The Bok House

This picture was taken at the 6-inch gap of the tall metal cladded entrance to the demolition site a.k.a. the Bok House, along Jalan Ampang, which is located at the golden triangle of Kuala Lumpur.

This picture was taken at the 6-inch gap of the tall metal cladded entrance to the demolition site a.k.a. the Bok House, along Jalan Ampang, which is located at the golden triangle of Kuala Lumpur.

There is a love story behind the the Bok House. Many years ago, before the Bok House was built, there was a mansion right across the street. The owner of the mansion had a daughter who fell in love with a poor bicycle trader. His proposal to marry the lady was rejected by her wealthy parents as he was not rich. The girl was married to another man later.

The poor trader was heart broken. To prove to the family of his beloved lady that they were wrong not picking him as their son-in-law and he is willing to do whatever it takes to marry his love, he worked hard, really hard to make his fortune. He succeeded in the end and built his own mansion across the family who rejected him. However, it was too late and he had to live in the house without the woman he loves. This is just a really short version of the romantic love story that I heard.

Time passed and the mansion of the lady had long gone. But the Bok House stood still, surrounded by rapid development of high-rises with the KL Twin Towers just a few hundred meters away. The last piece of the Bok House stood still until the early evening of 17 December 2006. It was reduced to rubble after that. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Gone with the love story that will forever last.

The picture on the right shows the second before the front facade was demolished, the demolition was hidden behind a 15-foot tall metal fences.

The picture on the right shows the second before the front facade was demolished, the demolition was hidden behind a 15-foot tall metal fences.

The pictures of this post shows the state of “The Bok House” at 3pm 17 December 2006. It will be completely gone when you are reading this. I was with Eli Wong when the pictures were taken, a heartwrenching moment for both of us being the witness of a piece of history destroyed before our naked eyes.

  1. […] Source : http://smoothriver.net/babblefish/2010/02/22/the-bok-house/ […]

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