required that buildings be constructed of brick and tile. Hence, Kapitan Yap Ah Loy bought a sprawling piece of real estate for the setting up of a brick industry which would spur the rebuilding of Kuala Lumpur. This place is the eponymous Brickfields. Destroyed atap buildings were replaced with brick and tiled ones. Yap also restructured the building layout of the town. Many of the new brick buildings mirrored those of shop houses in southern China, characterized by "five foot ways" as well as skilled Chinese carpentry work. This resulted in a distinct eclectic shop house architecture typical of this region. In this developing town, Yap owned a third of all the buildings in Kuala Lumpur, and two thirds of the urban land east of the Klang River, in addition to his control of the tin mines. Yap Ah Loy also spent $20,000 to expand road access in the city significantly, linking up tin mines with the city; these roads include the main arterial roads of Ampang Road, Pudu Road and Petaling Street. As Chinese Kapitan, he was vested with wide powers on par with Malay community leaders. He implemented law reforms and introduced new legal measures. He would also preside over a small claims court. With a police force consisting of only six officers, he was able to uphold the rule of law. He built a prison which could accommodate 60 prisoners. Kapitan Yap Ah Loy also built Kuala Lumpur's first school and a major tapioca mill in Petaling Street in which the Selangor's Sultan Abdul Samad had an interest. After Yap's death in 1885, the population of Kuala Lumpur increased greatly due to the construction of a Port Klang Line railway line, initiated by Swettenham and completed in 1886, which increased accessibility into the growing town. In 1896, Kuala Lumpur was chosen as the capital of the newly formed Federated Malay States due to its central position. It was however Yap who was responsible for keeping Kuala Lumpur viable as a town during its many setbacks in its early years. Although there are no public monuments commemorating Yap, according to the scholar on Malaysian history J.M. Gullick, "if you seek his memorial remember that you are in Kuala Lumpur." Death At the end of 1884, Yap Ah Loy fell ill with bronchitis and an abscess of the left lung. In March 1885, he made little recovery before he