| PUDU PRISON | ||
| MAIN
PAGE
KUALA LUMPUR PLACES OF INTEREST |
 Construction began in 1891 and was completed in 1895. The prison served its purpose for a century until it was finally shut down in November 1st 1996, with all the inmates relocated to the new Sungei Buloh Prison. I used to live in the residents' area (Kuala Lumpur City Council's 16-storey flats) close to the prison when I was young, and I could still remember seeing prisoners strolling inside the prison's open compound and recalled the wailing siren every afternoon (for what reason I have yet to discover). The Pudu Prison was open to the public a few years ago and many thronged the premise to catch a glimpse of what it was like living behind bars. But what I think is interesting about the prison is the resplendent mural on both of the outer walls which face Pudu and Hang Tuah Roads. It took the inmates over a year to paint using 2000 litres of paint. The mural depicts our country's beautiful tropical forest. What intrigues me about the mural's depiction is the absence of sentient beings (i.e. animals) except for two sections in which there are paintings of some birds perching on trees and some fluttering towards the sky. Other than that the mural, despite its splendour, appears 'lifeless' (although one could argue that the trees and rivers are representations of life itself). |
|
