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E-hailing drivers undoubtedly meet many people from all walks of life — from university students to white collar workers — every single day to transport them to their destinations.
It’s not uncommon for them to pick up a few famous or popular people from time to time, such as a social media influencer or perhaps even a well-known local business owner, for example.
However, not often would an e-hailing driver get to pick up an incredibly important person who contributed to some of Malaysia’s most iconic buildings.
This is what happened to Grab driver Muhammad Amirul Zahari, who shared on Threads about his experience fetching an “uncle” and his wife at a KTM train station.
Little did he realise, the elderly man he picked up was none other than Professor Emeritus Dr. Hijjas Kasturi, a man widely regarded as Malaysia’s father of modern architecture.
He described them as “humble and polite”
Before Amirul realised who the man was, he noted that his passengers were very “humble and polite”.
“I had no choice but to park a little farther away as there was no parking space nearby. They didn’t say much and kept apologising, and just followed me to my car while I carried their luggage. It was strange because I should have been the one apologising,” said Amirul in his Threads post.
The ride, according to Amirul, was also pretty uneventful. He said that the man only asked him some pretty common questions such as whether he was a local from the area.
Amirul came to realise that he was not carrying a normal passenger after they reached their destination. He described in his post that he dropped them off at a very large house and even asked them “Is this a resort?”.
The “uncle” then said it is actually his home, and that he was conducting a drawing programme for children there that day.
“That’s when I realised in my heart, that this couple are no ordinary people. Their house was like a resort. And when I dropped them off he even helped me unload the luggage from the car. After I was done with work I tried Googling him and found out that the uncle is a well-respected architect in Malaysia,” Amirul said.
He expressed how impressed and grateful he was as an e-hailing driver to have received such humble and polite customers despite them being people of high status, and also how he felt honoured to have served a prominent figure of Malaysian architecture who has contributed much to the country.
View on Threads
The architect who helped shape modern Malaysia
Born on 26 September 1936 in Singapore, Hijjas Kasturi is widely regarded as one of Malaysia’s pioneering modern architects. He grew up in relatively modest circumstances before receiving an Australian government scholarship to study architecture. He went on to study at the University of Adelaide and the University of Melbourne, gaining qualifications in architecture and town planning.
Hijjas moved to Malaysia in the 1960s and quickly became involved not only in architecture, but also in education. In 1967, he helped establish the School of Art and Architecture at the MARA Institute of Technology, now Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), and played a key role in developing Malaysia’s first professional architectural degree programme.
After working with Akitek Bersekutu, Hijjas founded his own practice, Hijjas Kasturi Associates, in 1977. Over the following decades, he became known for an architectural style that combined modernism with Malaysian cultural influences, helping create a distinct identity for the country’s rapidly developing built environment.
Among his best-known works are Menara Tabung Haji, Menara Maybank, Wisma Equity, Menara Telekom, and the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC).
Menara Tabung Haji, completed in 1984, is particularly notable for its sculptural form and design references to Islamic principles. Menara Telekom, completed in 2001, meanwhile, became another defining feature of Kuala Lumpur’s skyline.
Beyond individual buildings, Hijjas has had a lasting influence on Malaysian architecture through his teaching, mentorship and advocacy for an architecture that reflects the country’s culture and environment. His practice continues to work on major projects across Malaysia, while his home, Rimbun Dahan, has also become a centre for traditional and contemporary arts.
With a career spanning more than five decades, Hijjas Kasturi remains an important figure in Malaysia’s architectural history.
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Grab Driver Picks Up “Uncle”, Realises Later He’s The Pioneer of Malaysian Architecture
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