There is no better time of day than maghrib, or sunset, to take in Kampong Gelam. The winding down of the day in Singapore’s old royal quarter is accompanied by an air of calm brought by the strains of the azan – the Muslim call to prayer, and, as it was the case last evening, made a much greater joy by a colouring of the evening sky.
Masjid Sultan against the evening sky.
Viewed against that dramatic backdrop, Masjid Sultan – the area’s main landmark – looked especially majestic. The golden dome topped National Monument, Singapore’s principal mosque, stands just a stone-throw’s away from the former Istana Kampong Gelam. Erected by Sultan Hussein Shah’s heir Ali, the istana or palace, served little more than a symbolic seat of power which Hussein had all but relinquished in signing the Treaty of Friendship and Alliance in 1824. Now the Malay Heritage Centre, the istana is a showcase of the Malay world’s culture and a reminder perhaps of the last days and lost glory of a once mighty Johor-Riau-Lingga Empire.
Istana Kampong Gelam.
More on Masjid Sultan and Istana Kampong Gelam and the Johor Empire can be found at the following posts:
- A Ramandan trail at the Sultan’s Mosque
- The palace of an Empire lost
- The mysterious peaks we sing about in Di Tanjong Katong
Masjid Sultan.
The Long and Winding Road 
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