Blue Boy Mansion
Blue Boy Mansion is a residential building built in 1962 in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) district Binkit Bintang. The 7 storey edifice was funded by Hong Kong investors and was firstly thought for wealthy chinese clients based in Kuala Lumpur.
Years after years the chinese community left the city centre to establish in the Malaysian capital's outskirts leaving Blue Boy Mansion to more modest and popular people from both Malaysia and surrounding asian countries. Today the 50 year old building is home to a wide variety of migrating people who decided to take a chance in Malaysia, alone or in family, for a few months or for decades.
Binkit Bintang central district, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
Blue Boy Mansion, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
Afzaal, 24, from Pakistan, came to Kuala Lumpur to support his family back home. Works as a car washer and shares an apartment with 14 other migrant workers. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
At Afzaal's place, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
Salai Kyaw Swar 28, from Burma, is a political refugee under UN protection. He works in a furniture shop and waits for a canadian refugee visa. He lives with 4 other burmese political refugees. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
Inscription on a wall at Salai Kyaw Swar's place, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
Marcellina is from the Philippines, she's retired and has arrived in Kuala Lumpur in 1985. Although she feels Malaysian she says: "I don't want to die here, I will go back to my motherland when my time has come." Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
At Marcellina's place, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
The blue Boy Mansion, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
Akram Al-Khan (centre), 35, from Bangladesh, has been a bar waiter in Kuala Lumpur for 19 years. He came illegally and has no intention to go back home, he shares an apartment with 16 other men from various asian countries. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
At Akram Al-Khan's place, a man sleeping on a desk, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
An elevator of Blue Boy Mansion, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
A drug addict sleeping on the floor in Blue Boy Mansion, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
The Church of Free Believers in Christ Fellowship International was created in 1991 and has 43 members, most of them from the Philippines. It is located at the top floor of the Blue Boy Mansion in apartment 7010, and it used to be a brothel and a disco club. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
From left to right, brother John, sister Grace, brother Paco and brother Simon, members of the Church of free Believers in Christ fellowship International. Thay re from the Philippines and play music at Sunday mass. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
Aily (left), 48, Malaysian from Sabah and Peter (right), 67, Malaysian chinese, work as security guards in the residence car park. Aily's mother is from Sabah island as his father's from Indonesia Peter's father came to Malaysia during the war against Japan, he feels "chinese at home and malaysian on the street". Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
Electrical installation in Aily and Peter's car park, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
Jeffrey, 40, Malaysian from Sabah, married, 3 children. He runs a laundry service for people staying in Blue Boy Mansion, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
At Jeffrey's, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
A boy playing in Blue Boy Mansion, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
Baljindher Singh, 30, 4 years in Kuala Lumpur. He came for work in construction. He's planning to go back to India to get married and then come back alone to work and make money and support his family back home. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
View from Baljindher Singh's apartment, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
A buddhist altar in Blue Boy Mansion, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
Chong Kiou Moi, Malaysian chinese, tailor. "My father came from China in 1920, he was 7 and my mother joined him in 1935. When they got married, my mother was only 3! I married at 33 with a 44 year old man... " Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
At Chong Kiou Choi's workshop, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011
A boy posing in Blue Boy Mansion, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 2011