The neighbourhood of Puchong, once a mining town on the outskirts of the city, has now become a bustling neighbourhood where homes are mushrooming with throngs of home buyers looking to buy a home here. But how did Puchong come to be what it is today?
The Origins of Puchong
There are two roads of thought into Puchong’s origins, with some claiming that it was once settled by the Orang Asli (natives of Malaysia), while others believed that the place was explored by the immigrants from Java and Sumatra.
While there is no record of the time when the first settlers arrived, it was however recorded in 1948 that all the settlers in Puchong were moved to a place that was known as Kampung Baru Batu during the communist insurgency. Also known as the Malayan Emergency, the conflict between the British and the communists lasted from 1948 to 1960.
Following that, when the settlers moved back to Puchong in the 1960s, the settlers became rubber tappers, fishmongers, and miners. Puchong was in fact known as a rubber estate town, and demand for tin created such a strong demand for tin miners that immigrants from China and India were brought in.
This continued for 20 years down the road until the 1980s, where Puchong did not face much growth. It was a single road town with only one lane in and one lane out, snaking its way through villages and estates. It was only known to the locals as the rubber tapping and tin mining town, avoided by the city dwellers.
And then in around 1985, a blessing in disguise happened – tin mining licenses began to expire. Once that happened, Puchong finally began to expand in terms of infrastructure. Puchong then began to flourish into what it is today, with commercial parks, residential areas, and industrial parks being built along the single road that is today called ‘Jalan Puchong’.
Puchong’s First Major Development
IOI Properties Group Bhd (IOI Properties Group) is today regarded as the primary developer of Puchong for a good reason, as they were one of Puchong’s earliest developers. The first major township of Puchong was Bandar Puchong Jaya, a development of 374 hectares that was started in 1990. As the first proper township that was developed in Puchong, it is only as expected that Bandar Puchong Jaya is one of the most heavily populated townships to this day.
IOI Mall Puchong. Image source: ioiproperties.com
The development of Bandar Puchong Jaya did not just consist of residential homes although that came in abundance as well, it also comprises commercial centres and Puchong’s very first shopping mall – the IOI Mall Puchong. Founded in 1996, the IOI Mall Puchong was the favourite hangout spot of families on weekends, and it was the pride of the residents.
Following the launch of Bandar Puchong Jaya in 1990 and the launch of the IOI Mall Puchong in 1996, was Bandar Puteri Puchong in the year 1999. A quieter township that is located further out from the city centre, residents who want a bit of peace and quiet opt to buy a home in Bandar Puteri Puchong instead. And the latest addition to Puchong by the IOI Properties Group is 16 Sierra in Puchong South, only in 2010.
Puchong does not slack in the commercial development either, with the world-class Puchong Financial Corporate Centre (PFCC) built within Bandar Puteri Puchong in the subsequent years. The PFCC is a finance and corporate zone comprising of 4 office towers and one hotel. The business hotel is non-other than Four Points by Sheraton Puchong, a world-class hotel, which began operations in 2014.
Puchong: Connected via a Series of Highways
LDP Highway. Image source: klia2.info
Puchong has come far from the 2-lane road that provided access into the town. Not only is Jalan Puchong about 7 lanes wide now, but there are also multiple highways connected to the main road of Jalan Puchong.
There is the Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP) that runs 40 kilometres in length, connecting Jalan Puchong to the Petaling district of the city. The north end of it connects to Bandar Sri Damansara, while the south end lies in Putrajaya. This highway runs through Puchong and Subang Jaya, providing access to Puchong and multiple suburbs.
In lieu of the expanding township, it is only as expected that traffic has increased exponentially. In light of that, there is a new highway that is being proposed, which if built, will link Bandara Kinrara in Puchong to the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE). This new highway, if built, is expected to reduce the traffic between Puchong and Petaling Jaya by 5%.
Puchong: Connected by Public Transportation
Far from the inaccessible town that Puchong once was, Puchong is now not only connected via highways and trunk roads – there are also multiple options of public transportation to this town. There is the most common option of taking a public bus, and then there was the newly completed LRT line in December 2016 that runs through Puchong.
Pusat Bandar Puchong LRT station. Image source: klia2.info
The LRT line that runs through Puchong is the Ampang Line & Sri Petaling Line, which has 7 stops in Puchong. The train stations in Puchong are located in Puchong Prima, Puchong Perdana, Bandar Puteri, Pusat Bandar Puchong, Taman Perindustrian Puchong, IOI Puchong Jaya, and Kinrara BK5. The line at Pusat Bandar Puchong, which is the town centre of Puchong, is located just outside the Tesco hypermarket.
In addition to the LRT line that runs through the town centre of Puchong, there is also the upcoming MRT line that will connect the outskirts of Puchong to the city. Expected to be completed in the year 2023 is the 16 Sierra MRT Station, which will be on the Sungai Buloh – Serdang – Putrajaya Line. This line will have 11 interchange stations to other lines, connecting pedestrians to the other suburbs.
Puchong Into the Future
Above shows a sequence of satellite images taken over Puchong between 1984 and 2018. This animated image is compiled by “Kiff Oakenhill of Oakenhill Studios”
The development of Puchong continues its long history from its days of rubber tapping and tin mining to this day, with no end in sight. The IOI Properties Group’s latest development is the 72-acre IOI Rio City in Bandar Puteri Puchong, which will be another fully integrated mixed-use development.
While the IOI Properties Group is one of the biggest developers in Puchong, they are by no means the sole developer. Other players in the field include S P Setia, Glomac Bhd, YTL Land & Development Bhd, and LBS Bina Group Bhd. To that end, Puchong is expected to continue its development into the future.
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(Written by Diane Foo Eu Lynn, 6th August 2020)
