More About Kampong Glam

Gelam Tree
Kampong Glam got its name from the gelam tree that used to grow abundantly in the area of Kampong Glam.So Kampong Glam may loosely be translated 'Village of Gelam Trees'.The leaves of the Gelam tree have a very aromatic odor and the oil is distilled from the fresh leaves and twigs, the common name in Malay is Kayu Puteh.Its bark used by the Buginese and Malays to caulk their ships.



Malay Perfume
The Malay Perfume does not contain alcohol. In the Muslim Culture, alcohol is forbidden. There are two types of perfume. One for men and the other for women.They sold it to students at $1 per bottle, $2 for adult.

Spiral Staircase
When there is a fire, people can escape using the spiral staircase. This is known as a fire escape.

Back Alley
In the past, when there was no toilet, the people who collect the stool will go by the back alley and exchange the bucket of stool daily. If there is no back alley, the people might have to collect the bucket through the front door to the truck. It might affect the business of the stall as people might think that the stall is very unhygienic. The back alley is also used for escaping from the fire. Gang fights are happen there too! In the past, women chop the spices there. The ambulance can also used that lane.

Arab Street
Arab Street is a great place to find bargains for textiles - fabrics, dresses, beads, sequins, scarfs, women's wear. There are also a handful of shops selling carpets and other hand-woven household stuff. Malay men and Malay women need two metres of silk for their clothes. If you buy 1 metre of silk using Valentino designer, it cost about $150.

Kandahar Street
Kandahar Street is now famous for its nasi padang stalls. There is a well-known stall at the entrance of Kandahar Street called 'Warong Nasi Pariaman'. There used to be a row of street hawkers along this road in the sixties.There is also a restaurant's name that rhymes with "bamboo", it is the Bumbo restaurant.

Sultan Mosque
The name "Sultan Mosque" come about in honour of Husseis. Some of Sultan Hussien's relatives were buried under the prayer of Sultan. The Mosque hung plastic crows upside down to scare away crows. Black glass are used as part of the design for the mosque. Rich people donated money and poor people collected bottles to contribute to the mosque as decorations.
The moon meant new religion and the star has five pointed edges which meant the five rules. One of the rules is do five prayers a day. The timing are:

• Before the sun rises
• Between 12pm to 1pm
• At about 4.30pm
• Before the sun sets
• Between 8pm to 8.30pm

Before entering the mosque, the Muslims must wash their forehead,their face, behind their ears, gaggle their mouth, hands and legs. If there are no water, they will have to use the sand to wash.Children are also teach to behave in the mosque. When praying, women pray upstairs while the men pray downstairs. The light in the middle of the praying hall is called Mihrad. During feasting, the Muslims cannot eat sun rises to sun set. They also cannot drink any water and swallow the saliva. The Sultan mosque of the opening hours are:

• Monday to Sunday-9am-12.45pm/2pm-4pm
• Friday-2.30pm-4pm

You may want to visit this mosque to explore and know more about it.

Prayer Beads

This prayer bead has two medium beads, 1 big bead and 99 small beads which in total have 102 prayer beads. This prayer beads are made of wood. There also small prayer beads.

Istana Kampong Glam

Istana Kampong Glam is located between Kandahar and Aliwal Street and about 200 metres from the Sutan Gate in Beach Road, this is a 2-storey building, enclosed by strong walls. Over the years, the cement on the walls has fallen off, exposing the red bricks inside. Sultan Hussein lived here between 1819-1835 and about 50-60 acres of land around also belong to him and his descendants lived here too.

Alsagoff Arab School

Along Jalan Sultan the impressive Alsagoff Arab School. An Islamic religious school is called Madrasah. The old school building was erected in 1912 while the new school building was erected in 1992. Built in 1912, the school was named for Syed Ahmad Alsagoff, a wealthy Arab merchant and philanthropist who was very influential in Singapore's early colonial days and who died in 1906. It is the oldest girls' school in Singapore, and was the island's first Muslim school.

Zam Zam

There is a shop called "Zam Zam". It means holy water. There are some food selling there. Example : Roti Prata and Murtabak.

Traditional Games

There are many traditional games.One of them is called Kuti-Kuti. The game can have 2 or more players. Each player will have some Kuti-Kuti and the game is similar to eraser fighting. If one of the Kuti-Kuti is on top of another, the player's Kuti-Kuti which is on top is the winner. Another one is called Chapteh. Chapteh is patios for shuttlecock. Colourful feathers are attached to a rubber or plastic base. The idea of the game is to keep the shuttlecock airborne for as long as possible by kicking it. The winner is the player who manages the most number of kicks. Another version is on an agreed target of kicks. The winner is the first one who achieves this target.

Interesting Facts

Some of the shops hung a string of dried mango over its entrance. One of the examples of hanging dried mango leaves is to welcome customers. The people who usually hung those are Indian Muslims.

On some walls, there are many patterns on them.

When Malays passed away, they will buried the dead body in the cemetery.They have to buried within 24 hours.

“Kledek","Klapa" and "Pisang" are names of some sides of streets along North Bridge Road. They are sweet potato,coconut and banana in english respectively.