Fitri's Reflections

The first thing that comes to my mind when someone mentions about going to Kampung Glam would be the myriad of textile shops that my mum would visit every hari raya to buy cloth for hers and my sisters baju kurung, the eccletic shops of Haji lane and the numerous sheesha outlets that line the streets at night. Recently, the appeal of Kampung Glam has grown onto me after I found out one can get a fake world cup football jersey for a very cheap price. But thats another story for another day.

For a Malay boy living in the glitzy cosmopolitan Singapore, I must admit Im a pretty lousy Malay. Back when i was younger and somewhat foolish, I hated Malay class and was disinterested in Malay culture. I baulked at the idea of having to read Malay storybooks, newspapers and foolishly ignorant of my own ignorance. As a result, i grew up not knowing much about my own culture, heritage and language. In a way, Im only Malay in my IC. Which I think is very sad.

They say for you to know who you are today, you need to know where you came from.


And so, how apt was it that we got Kampung Glam for our heritage trail. The trail was really as much as a fact findng assignment as it was me discovering my heritage. Now, I wouldnt say that after the heritage trail, I found out my identity and my heritage and managed to undo 22 years of foolish ignorance, cause that would just being me trying to suck up to Dr Lim for better grades in my Japanese Occupation presentation later. But rather, it motivated me to find out more about my community, made me more aware of my roots.


We visited many places during the trail, but the most interesting and perhaps significant for me was the first stop, the Malay Heritage Centre. Not only because it was a hot day and the museum happened to be airconditioned, but also due to the historical artifacts it holds inside. From the traditional Malay weapons to the P Ramlee films of the charming 1950s, it was as much as a new learning experience for me as it was I'm sure to Xiang Lin.


One thing that i found sad personally, was really how the authenticity of history has sort of diminished over time. For some of the places that we went to, they were in my eyes, merely reduced to a tourist attraction and at times i found myself questioning if the experience of the place was authentic or a mere recreation by the STB to attract tourists.