Stopover #1 Malay Heritage Centre

The Malay Heritage Museum sits on the site of Istana Kampung Gelam, loosely translated to Palace of Kampung Gelam. Built by Sultan Hussein Shah in 1819 before being rebuilt into the concrete structure you see today, by his son Sultan Ali Iskandar Shah in 1835. It was designed by George Coleman, the same man that gave us the Old Parliament House, also known as the Arts House and the Armenian. I find it ironic that an ang moh designed a palace that was meant for Malay royalty. I must admit, in my opinion it doesnt look much of a palace. It seems more like a colonial bungalow, rather than a palace meant for Malay royalty.

Within the grounds one can find a Bugis perahhu, probably a testament to the significance of the Bugis people. They hailed from South West Sulawesi and were predominantly traders, seasoned sailors, well renowned for their economic and military might. So much was their might that they were able to stretch their influence to far beyond their heartland. They dominated the Malay Royal Court and formed a large part of the 15^th century Malaccan Sultanate’s mercenaries and navies. It is also said that all Malay sultans can trace their heritage and lineage to the Bugis.

The main building plays host to the Malay Heritage Museum, which consists of 9 galleries spread out within 2 floors. Upon entering the building, one can sense the tremendous amount of history that envelopes the place. Its one of those moments where you'd wish if only its walls could talk, jsut imagine the stories they'd tell.

From Malay keris to the charming films of P Ramlee there were many heritage artifacts, ranging from pre 1819 to the 1970s. Two however caught my eye, a letter by Sir Stamford Raffles and Yusof Ishak's Presidential medallion.

Below shows a document written by Sir Stamford Raffles that was written in Jawi. Jawi is the adaptation of Arabic alphabets for writing the Malay language. I knew he was able to read Jawi and speak Malay, but i did not know that he was able to write it as well. The fact that some ang moh from the Western world knew how to not only read, but also write Jawi greatly impressed me. Plus he had pretty nice handwriting.

Another was Yusoff Ishak’s Presidential Medallion, given to him by the Crown, in recognition to his status as the first Yang-Di-Pertuan Negara of Singapore. It was loaned to the museum by his wife and bore the emblems of the different commonwealth territories of the British Empire at that time.

The Malay Heritage Center, the first stop in our heritage trail of Kampung Gelam, was a fruitful visit for all of us. It provided us with a glimpse of what life was like back then and also the realisation of the depth of heritage and culture of the Malays. Hence it was apt that it served as the starting point for our heritage trail