What place is this? It is none other than Malay heritage centre.
As part of our project, we headed down to the Malay Heritage Centre which is located at Kampong Glam. We were greeted by a digital media box at the entrance which we thought it was a good way to give a preview of what the tourist would expect in the Malay Heritage Centre.
As you walk towards the gallery, you will encounter several large artifacts such as wooden ships, trishaws and carts which instantly enhance the atmosphere of the place.
Moving on to the gallery itself which is located at the heart of the centre, brochures are available at the entrance which we thought it was of great help to allow us to navigate smoothly around the gallery.
Astonishing as it may sound, we found out that Malays was a maritime society as we were welcomed by numerous artifacts such as ships and an audio-visual presentation capturing the rich diversity of the Malay people. We also learnt what the Malays used back in the days such as kettle pot-like artifacts and the kind of money they used, which further complement the ethnicity of the museum.
As we proceeded on, artifacts and articles on the Malay kingdom and their lifestyles ranging from educations to weapons captured our attention. A unique 3D model of the Malay settlement in Singapore in 1819 takes centre stage in this gallery. It illustrates the physical landscape of Kampong Gelam. We also noticed rare prints of life of the early days of the Malay settlement on the wall.
We as ventured deeper, we get to gain more knowledge about the Muslim immigrants who worked in Kampong Gelam for a few months to earn enough money to travel to mecca. There were also other artifacts such as necessities used by the immigrant where they were here and this gave us a better understanding of how the lifestyle was back then.
Proceeding on to the second level, there were 3d structure which showcased how the wedding ceremony was like in the past in Kampong Gelam where artifacts such as jewellery were also displayed, which were used in weddings. There were also statue of Mr Zubair Said who composed our national anthem which we thought it was good as many youngsters these days do not know the origin of the anthem.
Taking a step closer, we learnt how they filmed in those days as we are greeted by a filming scene set-up.
What we found most intriguing was that it also allow us a personal touch in the lifestyle of the Malays in those days as there were galleries that were made to look like the houses in the past. This instantly brought us back to the 19th century, as though we are living in the houses back then. The exhibits in the gallery has also a fusion of both 20th century and 19th century and it shows a clear transformation of how Kampong Gelam has developed over the years.
The Malay Heritage Centre is a must place to visit if you really want to know more about the history of Singapore. It depicts the scene of Singapore way back from when the Sultan arrived in our small sunny island which marks the start of Singapura!
Below is a slideshow showing a glimpse of what can be seen there!
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