Singapore: Culture II

In continuing with yesterday's post about Culture in Singapore, I thought I'd go all-out and see as much as I could in one day. To this end, I visited Kampong Glam, Bugis, City Hall, Fort Canning Park, the Esplanade and surrounds, Singapore River and Clarke Quay.

Because of the detail required for a proper discussion about where I visited today, I will post in two parts. Today's post will discuss this morning's field trip (for my Southeast Asian Studies course to meet the locals) and tomorrow's will talk about the rest of the day.

Firstly, some history.

What is Kampong Glam, and why does Singapore have designated ethnic enclaves?
In 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles, on the advice of his town-planner, began to set aside land for the distinct minority groupings within Singapore. The Chinese Kampong was set aside in the area around the Kling Chapel, in what is now Chinatown; for the South Indian Muslims the area to the North-East (along the Singapore River) was allotted as the Chuliah Kampong; and the Europeans received ‘European Square’ around Rochor Square (bordered by Fort Canning Park and Arab St). This left the Bugis & Arab minorities. They received land bordering the Sultan Mosque (itself was given to Sultan Hussein) to the East and West respectively, as a residential area for the Sultan’s enclave. This is the area known as ‘Arab Street’ or ‘Kampong Glam’ today. Little India is the only area that developed of its own accord. It's a natural settlement.

Where does the name come from?
The name Kampong Glam originates from the Malay word kampong meaning village, and glam, which was a type of tree grown in the area, and known for its medicinal uses. Try as we might, we could not find an example of the glam tree remaining in the Kampong Glam area. Maybe we just need to look closer, but it seems indicative of the decline of the region as a social and cultural community centre that its namesake is hard to find.

What is it now?
On 7 July 1989, the area of Kampong Glam was gazetted for conservation by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. The area conserved covers approximately 9 hectares, and includes 620 buildings. Whilst such a decision ensured the survival of the area’s design and environment, it did not preserve the people. As the cost of living increased in the 1990’s, shopfronts became rented, rather than owned, property. This has led to the creation of another tourist site, rather than the continuation of a community.

This does not mean Kampong Glam is not authentic or interesting. It has become representative of a larger change in Singapore – a move towards the future, whilst still maintaining some of its heritage. Visiting the area reminded me a lot of Singapore’s experience with the restoration of Chinatown – the government began tearing down the old shop-houses until they realised people were visiting the area specifically to see this ‘other side’ of Singapore.

Although Kampong Glam contains the Malay Heritage Centre, and is described in many tourist guides as the “Malay” area of Singapore, this is not completely correct. For many years, the area has been the “Muslim quarter” – regardless of whether those Muslims are Malay, Javanese, or from Arab states. Nowadays, however, these differences are not regarded as important. Many of the current generation of Muslims were born in Singapore, and consider themselves “Singaporean Muslims”, as opposed to Malay, or Javanese. The reduced usage of dialects has increased this assimilation.

As with many aspects of Kampong Glam, the streets and buildings themselves have changed in function and design. The most obvious examples of this are the Malay Heritage Centre (which was the King’s palace: Istana Kampong Glam), and Bussorah Street. Bussorah Street is the main street leading from the Sultan Mosque, and was once full of food stalls catering to those going to and from the mosque; and travel agents for those making the pilgrimage to Mecca. Now it is a modern, pedestrianised street, with Western Internet cafés and souvenir stalls making up the bulk of the shopfronts. Such a drastic change is again indicative of the broader change within the area.

Despite the lack of first-generation migrants in Kampong Glam, those we met were still children or grandchildren of migrants. The migrant heritage is still strong, and many of those we spoke to had mixed parentage, with both parents meeting and marrying in Singapore. However, the three people we spoke to lived in the East Side of Singapore; none lived in Kampong Glam.

(The above comes from my report on the field trip, hence its academic-ness!)