Hungarian-viatheNetherlands-inSingapore: Singapore Sights - Saturday afternoon in Kampong Glam and Little India

After my adventures in the jungle and Tree Top Walk, I went on a city tour:

Kampong Glam is the historic Malay district, and as such, also the center of the Muslim community in Singapore. The name Kampong Glam comes from kampong, village in Malay, and glam, the name of the Gelam tree. The Gelam tree is a very important tree, every part of it was used by the Malay: its leaves to make Cajeput oil, to be used as a substitute of Tiger Balm; the bark for caulking boats; the timber for the hulls and for firewood; the dried and ground fruit as black pepper substitute.

This area was allocated to the local Malay and Muslim immigrants from South East Asia in the Raffles Town Plan. But it was actually the seat of Malay royalty when Stamford Raffles arrived to the island in 1819. The former Istana, the palace of the Malay rulers, serves as the Malay Heritage Centre today.

The center of the community is the Masijd Sultan, that is Sultan Mosque, at the end of Bussorah Mall.

In the neighborhood the majority of houses are shophouses, most of them original, and restored. I cannot follow the development of the architectural style, but there are houses from the early, the late, the first transitional as well as Art Deco styles. The street names are also interesting: Kandahar, Arab, Baghdad street.

Now I took better pictures, so you can appreciate the origins of my favorite architectural feature in Singapore, the covered walkway.

And here an uncovered portion of the sewage or drainage system - needed in times of torrential rain.

Haji Lane is the narrowest street in all of Singapore, and also the street where I finally acquired some red clothes (a skirt and a dress) for Chinese New Year (not to be worn at the same time!).

They sell the best teh tarik here, in this non-assuming small shop, that doesn't even have a name.

(Sorry, I haven't noticed the setting change.) So teh tarik is what people drink here. It is hot tea with evaporated milk (i.e. it is sweet in its original state). I am sorry to report I am already hooked, I drink it every morning in the university canteen :) Teh tarik refers to how they prepare it, it means pull tea, i.e. they pour the very hot tea from very high up into the cup and onto the evaporated milk. This makes it both frothy and cool down a little.

There is a former Chinese school here as well - this is multi-ethnic, multicultural (multikulti) Singapore after all -, currently used as an arts center/school.

But there is, of course, an old Islamic school there as well.

And there are two more mosques, that dot another two corners of the neighborhood. Masjid Hajjah Fatimah, or Rochor Mosque (because it is close to Rochor Street), an interesting square-shaped mosque...

... and the Masjid Malabar Muslim Jamaah, or Golden Dome Mosque.

After I have wound my way around the neighborhood streets, it was still only 4 o'clock. So I have checked my map to figure out how close I was to Little India. It turns out that I was only about 2-3 blocks away, so I decided to walk.

I have continued shopping and got two pairs of red shoes :) Also got off the beaten track, I sort of got lost in an organised way :), and found a bustling shopping area and shopping street. It was fun!

Then I arrived in Little India. I only had a rough idea what the sights were, so instead I was just walking around trying to take in the sights.

Little India is the heart of Singapore's Indian community. The first Indians came with Stamford Raffles and settled close to or in Chinatown. That is why Chinatown has Indian religious sites. The first big wave of settlers were the Chinese, and the second wave of immigrants came from India, who settled in what is now Little India.

In addition to Chinatown, Kamong Glam, and basically everywhere I have been, Little India is also a nice area for shopping. Here I bought some electronics :).