KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 -- Yap Ah Loy is widely remembered as the man who founded Kuala Lumpur, but according to his fifth-generation great-grandson Glenn Yap, that story only tells half the truth.

Glenn said Yap's defining contribution was not founding the city, but rebuilding it after it was almost wiped out during the Klang War.

"People always say Yap Ah Loy founded Kuala Lumpur, but what made him extraordinary was that he rebuilt KL after it was completely destroyed during the Klang War," he said during the Life and Legacy of Yap Ah Loy talk organised by Badan Warisan Malaysia.

Born in Guangdong, Yap came to Malaya as a young migrant seeking opportunities. His early years were marked by false starts - after losing his travel money to ...