The Shah Alam Stadium

Published by simon on October 16, 2005

Some time ago I used to work less than 2 miles away from the Shah Alam Stadium. You would think that there would traffic problems working so near a stadium with a seating capacity of 80,000. But in the 5 years I was stationed there, there never was a time it was congested.

Because the stadium was never used much.

The only time I knew it was in use was when the state football team Selangor played during the Malaysia Cup home matches (or M-League or Super League or whatever they call it these days). But that happened only on Saturday nights and by then I would have long left the office.

In fact, the carpark for the stadium, a sprawling open air expanse of premix which is bigger than a small housing estate, sees more action than the main stadium, but that’s not saying much. During like the fasting month (like now), there are foodstalls during breaking fast time, just like everywhere else in the country. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, motor clubs gather in the carpark to drift and test their modified cars. And sometimes there are activities in the annexure indoor Malawati Stadium.

But by and large, the stadium is just a multi-million ringgit white elephant, just as the newspapers call it.

But in the early 90’s when it first opened, before the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil was built, it was used quite often.

I have only entered the stadium once, back in 1995 when Bon Jovi performed to a capacity crowd. The entrance was total chaos, with no signage and people just pressing into narrow, unmarked gates.

These days the stadium sits quietly, staring down at the streaming traffic along the Federal Highway. I guess other than for football, the stadium is still used once in awhile, but most people prefer to use the newer National Stadium, which has far a better public transport network.

What a waste.

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