Satellite town goes sky high

In 1952, the Selangor government allocated 480ha of the Petaling Garden Estate for a new settlement named Petaling Jaya, aimed at addressing overcrowding in Kuala Lumpur. (Inset) Early residents of Petaling Jaya, James Chow, 77, (left) and John Henry, 79.

WALKING past PJ State Cinema always fills old-timers James Chow and J.S. Henry with nostalgia.

“It’s an old cinema, the first that Shaw Brothers built in Petaling Jaya in 1956. Families and couples who moved to Petaling Jaya from Kuala Lumpur in the mid-1950s and 60s have fond memories of eating kuachi or kacang puteh in paper cones while watching movies in PJ New Town,” says Chow.