In 1870, Yap packed his bags for Selangor, where he began his hard work to help pioneer the tin mining industry.

As a businessman, he foresaw an increased demand for bricks in fast-growing Kuala Lumpur and established a kiln in a district that came to be called Brickfields, a name by which it is still known today.

Kapitan Yap was also a firm believer in education and co-founded one of the oldest schools in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Victoria Institution.

Kapitan Yap Kwan Seng’s philanthropic deeds and his many contributions to the birth of Kuala Lumpur are the stuff of history.

His philanthropic deeds extended beyond Malaya and it is said that a year before he died in 1901, he donated the princely sum of ten thousand dollars towards famine relief in India.

The ancestral hall was particularly impressive as it had a grand altar table upon which were placed chunks of crystal, quartz, gold and other precious stones found in the Kapitan’s tin mines.

It was long and deep, with countless rooms, nooks and crannies, and so large that many sections were perpetually dim as they had no access to natural light.

Yap died in 1902 and was remembered as a highly respected community leader who was greatly concerned with the welfare of the people in the then Malaya through his charity initiatives.

A major road in central Kuala Lumpur called Jalan Yap Kwan Seng near the world-famous KLCC is named in his honour.