KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — Khong Kim Lyew’s father used to make suits for British High Commissioners Sir Edward Gent, Sir Henry Gurney and Sir Gerald Templer during the British Military Administration, when Malaya was already deep in the throes of an independence struggle.

The intrepid Taishanese, who honed his bespoke tailoring skills at Robinsons on Jawa Street (now Jalan Tun Perak) after picking up the trade from his own father, had originally wanted to join the civil service but was unable to secure a place after Malaya was hit by the Great Depression of the 1920s.

After Merdeka in 1957, Khong himself hand-stitched suits for Umno founder Datuk Onn Jaafar, Malaysia’s second prime minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, his deputy Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman and even the fourth King, Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah of Terengganu.

“Everybody who was somebody came to the shop to have their clothes made,” he said.

“The suit [Abdul Razak] was wearing when he shook hands with Chairman Mao, which was used in the election manifesto for the 1974 election, was also made by me.”

Khong still provides custom-made suits to Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah of Kedah, including the one the latter wore when he called on Queen Elizabeth II of Britain in 1974 as the fifth Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, all well as ceremonial gowns for judges, among others.

He remains committed to his craft and says he will carry on the trade for as long as he is physically able, even though he admits he will likely be the last in his line.

But Kwong Fook Hing Tailor on Jalan Sultan, where three generations of his family have plied their trade since 1915, will soon be torn down along 15 other shophouses to make way for the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (KVMRT), Malaysia’s most ambitious construction project to date.

Outgoing project owner Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (SPNB) has said it needs to acquire the land above the KVMRT tunnel that will run along Jalan Sultan and demolish existing buildings in the interest of public safety.

“The buildings in Jalan Sultan are very old so it is not safe for the public,” SPNB project development director Zulkifli Mohd Yusof said yesterday.

“Moreover, the area consists of limestone and (tunnel) construction in an area like that can cause sinkholes.”

Khong, however, remains unconvinced of the argument.

While stressing that he did not object to development, the 63-year-old said he did not see why SPNB had to demolish the buildings above the tunnel that will link the Pasar Seni and Merdeka stations when similar subsurface work carried out in Hong Kong and Singapore had left street-level buildings intact.

“They’re worse than piranhas. Piranhas only eat the flesh, they leave the bones behind. These guys seem to want to take everything,” the Victoria Institution alumnus said.

He is not alone in his condemnation.

Richard Han, 46, who rents out the five-storey building he inherited from his father to Hotel City Inn and Purple Cane Tea, said it was wrong for SPNB to take the hard-earned fruits of his family’s labour for what appeared to be private gain.

The trained electrical engineer felt it was unfair for the project owner to make a handsome profit by knocking down existing shophouses — some of which are nearly 100-years-old — and building new commercial developments in their place after acquiring the land.

“If they acquire my building, it’s supposed to be for the benefit of the public. But they cannot demolish our building and then build... something even bigger for their benefit. I believe that’s not right,” he said.

Han, whose family owned a coffeeshop where moviegoers from the now defunct Rex and Madras cinemas used to go for supper after taking in the latest shows, also stressed the importance of preserving Chinatown in its entirety as losing even a part of it was like losing the historic settlement’s “soul”.

He explained that he, like many others who still live in the area, had grown up playing on the streets of Chinatown and could relive their childhood in the close-knit community by walking down Jalan Sultan or Jalan Panggung as “the area has not changed much”.

“You can’t lose a part of it and be told Chinatown is still intact. There’s no such thing. Once its gone, the memories are gone,” he said.

Fellow landlord Francis Wong, 64, said he was ambivalent about the KVMRT but felt there was a need for heritage buildings in the area to be preserved to remember the contributions and sacrifices of their forefathers.

He expressed concern that Chinatown was being nibbled away at the edges following the “shocking” news that 30 lots along Jalan Sultan will be acquired in six months as this constituted a sizeable chunk of the settlement, which was not that large to begin with.

“We feel that parts of Chinatown will be taken away from us in stages. They’ve done it at UDA (Ocean) here, they’re going to do it here, they’re going to move further up,” he said.

Wong, who still fondly recalls watching Malaysia compete with the best for the Merdeka Cup at Stadium Merdeka in the 1960s, stressed that he was not against development in the city but said he was not keen on new structures if heritage buildings have to make way for them.

He added that he was still hopeful that a solution will be found that would allow Jalan Sultan to remain as it is, but warned that he was willing to protest “to the very end” if the government did not heed the wishes of the people of Chinatown.

“Just leave us, leave our buildings. Leave us alone,” he said.