Legendary Malaysian art house continues on

Chong Keat Aun travelled around Malaysia and recorded Malaysian Chinese accents. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Chong and a photographer friend together spent RM 60,000 to mount a "rescue project". To share the expensive rent of RM 6,000 per month, Chong eventually found a person who agreed to run a coffee shop separately in the back room, with Chong making full use of the front room to operate Petaling Street Art House. His cultural preservation campaign also received support from 30 backers who were willing to donate RM 100 monthly over a 12-month period.

After one-month of preparation, Petaling Street Art House was born on November 3, 2013. It is now a community house for preserving, showcasing and performing crossover arts. Other than the various exhibits in Chong's collection, visitors can also participate in the weekly cultural activities he organizes.

"During the past three years we took to the streets to protest. We chanted our slogans. But now I am using a more gentle way to preserve cultural heritage, " Chong said in his perfect pitched radio voice.

It is impossible to fully restore the rich culture and prosperous scene of the old neighborhood, but at least Petaling Street Art House provides a platform for traditional, modern and crossover artists to communicate with each other and a chance for people to rediscover the significance of Jalan Petaling and Jalan Sultan, he said.

Chong's "rescue project" is not over. More sentimental items "adopted" by him have settled down in Petaling Street Art House. Chong crowns the 80-year-old antique cast iron safe as one of the most precious treasures on display. It weighs around 150 kilograms and is the heaviest item Chong has ever "rescued". An abacus, account books and several cups sit on a wooden cabinet on the left side of the room. An old plaque hangs on the left wall. These items are all from Hotel Lok Ann and Lok Ann Kopitiam on its ground floor.