the reconstruction of the club's new building in July 1978. The new wing, which was built in a similar Mock Tudor style as the rest of the club building, was constructed between 5 November 1978 to December 1980 at a cost of M$6 million. Sports and recreation The club has organised various sporting activities since its early years, including cricket (where it has been a key player in the history of cricket in Malaysia). Rugby Union has been played at the Club since 1894. Sporting events at the club can be viewed from the Long Bar, a portion of the club which has been off limits to women, purportedly because men "would drink and get very excited when they watched the games and they didn't want the ladies to see their exuberant behaviour, hence it was decided to ban women visitors from the Long Bar". Women are still prohibited from the bar area today, contrary to a 2007 report by The Star, a local English daily. Members of the club are said to have introduced hash running in 1938. Legend has it that some members of the Selangor Club decided that it would be a good idea to run to work after heavy drinking the night before so they could rid themselves of their hangovers, which apparently they did. As the club was once also called Hash House (so named because some of its members thought its food unpalatable) the members therefore named themselves Hash House Harriers. During the World Interhash in 1998, an exception was made to allow women into the Long Bar. Dataran Merdeka field The field or padang fronting the Royal Selangor Club, now known as Dataran Merdeka, had long been used by the Club but was leased from the Government under a "Temporary Occupation License - TOL" before it was taken back by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall in 1987 to be used specifically for events organised by City Hall. Throughout the time the field was used by the club, sporting activities such as cricket, rugby, hockey and football matches were held there almost on a daily basis. The club's loss of the field was compensated with a piece of land in Bukit Kiara, which is currently the site of the Royal Selangor Club Bukit Kiara Annexe. Recognition Effort has been made to accumulate support from various bodies to recognise the club as a national heritage