Royal Selangor Club - History and Overview

History and Overview

While the club is more than 100 years old, much of its early records were lost during the three-years Japanese occupation of Malaya from 1942 to 1945, and the 1970 fire that damaged the club (see #Flooding and fire).

The club was founded as the Selangor Club in 1884 as a meeting point for educated and high-ranking members of British colonial society. Nevertheless, membership to the club is primarily determined by high educational and social standards, rather than race or citizenship. The organisation was initially based in a small wooden building with an attap roof at near the north eastern corner of the padang, which was replaced by a two-storey structure in 1890 on the west side of the padang, the present site of the club, and designed by AC Norman, a Government Architect. The building was later redesigned by architect Arthur Benison Hubback (who was notably credited for the design of the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station) and rebuilt in 1910, with two additional wings on either side of the main building and a Mock Tudor styling.

The club was nicknamed "The Spotted Dog" as two Dalmatians belonging to the wife of one of the club founders were left to guard the entrance of the club whenever they visited the club. The club is also simply referred to as "The Dog".

Over the years, the club's membership increased and had also begun to include high-ranking Malaysian civil servants: judges, lawyers and important people in society. The club's proximity to the High Courts at the other side of Dataran Merdeka has also made the club a suitable meeting place for the legal fraternity.