5/5 Gursewak singh n. 3 years ago on Google
Perdana
Botanical
Gardens,
formerly Perdana
Lake
Gardens, Lake
Gardens and Public
Gardens,
is Kuala
Lumpur's
first
large-scale
recreational
park.
Measuring
91.6
hectares,
it
is
located
in
the
heart
of
the
city
and
established
in
1888.
The
park
served
as
place
of
refuge
from
the
hustle
and
bustle
of
the
city
during
colonial
times.
It
contains
large
sculpted
and
manicured
gardens
and
a
host
of
attractions.
The
colonial-era
park
was
the
brainchild
of Alfred
Venning,
the British State Treasurer of
Selangor
in
the
late
19th
century.
In
1888,
Venning
proposed
that
a
botanical
garden
be
built
in
the
valley
of
Sungei
Bras
Bras,
and
the
British Resident Frank
Swettenham agreed
to
the
scheme
and
authorised
a
small
grant
from
the
State
funds
for
the
garden.
Venning
laid
out
the
plan
for
a
park
of
173
acres
(700,000 m2)
which
included
an
"experimental
economic
garden",
cleared
the
area
of
scrubs
and lalang,
and
planted
ornamental
flowering
trees
and
shrubs.
The
scheme
attracted
public
support,
and
a
leading
figure
of
the
Cantonese
community,
Towkay
Chow
Ah
Yeok,
contributed
a
hundred chempaka and
orange
trees
to
the
initial
planting
programme
in
1888.
An
ornamental
lake
was
created
by
damming
up
Sungei
Bras
Bras,
which
was
then
named
Sydney
Lake
after
Swettenham's
wife
(the
lake
is
now
known
as
Perdana
Lake).
The
project
took
nearly
ten
years
to
complete,
but
the
garden
was
formally
opened
on
13
May
1889,
just
a
year
after
work
began,
by
the
Governor
of
the
Straits
Settlements,
Sir Cecil
Clementi
Smith.
The
official
residence
of
the
then
British
government
representative Frank
Swettenham,
now
known
as Carcosa
Seri
Negara,
was
located
atop
a
hill
here.
Venning
also
created
a
social
club
by
the
lake,
the
Lake
Club
(now
known
as
the
Royal
Lake
Club),
in
1890.
The
club,
unlike
the Selangor
Club,
was
an
exclusively
European
club,
and
it
would
dominate
the
social
scene
for
Europeans
in
Kuala
Lumpur
for
over
half
a
century.The Malaysian
Houses
of
Parliament,
which
was
built
in
1963,
is
located
on
the
northern
fringes
of
the
park.
Naming
The
park
was
initially
called
Public
Gardens
but
later
renamed
Lake
Gardens.
In
1975,
it
was
renamed
Taman
Tasik
Perdana,
or
the
Perdana
Lake
Gardens,
by Tun
Abdul
Razak.
On
28
June
2011,
the
gardens
were
renamed
again
to
Perdana
Botanical
Gardens
by
Dato'
Sri Najib
Razak in
the
first
phase
of
turning
the
park
into
a
botanical
garden.