It opened at 8.30. I thought I would go there (very) early :) to make sure that I get in while there are still reasonably few people there. So I got up early, I have already been having breakfast at our local MRT station, Boon Lay at 8am (probably earlier). And I have arrived at the Istana around 9am. I thought that the line was long :), but actually I got past the main entrance in about 15 minutes - including purchasing the ticket (S$1 to go to charity) and security checks (again we were prewarned, and this time I knew to check the list of no-nos :), so I did not bring weapons, knives, or even glass bottles!).
Just to show you how well organized everything is. A sign telling everybody what is accessible and what is off limits. But of course there were policemen everywhere on the border of the yellow and white areas.
The Istana grounds, and the climb up to the house itself.
Off duty policemen.
A second gate.
Ceremonial guards on their way, I guess, to relieve the others at the main building.
They have thought of families as well.
And finally a glimpse of the Istana.
And still closer.
And finally in front of it.
It has paid off to arrive early. I got to the Istana Building Ticket booth at 9.45am.
It turned out, that for a lowly S$4 (because of my student pass = permanent residence card, instead of the normal S$10) and about an hour waiting, I got to be one of the REALLY few people, who could participate in a guided tour of the building.
Tours started about every 15 minutes, with a maximum of 15 people each. The only bad news is that photographs were not allowed inside the building.
Now that I had about 45 minutes on my hand, I took some pictures of the garden. I have to say that I have not overdone my movements. It was only 10am, but the the sun was out in FULL FORCE! Even if it gave me very sharp and long shadows :(
I told you I had too much time :)
The Villa.
This is a pond, with the statue of Queen Victoria. This is the closest I got to it! Heat, remember?
On the tour of the Istana I couldn't take pictures, so I took notes :) It was a 45 minute tour, which, considering that we only had access to the ground floor, meant a lot of info! The guide Jean (I hope I got her name right) was a really nice person, very talkative, eloquent and with no real accent! And she really did impart a lot of info.
After it was founded as a trading post of the British Empire, Singapore was governed from Calcutta for a while. This made matters very awkward, especially financially, so they have changed the order of governance, and the first colonial governor, Sir Harry Ord (I understood Odd :) ) arrived in 1867. At that time there were a lot of spice (nutmeg, clove, etc.) plantations on the island, but because of an infection the plants have started to die off. So land was fairly cheap when Sir Ord has started looking for a place to build his residence as governor. He acquired a part of the Mount Sophia nutmeg plantation. The mansion he eventually built, called the Government House, has served as the official home of British governors until 1959 when
Singapore was granted self-government. Then it became the residence of the Yang di-Pertuan Negara (literally "(he) who is Lord" in Malay, appr. president or head of state), and then that of the president. Today the Istana (palace in Malay) is the official residence and office of the President of Singapore, and the working office of the Prime Minister of Singapore.
The Istana was built between 1867 and 1869 on the instructions of Sir Ord. Its architect, a certain J.F.A. McNair, is the architect of several other colonial buildings in Singapore (e.g. the Asian Civilizations Museum, or St Andrew's Cathedral). He was actually the chief engineer of Singapore, but more importantly also superintendent of convicts (i.e. prisoners). He employed about 3,000 Indian convicts in most construction works he supervised in Singapore. He believed in rehabilitation of his convicts and became very successful and efficient at managing them. He was so successful and efficient at it, in fact, that people came from faraway places, e.g. Japan to study his methods.
The Government House was built in, sorry to disappoint everybody, Palladian style, i.e. in a European rather than local architectural style. Which means that you can probably see the Doric (ground floor), Ionic and Corinthian (top floor) columns. The only concession to local architecture is, what I think I have managed to capture in this picture after all, that the building was on stilts. What can be seen of that now, are those fenced off arches at ground floor level. This was to enable air circulation, the original cooling system.
My best picture of the flag, which is not the Singaporean flag! This is the Presidential Standard! Just like at Buckingham palace (or Windsor, etc.) the standard is flown when the President is in residence. Red is symbolic of universal brotherhood and the equality of man. White signifies pervading and everlasting purity and virtue (half the Singaporean flag is white). The five stars represent the five ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality. And the crescent stands for a young country on the ascent.
And this is the State Crest of Singapore. The original consists of a shield emblazoned with a white crescent moon and five white stars against a red background. There is a leaping lion bearing a laurel wreath. The lion represents Singapore itself and with the laurel it symbolizes victory and glory. (For a better picture :) click here, although this is the real state crest, not what is on the building!)
The current interior of the Istana is also modern. On the ground floor we have visited the Reception Hall (where tea receptions are held right after a state dinner, and where the president introduces his cabinet to visiting dignitaries and foreign heads of missions), the Banquet Hall (the largest room, where guest dine with the president and get entertained, and where state gifts are displayed during open house), and the State Room (the seat and office of the President, where a newly elected cabinet or president are sworn in.)
I found some pictures online :) This is the Reception Hall, if I am not mistaken. The president is the white-haired gentlemen on the left, with his wife, at the President’s Annual Diplomatic Reception in 2013.
I don't believe this myself. This is Deputy Prime Minister of Hungary, His Excellency Zsolt Semjén, at the Istana on 2 May 2013 with the President of Singapore, Tony Tan, in the State Room.
Am I lucky in my picture search or what!!! This is still the State Room. On occasion of the visit of Queen Beatrix to Singapore (HM Queen Beatrix, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Prince of Orange and Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima with President Tan and his wife, in January 2013.)
This is the Banquet Room. Although not much of it can be seen.
As stated we have seen the state gift display in the Banquet room, given that it was an open house. I have seen vases from the Check Republic, Slovakia, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, and of course China, Indonesia and Malaysia, among others. There was an exquisite chariot from a Dutch chariot museum of Yok Yakarta. There were sculptures of animals from e.g. the US and Belgium, elephants, tigers, lions, bears, with a heavy emphasis on horses :) And this is where I finally found something Hungarian. What was surprising was that Jean, our guide has also singled out the Hungarian sculpture of a horse, saying with perfect pronounciation, that it was from a famous factory called Herend!
Well, the visit was interesting, but it has covered basically the three rooms and the entrance hallway/staircase. And Jean has talked more about the art work commissioned for the palace than anything else, but given the lack of illustrations, I'll save you recounting that :)
On my way towards the main entrance..
The second gate.
Back at the main gate.
And I have realized, again, what a good decision it was to come early. When I arrived, the end of the queue was roughly where somebody holds a light blue umbrella (parasol). Say 50 people in front.
Double that.
And well, the queue ended at about Plaza Singapura! No idea how many people still hoped to get in, but their waiting time was definitely longer than 15 minutes!
Overall, not counting the weather, and the no photograph-policy, it was an interesting visit.
What surprised me most of all, was that I (and the helpers) was (were) wearing red, but basically nobody else was!
