptop? 8D; penjara jenis ape tu? berbayar swasta or something? XD;

Sarah said...

Julia, Lisa and Shahila, thanks for the comment. :D

@ Chii, no la. Laptop, dekstop semua tu bawak sendiri. Saja je nk buat props nk tunjuk prison tu lawa and moden. Hahahah.

Yeah, tak perlu la shopping complex lagi. Dulu Bukit Bintang Girls School tu pun diorang robohkan to make way for The Pavillion. Pavillion tu pun bukannya ramai orang. Takde la best pun. T_______T

Su'ai Ysff (onyx_myc1510) said...

omo~! the toilet is in the same space with bedroom... noooo~~~!! yuck.. haha!!! =P

Sarah said...

Haha, LOL. Mat Saleh kan dah biasa dgn semua tu?
Kalau kat Malaysia, boleh build divider/wall around the toilet area XD

Luqman Fauzi said...

Eh? How can u say Mat Salleh are used to toilets being in the open? O_o

Sarah said...

No la, that's not what I meant, EXACTLY.

What I'm trying to say is that they don't really care whether the toilet is inside or outside (the picture proves it, right?)as long as the basic necessities are there.

And that they're not that hygienic. They use toilet papers instead of water and they wear shoes inside the house, they allow dogs to lick their face, get what I mean?

Luqman Fauzi said...

When they're staying in a hotel based on a prison, they won't mind. When they're backpacking to 3rd world countries, they won't mind. Other times? They do mind.

In general, they don't want their toilets 'outside' just like we don't. But you're right about them being less hygienic

Sarah said...

Yeah, you're right. They're the adventurous kind of people. *cue Ian Wright*

kina ;) said...

Malaysia is out of idea. XD

Haha. That Alcatraz Hotel? Scary la. Dgn room service through that hole. kowaii~~~

Sarah said...

Yeah, Malaysia takde idea yang unik dan lain drp yang lain. Macam mana nak maju ni??? Hahahaha.

Yeah, hotel tu memang scary. Tapi secara jujurnya, aku teringin nak duduk. :P

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Sarah said...

@anonymous. Sure. What's your blog link? =)

Anonymous said...

Just imagine all the ghosts of the past lingering around there after the mall, condominium and office buildings completed. I rather not step a right foot into that area at midnight.