It’s so hard to say goodbye
Ampang Park traders and patrons alike find it tough to move on
KUALA LUMPUR: Until the very last moment, loyal patrons and traders of Ampang Park were seen lingering at the mall which drew its final curtain after 44 years of operations.
A visit there on Sunday, the last day of business, found Ampang Park thronged with city dwellers who were there not just to shop but to relive nostalgic moments spent at the country’s oldest shopping complex.
For shop owner Pritam Ranai, 65, Ampang Park was a “playground” for his three children and it was also where they grew up.
Pritam named his shop Jason’s, after one of his sons, and was feeling nostalgic about Ampang Park's closure, having opened his menswear shop there around 40 years ago.
“I could not sleep properly since last week because of this, and I am trying to sell what I can before we close for good.
“My customers tell me they want to buy something from my shop as a memorabilia of Ampang Park,” he said, adding that he would be relocating his shop to KL Trillion in Jalan Tun Razak next year.
Richard Lee, 48, the owner of the Minas hair salon, said even though he accepted the Government's decision to close down the shopping complex, he was still upset as the business had been his source of income since 1992.
“Although I have moved to a new location in The Ampwalk (Jalan Ampang), it is still not the same because I have to start from the bottom like I did when I started my business years ago,” he said.
Kinabatangan member of Parliament Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, who was also seen at the shopping complex, said Ampang Park was significant as it had helped many Malay traders in their businesses.
“Today (Sunday) is the last day this complex is operating. I am very sad because I used to come here often to buy groceries.
“However, development must go on, ” he said.
Ampang Park was built in 1972 and opened to the public on March 15, 1973, making it the first shopping complex in the country, with 250 lots selling a variety of goods and providing service to city folks.
It is scheduled to be demolished to make way for the Ampang Park Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station. —