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S2 03 | Kuala Lumpur — would you like rubber with that?

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Kuala Lumpur's riches can't be detached from the roaring rubber trade that begun in the early 20th-century.

The story of the Malaysian capital is a story of resources, from tin, petrol, and palm oil. But if there's one resource to understand the metropolis that is Kuala Lumpur today it's rubber.

It's responsible for the city's art deco architecture, modern multiculturalism, and a roaring global trade. It's no wonder Malaysia still supplies half of the world's natural rubber.

Editor's note 18/11/22: This episode has been revised to include an important reference to Malaysia’s ethnic tensions.

Guests:
  • Nadge Ariffin, scholar of the Malayan peninsula's architecture, and passionate Kuala Lumpur foodie
  • Soon-Tzu Speechley, a lecturer in urban and cultural heritage at the University of Melbourne. His recently-awarded PhD was the first to survey classicism in Malaysia and Singapore.
  • Ammar Abdul Aziz, a lecturer in agribusinesss and sustainable agriculture at the University of Queensland 
  • Abdul Aziz Sheikh Abdul Kadir, the secretary-general of the International Rubber Research Board
Credits:
  • Jonathan Green, presenter 
  • Hayley Crane, producer 
  • Alan Weedon, producer
  • Rhiannon Brown, executive producer 
  • Brendan O'Neill, sound engineer
Broadcast 
Malaysia, Travel and Tourism (Lifestyle and Leisure), Plastics, Polymers and Rubber Manufacturing, History, Urban Development and Planning, Farm Labour, Architecture
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