Collective memory and identity of a rebranded ‘Chinatown’

ABSTRACT This study explores the collective memory and identity of a Chinese neighbourhood at the old city centre of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Since the 1990s, this old neighbourhood, which has a famous Cantonese name – ‘Chee Chong Kai’ (CCK) – has been contentiously rebranded by the state as ‘Chinatown’. The purpose of the present study is twofold. First, by drawing on observational data, interviews, questionnaires and photographic data, this paper uncovers the collective memory of the neighbourhood. Second, this study offers a critical insight into the renaming and rebranding of the CCK, identifying the ways in which the renaming/rebranding has affected the neighbourhood’s collective identity. The findings reveal concerns over the changing landscapes in the neighbourhood that have affected or erased its character and heritage and the potential contention between the official and the ‘vernacular’ collective memory/identity. More importantly, the renaming/rebranding of the place itself reflects, paradoxically, the pressure to forego the neighbourhood’s Chineseness. Drawing on the wider international tourism market and other power-related concerns, this study argues the need to reposition the CCK and an absence of major efforts to sustain the urban space and urban heritage in a way that would represent and proclaim a truly integrated (and inclusive) Malaysian society.