Yap Ah Loy gets commemorative stamps to mark 180th birthday

KUALA LUMPUR: Yap Ah Loy, who helped turn Kuala Lumpur from a small tin-mining town to a booming commercial centre, got his own set of commemorative stamps to mark his 180th birthday, which fell earlier this year.

Pos Malaysia, working with Chinese associations, yesterday launched the commemorative stamps, of which there will be 2,000 sets.

The set of five stamps, which feature Yap’s portraits, comes with a special envelope and a brochure detailing his history. Priced at RM20 per set, they can be purchased at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.

Speaking at the launch of the stamp set, organising committee chairman Datuk Kevin Lai Tak Kuan said the purpose of issuing the stamps was to protect the legacy of Yap’s contributions to Malaysia.

“Our aim is to promote his name internationally and locally. People have stopped to look back at the history of how Kuala Lumpur was developed. Without Yap Ah Loy, there would not be a Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

The third Kapitan Cina’s great-great grandson, Yap Wai Ming, said he and other descendants were pleased that Pos Malaysia and the associations had decided to launch the stamps.

Yap was born on March 14, 1837, in Huizhou, China. In 1854, he left China for Malaya, arriving initially in Melaka before making his way to Kuala Lumpur, then part of Selangor.

He became Kapitan Cina in 1868.

Five years later, Yap helped Tengku Kudin end the Selangor Civil War and became a powerful figure in the state, especially in Kuala Lumpur.

He played an important role in developing Kuala Lumpur, restructuring the layout of the town, especially in Brickfields, in the 1880s.

He built the city’s first school and a tapioca mill in Petaling Street.

He died in April 1885 at 48.