“TANAH AIR.” This phrase has a huge significance in the Malay language. Its direct translation simply means “land” and “water” but in combination, it conveys a term very close to the heart — “homeland”. Early Malay community life had always been linked to the kampung which is considered a settlement or geographical ward. Traditionally, when there’s a kampung there’s sure to be a waterway or sea not very far away.
Kampung Glam (also spelt as Gelam) in Singapore is one such example. Already a thriving port town prior to the arrival of the British in 1819, this strategically located area near the mouth of the Singapore River continued to attract migrants from around the region as the new colony continued to prosper.
A recent visit to the Malay Heritage Centre in the heart of historic Kampung Glam reveals how this place was characterised by concentrations of various communities that arrived in Singapore during the early 19th century. These included the predominantly Javanese Kampung Kaji (now Bussorah Mall), Kampung Ceylon (now Golden Landmark Complex) and Kampung Bali (area around Bali Lane today).
The large concentration of Baweanese people along Rochor River gave rise to the Kampung Boyan we know today. The resulting melting pot is a unique distinguishing feature of Kampung Glam. In this amazing part of Singapore, different streets are considered and named as individual kampungs in their own right.
This interesting fact is just one of many I learnt after “accidentally” coming across a mind boggling treasure trove of all things Malay while checking out the nearby Bazaar Ramadan food stalls. As I stand waiting for the proprietor to pack my murtabak daging, I notice a group of camera-totting Chinese tourists passing through a small side gate in single file.
“Pergilah masuk. Ada banyak benda menarik di dalam,” (You should go in. There are many interesting displays inside) the seller encourages me in fluent Malay after realising that I’m from Malaysia. With still a considerable amount of time on my hands, I oblige.
LESSON IN HISTORY
The side entrance at Kandahar Street opens out into a sprawling garden with an immaculately kept lawn. I decide to head first towards a single storey building adorned with intricately carved wood on its eaves on my left. This is the Information Centre and it’s here that I learn that the Malay Heritage Centre occupies the historic site where Istana Kampung Glam once stood. Today, this former majestic palace serves to showcase the rich Malay cultural history in Singapore and highlight its important contribution towards nation-building.
Time passes so fast and without realising it, two hours have gone by as I soak in the wealth of information at the centre’s eight themed galleries. The artifacts, murals and dioramas are very well displayed and explained. Coupled with soft background gamelan music and state of the art multimedia interactive screens, it’s little wonder that even grandparents and young children are enticed to participate as well.
While admiring the display highlighting the wide array of items dug up by conservators during the 2004 refurbishment project, I meet Hafiz Rashid. A museum volunteer, Hafiz had just completed his tour with a group of students from Woodlands secondary school. During our brief chat, I learn that Istana Kampung Glam used to be the historic home of Malay royalty in Singapore.
The first sultan, Hussein Mohamed Shah who ascended the throne through British intervention, was in actual fact living quietly and penniless in Riau before Sir Stamford Raffles decided to make him ruling monarch on Feb 6, 1819.
That historic arrangement with the British gave Sultan Hussein immediate prestige and wealth, allowing him to draw a princely allowance of $416 per month.
On March 14, 1823, Kampung Glam with its location east of the European town and lying between the Rochor River and the sea — an area amounting to 22.5 hectares — was exclusively awarded to Sultan Hussein to serve as his personal accommodation. In addition, the British granted his wish for a palatial istana for his royal household. Unfortunately the monarch never lived to see his istana completed as he died in Melaka in 1835.
The present building was constructed in 1840 by Sultan Hussein’s son and heir, Sultan Ali Iskandar Shah.
Until this very day, the building’s external paintwork has always been maintained yellow as, according to Hafiz, that’s the designated colour for Malay royalty. Designed by George Drumgold Coleman, a talented Irish architect, this Palladian architecture-styled building has won many accolades in the past including the prestigious Urban Redevelopment Authority Architectural Heritage Award.
GEDUNG KUNING
Having learnt much about the Malay Sultans who once ruled Singapore, I decide to explore Kampung Glam’s other hidden secrets. Just as I’m about to walk out through the main entrance called Sultan Gate, the sight of an imposing building to my right, also painted yellow, stops me in my tracks.
It’s Gedung Kuning, home to Mamanda, a fine dining restaurant serving traditional Malay cuisine. This double-storey building was originally built by Tengku Mahmud in 1846 to serve as the home of the Bendahara.
Tengku Mahmud was one of Sultan Ali’s sons. Curiously though, there are no historical records providing for the position of a Prime Minister in Sultan Hussein’s court or subsequent administrations that followed after that. Experts today speculate that perhaps Sultan Ali did intend to replicate that powerful post in Singapore after learning about its existence in the 15th century Melaka Sultanate.
Some 60 years later, somewhere in 1907, Tengku Mahmud’s sibling Tengku Mohamed mortgaged Gedung Kuning to an Indian money lender. Five years later, in 1912, the house once again changed hands when renowned belt and songkok maker Yussof Mohamed Noor bought the house from R.M.P.C Mootiah Chitty.
For a six-year period, from 1919 to 1925, a series of Chinese families took turns having ownership of the house. Rumour has it that the Chinese family members were often plagued by misfortunes during their stay at Gedung Kuning.
As a result,Yussof reacquired the house when its last Chinese owner and sugar tycoon, Oei Tiong Ham died in 1924. Up until its acquisition by the Singapore government in 1999, Gedung Kuning was home to four generations of Yussof’s family. Standing at the main hall and admiring the beautifully-carved dining table, I begin to wonder about the numerous joyous occasions celebrated by the family in the past, such as Hari Raya.
RAYA RECOLLECTIONS
Ramadan is the time when Muslims in Singapore and the rest of the world observe a very strict abstinence of food and drink from sunrise to sunset. In the past, fasting must have been a very big deal for children around the age of 6 or 7 as they learn to fulfil one of the five tenets of Islam.
As beginners, they’re allowed to start fasting for shorter hours and then slowly increase the duration as they grow older. Muslim teenagers are expected to fast from dawn until dusk once they achieve puberty.
While retracing my steps towards Sultan Mosque, I wondered whether Yussof actually used this same route on the first day of Syawal. It must have been a sight to see Muslim males across generations, grandfathers, fathers and sons, dressed in their best Baju Raya, chatting and laughing as they make a beeline for the mosque to perform their Hari Raya prayers. The festive mood would have quickly set in as the “takbir Raya” resonates throughout Kampung Glam. After prayers, members of the congregation would exchange hugs and forgiveness. The community here, after all, is a very close-knit one.
Sultan Mosque is the oldest and largest mosque in Singapore. Its iconic golden dome can be seen from quite a distance. While entrance is free, non-Muslim visitors are only allowed to venture onto the uncarpeted areas on the ground floor. Visitors must also be properly attired and speak softly when they’re in the mosque compound. Robes are available at the registration counter.
The mosque in its current form was completed in 1928 after the original building, built about a century ago, was deemed to have deteriorated badly and was longer suitable for use. The British firm Swan and Maclaren, headed by its architect Denis Santry, was commissioned to design a new mosque which combined the best Moorish and Turkish architectural styles.
The original Sultan Mosque, built by Sultan Hussein in 1824, was a single storey structure devoid of minarets or domes. Its design was a copy of mosques typically built in the Nusantara (Malay archipelago) during the early 19th century. All mosques at that time had a pitched or multi-tiered pyramidal roof.
As I decide to call it a day, I notice a mosque volunteer handing out packets of little green envelopes. Those must be for the duit Raya, I note, smiling before my mind drifts back to Yussof’s Gedung Kuning. I’m sure it must have been a magnet for children around Kampung Glam as the wealthy merchant was well known for his generosity. He was said to have given at least a dollar for each child who called at his house. That princely sum back in the 1930s would surely make the children’s Hari Raya extra special.