Clock Towers Series II

Wherever in the world they may be, clock towers fascinate us and invariably become landmarks within their respective localities. From the Russian Kremlin’s Spasskaya Tower to London’s Big Ben, such towers have added aesthetical value to the landscape and skylines of cities, towns and villages across the globe. Malaysia has no shortage of these interesting and functional pieces of architecture, with many of them spread throughout the country and each with its own story to tell.

Pos Malaysia takes great pleasure in introducing more such stories in this second series on Clock Towers.

Many of Malaysia’s clock towers are of historical interest. They were built mainly during the heyday of the nation’s colonial past. Many became the most enduring aspects of the municipal buildings of which they were part. Yet others were constructed as free-standing structures, often in commemoration of an important date or event and usually located along a major thoroughfare within the town or village concerned. It was also not unusual for many of these clock towers to be built under the financial auspices of well-to-do private individuals of the Malaysian society.

The towers served their earlier purpose well, to tell time to generations of people in an era when wristwatches and house clocks were not generally the order of the day. Today, they tell of those times when they were built, when the Malaya then was dramatically different from what Malaysia has now becomes.