Central Market Kuala Lumpur began life as a wet market in 1888; built by Yap Ah Loy, the city’s Chinese Kapitan. It served as a prominent landmark in colonial and modern-day Kuala Lumpur. When it was relocated in the 1980s, the Malaysian Heritage Society successfully petitioned against the demolition of the building, and it was subsequently declared a centre for Malaysian arts, culture and handicraft.