Thomas Tiang Ah Song is an architect based in Malaysia. In the 1970s, he was responsible for a few of Malaysia's earliest shopping centers, including one of the first South East Asian shopping centres, the modernist Ampang Park Shopping Centre.[1] Ampang Park opened in March 1973;[2] standing as the first and oldest shopping centre in Malaysia.[3] The complex was developed by the Low Keng Huat Brothers Realty Sdn Bhd who were also the developers of the first shopping complex in Singapore; People's Park.[4] The complex was 3 storeys tall, and because of cross-ventilation, its central atrium was, and remains, mostly un air-conditioned. It featured lifts, escalators, a carpark, and had 260,000 SF of commercial space.[5] In addition to Tiang, the project architect, as listed in an advertisement, was the Design Partnership.[6] Despite the shopping centre being over 40 years old, it still functions as a successful shopping hub.[7]
Tiang was also the architect involved with another Kuala Lumpur shopping center, the Pertama Complex. At that time, he was employed by the architecture firm of S.P. Chew and Rakan-Rakan. Tiang is the principal architect of Arkitekk AAP.[8] His early work in bringing shopping malls to South East Asia continued with his diverse involvements in projects ranging from hotels to a theme park.[8]