Bandar Utama
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Bandar Utama is a township located within the Damansara subdivision of the Petaling district in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. It is primarily a residential suburb, but is also home to the One Utama shopping complex.
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Demographics
As of 2004 it is estimated that there are 59,040 people residing in Bandar Utama. The primary residents appear to be Chinese, followed by Indian and Malay. However, the squatter settlement of Kayu Ara houses several illegal immigrants from Indonesia.
History
Until 1991, the area of Bandar Utama consisted of nothing more than palm oil estates. In the early 1990s, development begun in Bandar Utama by See Hoy Chan Holdings Sdn. Bhd., and an attempt to modernise the area was made, with the opening of a TV3 station in Bandar Utama, as well as the One Utama shopping complex, which became increasingly well known after the Jaya Jusco chain of department stores shifted their outlet in Kuala Lumpur/Selangor from their old quarters in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur to Bandar Utama in 1995.
With the opening of schools in 1997 and 1998, as well as the establishment of Kolej Bandar Utama, a tertiary institution, Bandar Utama began to grow. As of 2004 development has just finished on sections BU7, BU10 and BU6(comprises of 2 1/2 story houses), which are effectively brand-new, compared to the older sections, BU1 till BU4, which were completed in phases beginning from 1991 till 1996.
Geography
Bandar Utama is roughly 1000 acres (4 km²) in size, and is divided into 12 sections ranging from BU1 to BU12. These sections are broken into roads, i.e. Jalan BU2/5 where Jalan is a Malay word meaning road, BU2 is the section and 5 is the road number. Houses on one side of the road are numbered evenly, and the other side are numbered oddly, so one side of a road will consist of houses 2, 4, 6, 8 and so forth while the opposite will have houses numbered 1, 3, 5, 7 and so on.
A bridge over the North Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) joins the two parts of Bandar Utama, sections BU1 till BU10 and BU11 with BU12, which are separated by the NKVE.
To go to Bandar Utama from the NKVE, if travelling north along it, right after the toll booth you should see the Sony building on your left. Continue straight, all the way down until you see an intersection on your left leading to Damansara Jaya. Make a U-turn here and continue. Just before you see the toll booth again, go up the ramp on your left. At the traffic light you can opt to turn left to go to BU11/BU12 or to turn right to head to the BU1 till BU10.
If coming from the Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong (LDP; in English, the Damansara Puchong Expressway), look out for Taman Tun Dr. Ismail on your left. When you see the intersection leading to it on your left, turn right instead towards the One Utama shopping centre, and Bandar Utama. If coming from the opposite direction, look out for the pink facade of One Utama on your left and turn left at the appropriate intersection.
Places
Places of worship
For Christians, there are no active churches in Bandar Utama as of 2004. Most charismatics opt for Grace Assembly or Damansara Utama Methodist Church, both of which are located in Taman SEA (SEA Park). Roman Catholics tend to worship at the Church of St. Ignatius, near Kampung Cempaka (Cempaka Village) or Kristus Aman, located in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail.
There is a surau for Muslims around BU3 and BU4, and the squatter village of Kayu Ara has a mosque.
Buddhists can join the Bandar Utama Buddhist Society, located at No. 52, Jalan BU 11/16.
As of 2004 there are no places of worship for Hindus in Bandar Utama.
Education
There are three primary schools and four secondary schools in Bandar Utama. The first primary school was opened near BU12 in 1998, but as of 2004 has began to languish due to the opening of primary schools on the other side of Bandar Utama. The first secondary school was also opened around the same time, but is not well-regarded due to the perception of gangsterism in the school and of it being the domain of the Indonesian squatters, as it is situated not too far from the Kayu Ara settlement.
However, there is a propensity for some parents to school their children outside Bandar Utama, particularly for those living on the BU11/BU12 side, who tend to send their children to the Tropicana primary or secondary schools in Sunway Damansara, or the highly reputed primary and secondary schools at Damansara Utama and Damansara Jaya.
There is also the Kolej Bandar Utama (KBU), a private tertiary institution.
See also: Education in Malaysia
Commercial complexes
Residents of Bandar Utama tend to shop at the One Utama shopping complex, one of the largest, if not the largest, in Damansara itself. One Utama is located at the far end of the BU1 till BU10 side (right along the Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong highway), and quite a distance from BU11 and BU12. However, it has become home to several well-known brands, including the homegrown Giant supermarket, and people travel distances to shop at One Utama. It became well-known in 2004 with a media blitz after a new wing equal to the size of the old one was built, and played host to the Malaysian Fear Factor challenge.
However, Centrepoint, a much smaller commercial complex is also frequented by those who do not feel like travelling to the far end of Bandar Utama. It touts itself as the heart of the neighbourhood, and is much more cosy than One Utama. It thrives in particular on officeworkers in a hurry having their lunch breaks, as well as students from the three secondary schools within walking distance of it, who have nothing to do after school and/or dislike the food provided by the school canteens for lunch. It is also right next to a McDonald's drive-through franchise.
Recently with the opening of shopping complexes such as a Tesco outlet, the Ikano Power Centre and the largest Ikea outlet in Southeast Asia in other nearby townships, Bandar Utama residents have been shopping outside Bandar Utama more, although it is widely expected that this phase will die down, and that it is merely a knee-jerk reaction to the sudden opening of three new nearby shopping centres within three months of each other, as One Utama and Centrepoint remain within cycling and/or walking distance of most Bandar Utama residents.
Administration
Bandar Utama, like most of Damansara, falls under the jurisdiction of the Majlis Perbandaran Petaling Jaya (Petaling Jaya Municipal Council). Like the rest of Damansara, it too falls under the parliamentary constituency of Subang, and thus is represented in parliament by Karnail Singh Nijhar. In the State Assembly of Selangor it is represented by Yong Dai Ying under the constituency of Bukit Lanjan.