London calling.
London Walks connecting.
This… is London.
This is London Walks.
Streets ahead.
Story time. History time.
Top of the morning to you London Walkers. Wherever you are.
It’s Tuesday, September 16th, 2025.
And sure enough, our first port of call is the London Calling Book Club Corner.
In the Chair today, one of the brightest stars in the London Walks firmament. Let’s give a warm welcome to the distinguished arts critic Rick Jones. Freelance writer par excellence, Secretary of the Critics Circle, Chief Music Critic for the Evening Standard for many years, well, you’ll get my drift. Yes, Rick Jones of the Tate Modern and Tate Britain and T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland Tours. Hey, the guy’s one of Britain’s most distinguished arts critics, so what else would you expect. Yes, the non pareil Rick Jones. The one-and-only piano-playing, lute-playing, rugby-playing incomparable Rick Jones. The Rick Jones everybody raves about.
Here’s what Rick’s been reading.
“Having been inspired by Henry Wallis’ painting The Eve of St Agnes at Tate Britain, I am reading John Keats’ eponymous 42-stanza poem, published in 1820, about the custom for young women on January 20 – ‘Ah, bitter chill it was!’ – to dream of their future husband.”
Many thanks, Rick. And I couldn’t agree more.
Moving on.
Ok, here I am in Malaysia. In Malaysia on September 16th. Ah, yes, September 16th. A date that hums, sings, practically dances in the Malaysian calendar. Because this, ladies and gentlemen, is Malaysia Day.
The day – in 1963 – when the whole kit and caboodle came together. Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak –and for a while, Singapore – joined hands and said, ‘Right, we’re in this together.’ And Malaysia – Malaysia – was born.
You can almost hear the hinges of history creak. This is not some dusty, musty, once-upon-a-time date. This is live wire. Malaysians all over the world are feeling this in their bones today. Flags are up. Hearts are full. Speeches are being made. It’s the national birthday – the federation’s founding day.
And – just to complete the picture – its big brother is August 31st, Hari Merdeka – Independence Day. That was 1957 – the day Malaya snapped the colonial tether, hauled down the Union Jack and raised its own flag. Two dates, two thunderclaps. First freedom. Then union.
So why ‘Malaysia on Thames’ today? Well, it’s achingly obvious isn’t it. Today’s the day when Malaysia is most itself. When Malaysians are looking in the mirror, asking what kind of country they are, where they’ve come from, where they’re headed. It’s the perfect moment to turn our gaze from the Thames to the Straits of Malacca – and back again.
So buckle up. We’re off to Malaysia – well, you’re off to join me here in Malaysia. But we’re taking the Thames as our compass. This is going to be one helluva ride. Because we’re simultaneously in Malaysia and London.
Ok, let’s go.
Take a step back. Picture Malaysia.
A nation of towns and cities—George Town, Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu—scattered across peninsulas and islands.
Now here’s a quirky little fact.
London’s Malaysian community numbers about 21,000. That’s enough to put “Malaysia-on-Thames” in the top 200 of Malaysia’s own urban centres.
So yes. London doesn’t just host Malaysia. In a sense, it is a Malaysian town. Right here, on the Thames.
Wondering how it all began? If you are, well, good for you. You’ve got the makings of a guide in you.
Anyway, here’s how it all began. The first trickle came in the late 19th, early 20th century. Young men – students – sent to London by colonial administrators. The London School of Economics. Imperial. King’s. The finishing schools for a new generation of Malaysian leaders.
They came to learn. Some went home. Some stayed. Some stayed and went on to make history.
Fast-forward. The 1970s. The 80s. The trickle is now a steady stream. Students again, yes. But also doctors, accountants, engineers. Young families. Drawn here by London’s universities, its hospitals, its law firms, its banks.
The gravitational pull of a world city.
Where it’s happening
And where do you find them?
Bayswater. Queensway. Paddington.
That’s the old heartland. The place where Malaysians found cheap digs, good transport, and – most important of all – food that tastes like home.
Today the community is more scattered – Camden, Ealing, Harrow, East London. But Bayswater is still the spiritual home. Walk down Queensway and I swear you can almost hear the hiss and sizzle of satay skewers rising above the traffic.
Food – the beating heart
And food is the beating heart.
Satay House near Paddington. It’s been there since 1973. A legend. Chicken satay with peanut sauce. Beef rendang that melts and burns at the same time.
C&R Café in Bayswater. Their laksa could cure homesickness faster than a phone call from mum.
And then there’s Roti King near Euston. Tiny, cramped, perpetually queued. The roti canai – flaky, buttery, dipped in dhal – worth the wait, every time.
And beyond the restaurants – shops. Walk into the right grocer and you’ll find pandan leaves, belacan, Milo, kaya coconut jam. Small things. But for someone far from home? They’re an umbilical cord.
Festivals, art, culture
But food isn’t the whole story.
Every year Trafalgar Square turns Malaysian for a day. Malaysia Fest. Or Malaysia Day. Dancers in traditional dress, gamelan orchestras, food stalls perfuming the London air. Satay smoke drifting up past Nelson’s Column.
The High Commission in Belgrave Square puts on exhibitions, film screenings, cultural events. The British Museum, the V&A – they hold Malaysian textiles, shadow puppets, carvings. Windows onto a culture half a world away.
And the music – gamelan groups, Malay drumming, even pop musicians who fuse London beats with Malaysian roots.
This is London. It doesn’t just import. It cross-pollinates.
Students and professionals
And the numbers keep ticking. Thousands of Malaysian students in London at any given moment. Studying medicine, engineering, finance, the arts.
Some stay. They become doctors in the NHS. Barristers in the Inns of Court. Bankers in Canary Wharf. Architects. Academics. Entrepreneurs.
Each one a bridge between
Kuala Lumpur and Kensington,
Penang and Paddington.
Now how about the big picture – you know, London, the world city.
Agreed, 21,000 may not sound massive next to, say, the Bangladeshis of Tower Hamlets, or the Nigerians of Peckham.
But here’s the thing: it’s not the size, it’s the principle.
London adds them all up – the Malaysians, the Bangladeshis, the Nigerians, the Jamaicans, the Poles, the Syrians, the Chileans, the Italians, the Greeks – and what do you get?
A world city. The world city.
You want to see the world? Experience the world? Taste the world?
No need for a passport. Just grab a Travelcard.
Hop on the Central Line, get off at Queensway – and there’s Malaysia.
Tomorrow – Edgware Road, Lebanon.
Next week – Green Lanes, Turkey.
Brick Lane – Bangladesh.
Southall – Punjab.
Golders Green – Israel.
London. The only city on Earth where the atlas has been folded up and slipped under one roof.
Ok, peroration time.
It’s September 16th. It’s Malaysia Day. Hari Malaysia.
So as this podcast goes out, Malaysians in London and around the world will be thinking of home, celebrating unity, heritage, identity. And that in itself makes this getting “Malaysia on Thames” into focus all the more timely.
Bears repeating. Malaysia has its foothold here. Twenty-one thousand strong. Enough to make it one of Malaysia’s larger towns – at least in imagination.
A town without borders. Grafted onto another great city.
A town whose currency is food, festivals, fellowship.
And that’s London’s genius.
It doesn’t just tolerate this.
It thrives on it.
Which is why you can stand in Bayswater, roti canai in one hand, teh tarik in the other, and feel – utterly truthfully – that you’re in Malaysia.
Without ever leaving London.
But let’s bring this in – bring it home – with the Malaysia in London Top Five.
Numero Uno – Satay House in Paddington. It’s the grand-daddy. Been a London fixture for over 50 years.Chicken satay, peanut sauce, beef rendang. Pure velvet fire.
Numero Dos. Roti King in Euston. Always a queue. Always worth it. Roti Canai that people whisper about. I’ll be taking my pal Tom there when he rolls up in October. But let’s circle back to that queue. There. is. always. a. queue. at Roti King. Tells you all you need to know.
Numero Tres – the C & R Cafe in Bayswater. The C & R is comfort food central. Laksa, nasi lemak, and chatter in half a dozen accents.
Numero Quattro – Malaysia Fest / Malaysia Day in Trafalgar Square. For one glorious, golden day, Nelson’s not just riding waves – he’s riding the happiest waves on Earth. The waves of Malaysia. But – a note to the savvy – not this year. The Malaysia Carnival – it was up in Hertfordshire on August 30th – pulled rank on the Trafalgar Square festivities. Knocked them into touch for this year.
Finally, Numero cinque, the High Commission in Belgrave Square. It’s not just bureaucrats and paperwork. It’s exhibitions, films, culture. Malaysia’s cultural embassy in London.
So there you have it: Malaysia on Thames. Happy Malaysia Day.
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You’ve been listening to This… is London, the London Walks podcast. Emanating from – www.walks.com – home of London Walks, London’s signature walking tour company.
London’s local, time-honoured, fiercely independent, family-owned, just-the-right-size walking tour company.
And as long as we’re at it, London’s multi-award-winning walking tour company. Indeed, London’s only award-winning walking tour company.
And here’s the secret: London Walks is essentially run as a guides’ cooperative.
That’s the key to everything.
It’s the reason we’re able to attract and keep the best guides in London. You can get schlubbers to do this for £20 a walk. But you cannot get world-class guides – let alone accomplished professionals.
It’s not rocket science: you get what you pay for.
And just as surely, you also get what you don’t pay for.
Back in 1968 when we got started we quickly came to a fork in the road. We had to answer a searching question: Do we want to make the most money? Or do we want to be the best walking tour company in the world?
You want to make the most money you go the schlubbers route. You want to be the best walking tour company in the world you do whatever you have to do to attract and keep the best guides in London – you want them guiding for you, not for somebody else.
Bears repeating: the way we’re structured – a guides’ cooperative – is the key to the whole thing.
It’s the reason for all those awards, it’s the reason people who know go with London Walks, it’s the reason we’ve got a big following, a lively, loyal, discerning following – quality attracts quality.
It’s the reason we’re able – uniquely – to front our walks with accomplished, in many cases distinguished professionals:
By way of example, Stewart Purvis, the former Editor (and subsequently CEO) of Independent Television News.
And Lisa Honan, who had a distinguished career as a diplomat (Lisa was the Governor of St Helena, the island where Napoleon breathed his last and, some say, had his penis amputated – Napoleon didn’t feel a thing – if thing’s the mot juste – he was dead.)
Stewart and Lisa – both of them CBEs – are just a couple of our headline acts.
Or take our Ripper Walk. It’s the creation of the world’s leading expert on Jack the Ripper, Donald Rumbelow, the author of the definitive book on the subject. Britain’s most distinguished crime historian, Donald is, in the words of The Jack the Ripper A to Z, “internationally recognised as the leading authority on Jack the Ripper.” Donald’s emeritus now but he’s still the guiding light on our Ripper Walk. He curates the walk. He trains up and mentors our Ripper Walk guides. Fields any and all questions they throw at him.
The London Walks Aristocracy of Talent – its All-Star Team of Guides – includes a former London Mayor. It includes the former Chief Music Critic for the Evening Standard. It includes the Chair of the Association of Professional Tour Guides. And the former chair of the Guild of Guides.
It includes barristers, doctors, geologists, museum curators, a former London Museum archaeologist, historians, university professors (one of them a distinguished Cambridge University paleontologist); it includes a criminal defence lawyer, Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre actors, a bevy of MVPs, Oscar winners (people who’ve won the big one, the Guide of the Year Award)… well, you get the idea.
As that travel writer famously put it, “if this were a golf tournament, every name on the Leader Board would be a London Walks guide.”
And as we put it: London Walks Guides make the new familiarand the familiar new.
And on that agreeable note… come then, let us go forward together on some great London Walks.