For one of Kuala Lumpur’s earliest satellite towns, there’s surprisingly little documented about Rawang. The earliest records date back to 1825, when the tin-mining industry was beginning in Malaya, and Rawang was the second tin-mining town to be established in Selangor, at least 15 years before Kuala Lumpur.
Although the mines here were still smaller than the ones in Perak, the tin-rush attracted throngs of Chinese migrants to Selangor, with many aiming to bring their fortunes back to China, but ending up settling in this booming settlement. Towards the late 1800s, Kuala Lumpur established itself as a trading port for tin, due to its ability to ferry tin via ships through the Klang River, and Rawang was delegated to a satellite town which mined the tin that was then shipped off to KL.
During the 1860s and 1870s, more tin deposits were found in Selangor, which of course led to a battle of control over the precious resource, with the Cantonese Ghee Hin society members based in Kanching (now Templer’s Park) ruling over Rawang. The Selangor Civil War was in full rage over control of the tin mines in Selangor, with the legendary Kapitan Yap Ah Loy facing in-fighting between Chinese gangs, and the Malay followers of Syed Mashor. Yap Ah Loy’s forces held their ground in Rawang, which had grown in size due to the rising amounts of tin deposits in the area.
With Rawang being the first town in Malaya to utilize electricity for tin mining, it was also the first town to have electric street lights, and the Rawang Railway Station was the first railway station in Malaysa that had electricity supply to power the lamps and fans. Rawang is in fact the little town ahead of Kuala Lumpur back in the 1800s.
