In case you didn’t already know, the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Ismail, is kinda loaded. Known for personally investing large sums of funds into the state (especially with their football team JDT FC, who’ve won the domestic league 8 seasons in a row), he has also been known to indulge in his own interests once in a while, as evidenced from his impressive automobile collection.
Like this Mack truck, the world’s most expensive customized big rig. Image from: paultan.org
But there actually is another personal project he’s working on, which isn’t exactly a secret, but isn’t that much talked about either. In 2020, then-Minister of Federal Territories Annuar Musa confirmed that Sultan Ibrahim had applied to build a palace on a patch of land he owns on Bukit Persekutuan, Kuala Lumpur.
Since then, we haven’t really heard much about the project, and as such, there isn’t much available information on it. So the only thing we could do to find out more was to visit the site and take a look for ourselves. For starters, we looked up ‘Bukit Persekutuan’ on Google Maps, and saw that…
There was a huge patch of cleared land in the area, off Jalan Johor
Image from: Google Maps
When we first saw this, there was no clear indication that this was the exact construction site in question, but a large patch of land next to a road named Jalan Johor? Seemed rather telling to us.
However, there was only one way to confirm that this was indeed the site of the future palace: we had to go there ourselves. But when we got there, we found that…
We noticed the area looked, sounded, and felt like a forest
Upon arriving at the location, we parked our car at the beginning of the road, and started walking up what looked like a hiking trail. However, as we went deeper, we realized that there were more trees appearing, more wild birds chirping, and more angry mosquitos biting us. Soon, we realized that we were in fact in a proper Malaysian forest; the last one in KL in fact.
We found that out the hard way.
Well, at least it had roads, so, tired of the constant harassment by mosquitos, we decided to continue by car (because Cilisos doesn’t pay us enough to do survive in the wild). We explored the area and saw that there was some development going on, but we couldn’t find anything palace-like in the works. Littered around the place was a balance of both atas-looking houses and average-looking ones (more on the residents later; Google Maps actually lists the area as a ‘low-density, affluent area’). There was even a boarding school and a Veteran Commandoes Club, but still no palace construction site.
However, just as we were about to turn up on Jalan Johor, we noticed a tall green wall surrounding a vast construction site. Definitely big enough for a palace, but we couldn’t be sure just yet. We asked a Bangladeshi worker outside the compound what was being built, but he didn’t know either.
The construction site, with the green wall around it.
Of course, we had to find out one way or another. We circled the site on foot, and sure enough, we spotted this sign:
Jackpot.
The sign also carried the names of the developers working on the project, all of whom we looked up individually:
- DP Architects Sdn. Bhd.: A multi-national Singapore-based architecture known for their work on Espalanade – Theatres on the Bay, Resorts World Singapore, and the Dubai Mall.
- SNA Consult Sdn. Bhd.: A Malaysian engineering company registered with the Board of Engineers Malaysia and the Ministry of Finance. Notable works include Pavilion Bukit Jalil and 1Utama.
- JP Ace Sdn. Bhd.: A Johor-based mechanical and electrical consulting engineering company who worked on JDT FC’s stadium in Larkin, Johor.
- DK Consultants: A firm of quantity surveyors and construction economists headquartered in Puchong, Selangor.
- WDI Design: A consulting landscape architectural firm founded in 2002 by Lim Teng Teng, who worked on IOI City Mall in Putrajaya, and Eastern & Oriental Hotel in Penang.
- Brightcon Sdn. Bhd.: A construction, architectural, and consulting engineering company founded in 1997, and based in Masai, Johor.
All of these names seem pretty legit, and, given the green-light from the Johor royal family as well, the result is likely going to be as grand as the scale of the site suggests.
But there was another thing we noticed while we were there…
There are actually quite a few royal palaces in Bukit Persekutuan
Even on Google Maps itself, we noticed there were a number of other palaces with other states’ names attached to them; namely, Istana Kedah, Istana Negeri Sembilan, and Istana Changkat (formerly Istana Perak). Upon further research, we found that these were ‘satellite’ palaces (‘istana hinggap’) for the royals of those states, or, in other words, their official residences for when they’re visiting KL. There’s also a museum dedicated to Tun Dr Mahathir called Galeria Sri Perdana, which used to be his official residence before he moved the government into Putrajaya, but of course, nothing royalty-related there.
Istana Kedah, Bukit Persekutuan, KL. Image from: The Star
A picture of Galeria Sri Perdana that we took while driving around the area.
So yeah, with all these palaces around the area, built in a secluded and quiet part of KL away from the city, it kinda makes sense that the Sultan of Johor would want to build a palace of his own here as well to just chill.
But of course, constructions are never a quiet, relaxing affair, so the process will understandably be a little rough. Which is why…
Residents have complained in the past about the effects of development
Although the Sultan’s palace seems to be a relatively new development, other projects in the area have bugged local residents for a while. Because as we mentioned earlier, yes, Bukit Persekutuan is also home to people. And, as anyone will know, living so close to a construction site is bound to steal some peace from your day. Besides loud vibrations and noises, residents have also cited soil erosion and wildlife entering their homes as issues they have to deal with:
“We are not against development, but it has to be done sustainably. I can’t imagine what it will be like when they start doing piling work.” – T. Ksharmini, long-time resident of Bukit Persekutuan, as quoted by Malay Mail
Another concerned party is the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS), who have called for Bukit Persekutuan to be gazetted as a heritage site, as it is the last living forest in KL.
The Malaysian Nature Society. Image from: Malaysian Nature Society
However, the mayor of KL has said that it’s not so easy to gazette Bukit Persekutuan, as a lot of the land is private property (including the new Johor palace site, which is owned by the Sultan), but he shares the concerns of the residents:
“Things change, this is part of the process of city evolution. But as the guardian of the city, this is part of the issues we have to address.” – Datuk Seri Mahadi Che Ngha, mayor of KL, as quoted by Malay Mail
We couldn’t actually find anyone complaining specifically about the Johor Sultan’s new palace, but given that the site was previously a government quarters, perhaps the new palace would match the landscape better? In any case, while there are some parties (like the MNS) who are still trying to protect what’s left of the forest, it’s not clear how long they can keep doing so:
“Should these mega development projects get pushed through, this could also spell the demolition of MNS’ headquarters, a building that traces its age back to 1921 located on Jalan Kelantan.” – Malaysian Nature Society