Royal Selangor is a household name in Malaysia (and the rest of the world for that matter) for its renown long history in pewter making.
The company which was founded in 1885, by founder Yong Koon, has a visitor center that is open to public. We wanted to visit the center for as long as we could remember. Finally, the timing was right and we made our way to Royal Selangor Visitor Centre (RSVC) during the recent March school holidays.
Guided Tour
What impresses me about RSVC is the entrance is free. Not only that, it also comes with a complimentary guided tour. To sweeten the deal further, you can have a guided tour any time you like and there’s no minimum number of visitors required.
Talking about deal of the decade!
Unfortunately, from what I gathered from our tour guide, majority of the visitors to RSVC are Chinese mainlanders who take the trouble to fly in to Malaysia and they come in by the busloads. There are not many locals who take advantage of the short distance and they don’t know how lucky they are to have RSVC at their doorsteps.
The tour is well planned and it takes you through different sections (2 storeys) from history of Royal Selangor and early products to mining and density of different metals, from live demo of product making to finally product showroom where you can purchase any souvenirs you like.
Mind you, the retail shop at RSVC is the largest Royal Selangor showroom found anywhere. After admiring its extensive range of nicely designed products at the showroom, we ended the tour at the cafe.
The Cafe
The cafe is simple but cosy and spacious. It serves main dishes as well as desserts, coffee and tea (tea is served by using Royal Selangor’s very own melon tea pot).
Hands On Experience
Besides the tour that takes about 45 minutes, there are two activities that you or your child can do while you’re at RSVC. One is called “School of Hard Knocks” that caters for anyone of any age while the other is called “The Foundry.” For the latter, you have to be 15 years old or above to participate in this workshop.
School of Hard Knocks (RM65/pax) lets you make a pewter dish using traditional tools (wooden hammer) from a round pewter sheet. Once finished, you can take home the “masterpiece” and a certificate will be presented.
This workshop lasts about 30 minutes depending on your skill level. J and K participated in this workshop and they found it tiring but interesting.
We didn’t participate in The Foundry workshop. The fee for this 60-minute workshop is RM180 and you can make anything out of a mold or free form using pewter.
For either workshops, bookings are essential. You can book online or call +603 4145 6122 for the bookings.
The whole visit was highly educational and eye-opening. J and K enjoyed the visit tremendously. I highly recommend this place for children as well as adults.
Royal Selangor Visitor Centre
4, Jalan Usahawan 6, Setapak Jaya,
53300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Telephone: +603 4145 6122
Website: http://us.royalselangor.com/visitor-centre
Opening Hours: 9am to 5pm daily
Admission: Free
Free Guided Tours in English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese
