The problem with old institutions is they lose all attraction
once they become attractions. The Long Bar at Singapore’s
Raffles Hotel, for instance, isn’t anyone’s local;
it’s a place where tourists buy Singapore Slings. Anyone
looking for an after-work drink in the area would go to Lot,
Stock & Barrel on Seah Street or one of the basement karaoke
dives along Beach Road.
Kuala Lumpur’s Coliseum Café & Hotel at 98-100
Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman then is a rarity. It is a colonial
era café and hotel that remains an unpretentious café
and hotel. Established in 1921 as an inexpensive alternative
for the planters and tin miners who couldn’t afford
the Station and Majestic hotels, it still fits the budget
of the discriminating traveler looking for a good deal.
It is worn, and the management has made a few poor decorating
choices. The old heavy bar stools have been replaced by ones
with flimsy stalks topped by thin peach cushions; some of
the rooms upstairs no longer have the broken down period furniture
that sets the proper forlorn hotel mood. But the café
does good business serving “the best steaks in town,”
and most Sundays, the restaurant is full, with people waiting
in the bar for a table. They seem to be willing to overlook
the stained, ragged linens and unsmiling service, perhaps
not wanting to give up a place they first came to with parents,
grandparents, aunts, and uncles.
The bar itself hasn’t changed much since the 1950s,
when planters and tin miners gathered on Friday nights to
discuss anti-communist strategy during the Malayan Emergency
– shotguns, rifles, and pistols strewn about the room.
On the walls are framed advertisements from the 1920s and
1930s and newspaper profiles from the 1970s and 1980s. The
Malaysian cartoonist Lat – a sometime regular –
has left framed caricatures of other former customers, including
a drawing of a minor relation of the last White Rajah of Sarawak.
And who can dislike a bar where a few customers are always
spending a hot KL afternoon hiding from managers and supervisors?
Single rooms with air-con go for US$10 a night. Non-air-con
rooms have more colonial flavor, although road noise is bothersome.
Bathrooms and toilets are on the hall, with spigots and plastic
buckets replacing the old Shanghai jars. Restaurant and bar
operate from 8 am to 10 pm.
From the Masjid Jamek interchange walk along Jalan Tun Perak
in the direction of the OCBC branch bank. The first main cross
street is Jl. Tuanku Abdul Rahman. Turn right and keep walking
until you see the Indian movie boards of the Coliseum Theatre
on the left. The hotel and café is just beyond. The
phone number is 603 2692 6270.
Check the ‘online articles’ section of the Penang
Tourist Guide Association website: www.ptga.org.my for more
information on the history of the Coliseum and the surrounding
area.
Note: A recent visitor to KL realized too late after her return
to Bali that the Indonesian embassy there had given her a
social visa with only 30 days on entry and two extensions
(instead of 60 days on entry and four extensions). Other people
have reported similar trouble in KL. Always check your visas
no matter where you go on a run. If the embassy screws it
up, taking a few extra days to fix it will cost less than
coming back to Bali with the wrong visa. The KL visitor ended
up paying overstay charges here and will have to go out again
in January instead of April.
