Kampong Glam

Just about 2 weeks ago, I went to Kampong Glam in Bugis to learn about it's interesting history.



When we were on the bus, the teacher handed out worksheets to everybody in the bus and we were told that we were supposed to fill in the worksheet during our guided tour around Kampong Glam.



Even before we got off the bus, the tour seemed to have begun. The teacher on the bus told us about how in the 1800's, the Dutch were rich traders because they were in the spice trade. I quickly took out my notepad and copied down everything my teacher said. He also gave examples of the different spices such as Nutmeg, Clove and Cinnamon. He also explained that 6 different types of people lived in Kampong Glam. The Chinese, Arabs, Malays, Javanese, Indians and Bugis.



Then, she started to talk about how the British wanted to find a country that was not under Dutch control(the British were friends with the Dutch)So eventually, Sir Stanford Raffles founded Singapore to do spice trade. The Dutch were not happy that the British joined in the spice trade and there was a letter war between the British and the Dutch. Then, after a while they were tired of fighting and signed a treaty. Meanwhile, Hussien went overseas to attend to some buissness. When he got back though, he was surprised to find that his younger brother had taken over the throne. At that time, he could not fight back for the throne because his younger brother controlled the bugis.






Soon we got off the bus and headed to the Sultan Mosque . The teacher explained that yellow was a colour of royalty, which was why the Mosque was mostly yellow except for the black dome which was made of glass bottles donated by poor people with no money. He also told us about the minerack towers and how people would run up the towers and pray. The people would wash some parts of their body but not more than 3 times. This is to ensure that people do not waste water.The custom was started in a dessert.






Then, we were allowed to enter the Mosque. When we entered the Mosque, the first thing that caught my eye was the gigantic carpet on the floor. The teacher said thad the white patches on the carpet were positions for everyone to kneel on. She also said that man would pray on the first floor while woman pray in the second floor. This is to ensure that the people did not get distracted. She also said that the carpet was donated by a rich arabian family and to support such a big carpet the Mosque also needed to be very big. In fact, the Mosque can fit in about 5000 people in total.





After we left the Mosque, we headed to a toy store on the side of the street heading to the Mosque because it sold many traditional toys. It was time to have a break and every one scattered to either buy toys from the toy store or to get a drink from the nearest 7-11.





Then, we went to a tree with a white bark. The tree mainly has 3 uses

1. Its bark can withstand salty water so they can make ships or caulking

2.It's bark can also be used to make sails for boats

3.It contains oils that can cure headaches and stomachaches.





Finally we went to the istama museum, the former home of the Sultans. The teacher told us that the place was built by Ali on 1840 . Now it is a museum. The teacher told us about how the palace turned into a museum. When the Sultan signed the treaty with Sir Stamford Raffles, he was promised an annual salary. But the British became greedy and wanted Singapore for themselves so they took away the Sultan's annual salary. Then, not only did they offer lots of money, they also offered lots of money if the Sultan left Singapore. The Sultan left. Then, Ali appeared and was given the place of Sultan. In the end, Ali was forced to move out in 2002 because the goverment said that it was his land and now the goverment gives the family $350000 every month.That is not very much when you think about the 300 children that the Sultan had to share the money with every month.

Then , to top the day off, we had a chapatek and a sarong tying competion. Although I did not participate in any of the competions, I had a good time watching.

After that it was time to go home.
I had a great time at Kampong Glam.