The Istana Kg GLAM today

[ Photo credit: Wolfgang Sladkowski ]
Singapore was founded in the year 1819 when Stamford Raffles landed near the Singapore River and there after started a trading post. At that time the island of Singapore was under the jurisdiction of the Johore Sultanate under Sultan Hussein Shah. It was he who ordered the building of the original Istana Kg Glam in that same year of 1819 on the plot of land given by the British East India Company. It was nothing glamourous. Just a wooden structure to the east of present day Beach Road.
The Sultan lived there until his death in 1835. His eldest son Ali Iskandar Shah then became Sultan and it was during this period between 1836 - 1843 that the existing concrete building ( see photos ) was built.
It was designed by colonial architect George Drumgoole Coleman. Incidentally our old Parliament House and the Armenian Church were also designed by George Coleman.
When the Istana Kg Glam was completed, Tengku Alam, who was Ali's eldest son, lived there till his death in 1891.
In 1896, because of an internal dispute in the ruling family over a succession issue, the matter went to court.
So in 1897, the verdict was out. The court had ruled that the land belonged to the crown. But the descendants of the original Sultan were given a stipend to maintain that place.



[ Photo credit: Sengkang - Wikipedia ]

In 2004, the former palace was refurbished and the grounds renovated by the government of Singapore. On 27 November 2004 the Malay Heritage Centre was officially launched and the Centre now caters to maintaining the history and culture, especially of the Malays and other early residents such as the Bugis, Boyanese, Minangkabau, Orang Gelam and more.
Did you notice the name " Orang Gelam"?
Who were they? Where did they come from? Was Kg Glam named after them?

The Orang Gelam was a tribe that came from Batam Island and settled around where Kg Glam was located. Apparently, in the compound of the Istana Kg Glam, there are still "Gelam" trees...so named perhaps because these early immigrants brought them here.

History is indeed fascinating! Researching for facts, figures and origins of places, people and events, among other things, is always a rewarding and fulfilling revealation.
For example, if I were to ask you ' how many Bugis are there in our population today?'.
What's your answer going to be?
Fact: The British conducted the 1st Population census in 1824, a mere 5 years after our founding.
The number of Bugis people alone was about....19 % of the total poulation back then. And this figure did not include the Malays.
Surprised?

Kg GLAM palace in early 1900's...history,photo, story.

( Newsclip from Unk Dicko's Archives - S.Times 13 Mar 1991 )

All I can say from reading story after story from my study of history is that...nothing ever
stands still. Everything changes over time, especially the question of "ownership" over
a piece of property or land or whatever thing.
Nothing is ever permanent.
Only the present exists until fate or nature intervenes and bring an abrupt end to the status quo...
and the next cycle begins...
It has been like this since the dawn of mankind.

( Newsclip: Unk Dicko's Archives - S Times 13 March 1991 )

The top photo shows Kampong Glam palace ( Istana Kg Glam ) in the early 1900's. It was built by members of the Johore Sultanate beginning in 1819.
This episode about the history of the palace and its grounds was discussed in Parliament in 1991
by then National Development Minister Mr S Dhanabalan...who gave a "history lesson" to the house.

Digging into the past..in Singapore.

What can you find if you started to dig into the ground?

Well, that depends very much on where you are digging ( the location ) and how far down you are prepared to dig. Perhaps, the size and expanse of the dig will play an important part too.

If given a chance Unk Dicko would have loved to be an archaeologist or something close to that.

Why?

Whatever is above land we can see. But what lies buried deeper under the earth beneath us, even as we walk over it, will always remain a mystery.

It is this desire to uncover the unknown or hidden secrets that is quite a compelling attraction of archaeology.

In 1964, racial riots erupted over Singapore. To curb the racial clashes, the government acted swiftly. Police were patrolling the streets and a curfew was imposed. The curfew was only lifted for a short period those initial days for people to buy necessities.

It was boring as we were all prevented from going out.

We had a small garden in our home in Geylang. I decided to do a little digging with just a spade...to kill time.

What did I find precisely ?

Three different things...the complete skeletal remains of our early family cat,

some Straits Settlements coins and the most interesting discovery of all..the headstones or tombstones found in Muslim graves. They were very old, not new. As soon as I discovered that there were a couple of such stones..I stopped digging, showed my father and other family members the artifacts, and replaced them before closing the dig. My father had also uncovered such headstones in earlier years when he was doing some work there.

I think Siang Lim Park where we used to lived, was in some parts, a very early Muslim burial ground. No human remains were found, only tombstones.

The younger generation may not really know that Bishan housing estate was a huge Chinese burial ground not that long ago.

Some of my relatives were buried there...including my dearest younger little toddler brother ( I loved him most deeply) who passed away 50 years ago.