BAGHDAD. Kandahar. Bussorah. Exotic foreign-sounding names accost the sight.
Meanwhile, the ears are serenaded by
Arabian-sounding music and the eyes by colourful food displays.
A visitor can be forgiven for thinking that he has landed somewhere in the Middle East.
But wait. The currency in use here isn’t the Saudi Riyal or the Iraqi Dinar. It’s the Singapore Dollar and no, I’m not anywhere in the Middle East but in the middle of
Kampung Glam, the city nation’s famous Malay cultural district.
The street names here bear strong
testimony to the rich historical ties between Singapore and Middle Eastern traders. They came to this island nation hundreds of years ago in search of commerce and wealth. From the very beginning, Kampung Glam was already the home of Malay royalty and it was because of this fact that Raffles designated this area as the Malay-Muslim enclave when he drafted his first Singapore town plan in 1819.
Starting off as a small-sized Malay
kampung, this place, which derived its name from the local Gelam tree, grew steadily in size and importance as it began to attract traders and immigrants from the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, India and the Middle Eastern countries. Apart from just doing business and taking advantage of Singapore’s free port status, many of the Arab, Bugis, Boyanese, Minang and Javanese merchants opted to stay on, married the local women and started families here.
Another contributing factor to Kampung Glam’s phenomenal success is its position as the main staging point for haj pilgrims from all over the Nusantara. In the past, these pilgrims stayed for several days in guest houses and wakafs in Kampung Glam before boarding ships destined for the Holy Land.
During their time in Singapore, these men and women would scour the nearby shops looking for the basic necessities that they’d need for their long sea journey to Mecca to fulfil one of the five tenets of Islam.
CHANGES APLENTY
Kampung Glam today is very different from what it used to be in the past. The beautifully preserved century-old buildings are still around but the patrons have largely changed. The entire place has been given a new lease of life as more and more outlets ride on the cafe craze and set up shop here.
This place, especially in the evenings, is totally transformed with nearly every food outlet offering al fresco dining options by the five-foot way. Come weekends, there’s hardly any standing room left as even the narrow alleyways are filled with shoppers and tourists alike. Kampung Glam is now one of the most sought-after addresses in Singapore for dining outlets wanting to cash in on the large influx of tourists looking for halal and yet trendy cuisine.
While checking out the mind boggling array of imported fabrics in Arab Street, I meet with Rossman Ithnain who has, among other things, a keen interest in his Malay roots in Singapore. After having my fill of looking at the colourful silks, Indonesian batik and their accompanying accessories, Rossman leads me on a trail to introduce me to the lesser known sides of this Malay enclave, beginning with the diverse community that makes up the soul of Kampung Glam.
These are the very people whose forefathers came to Singapore long ago and started various businesses that range from eating houses, rattan shops and goldsmiths to moneychangers, bookshops and printing presses.
Today, a number of shops like Aljunied Brothers, a shop selling traditional Middle Eastern products, are still run by descendants of pioneers who arrived in Singapore decades ago. Rossman tells me that both locals as well as customers from the Middle East come to this shop at 95 Arab Street mainly for its agarwood, a fragrant resinous wood used primarily for incense and perfumes.
Apart from that, this half a century-old business also sells Black Seed products which are used to strengthen the body’s immune system as well as the much sought-after Arabian honey. Many people swear by the medicinal properties of this honey from Wadi Do’an in Hadhramaut. Women take it to enhance fertility while men proclaim its aphrodisiac qualities. Coupled with its rarity, this product has become the most expensive honey in the world.
Aljunied Brothers was established in 1966 by Syed Haroon Hassan Aljunied and his sons, Abdullah and Junied Haroon Aljunied. Syed Haroon started the business by only selling perfumes. Then, he began offering other products from the Middle East when he realised that there was a ready market for them in Singapore. Today, this popular shop is managed by Syed Haroon’s two grandsons, Hasan and Ahmad Abdullah Aljunied.
Noticing my distinct interest in perfumes, Rossman leads me to Jamal Kazura Aromatics in nearby North Bridge Road where I’m introduced to attar or non-alcoholic perfumes crafted from top grade essential oils. I learn from Rossman that attar forms an important part of the Islamic culture and generations of patrons have been flocking to Kampung Glam to get their supply.
TREASURED LEGACY
Jamal Kazura Aromatics is one of the oldest surviving attar businesses in Kampung Glam.
This venture was started in 1933 by Mohamed Hanifa Kazura, a Tamil Muslim trader who came to Singapore from Tembilahan in the Riau Archipelago. At the beginning, Mohamed Hanifa sold diverse goods ranging from religious books, gemstones and of course perfume. Then his business strategy changed. Instead of continuing to diversify his products like in the case of the Aljunied Brothers, Mohamad Hanifa began to gradually train his sights on perfumes alone as he found the product to be very lucrative.
At that time, Haj pilgrims started visiting his shop to buy perfume to take on their long voyage to the Holy Land. From that moment on, Mohamed Hanifa began scouring the four corners of the world to source for the best essential oils to sell at his shop back in Singapore. Then, he and his family members started honing their skills at distinguishing the distinct scents of each of the oils produced. Finally, to complete his grand plan, they learnt to master the art of blending the essential oils to fulfil the demands of even their most discerning customers.
This 75-year-old craft continues to be practised at all attar outlets managed by Mohamed Hanifa’s descendants today. These include their main retail centre in North Bridge Road and subsidiary branches in nearby Bussorah Street and Arab Street. It’s nice that customers are allowed to create their own fragrances by selecting from the thousands of different essential oils available.
The sales assistants are always at hand to help those who are unsure of the process. Customers get to bring home their own unique creations in beautiful hand-painted glass bottles.
CULINARY HERITAGE
By the time we leave the fragrant scents behind, it’s already time for lunch. Rossman suggests that we head further down North Bridge Road for some Nasi Padang. Just like the Aljunied Brothers and Jamal Kazura Aromatics, Warung Nasi Pariamaan is also run by the descendants of the original founders.
Warung Nasi Pariaman started out as a stand-alone stall in a Chinese-owned coffee shop at 738 North Bridge Road just three years after the Japanese Occupation ended. It’s located just a stone’s throw from the majestic Sultan Mosque, right at the corner of North Bridge Road and Kandahar Street.
The founding couple, Isnin Ibrahim and his wife Rosna Zainah, both hail from the Minagkabau province of Pariaman, West Sumatra.
During the early days, the dishes were cooked at their home in Pahang Street and then everything was transported over a distance of one kilometre by tricycle to their North Bridge Road stall. Serving good wholesome food at cheap prices, the stall soon became very popular among the people living in the vicinity.
Among the more popular dishes here are the rendang and sambal goreng. The former is a meat dish that’s slow-cooked in a concoction of aromatic spices and coconut gravy.
The cooking process, carried out over a low fire, can take several hours and is only ready when the coconut milk dries up. The sambal goreng, however, comprises a mixture of long beans, soy patties known locally as tempeh, and fried beancurd.
It’s not easy getting a table here, especially during lunch time. Fortunately, a Caucasian couple is just about to leave as we arrive. Over a meal of ayam bakar, sambal goreng, sayur nangka and beef rendang, Rossman informs me that Warung Nasi Pariaman is considered an institution in Kampung Glam — a rare accolade reserved only for the best.
“Its business has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception in 1948. People simply like the dishes served here. Take this sambal goreng for example. There’s nowhere in Singapore you can get anything as good as the one here,” he enthuses, while ladling a generous portion onto my plate.
As I munch slowly on my tempeh, it dawns on me the unique role of Kampung Glam. This place used to be and still is a melting pot of so many different cultures. The resulting product is a unique blend, very much like the fragrant creations at Jamal Kazura, which can never be replicated anywhere else in Singapore, or the world even.
The firm foundation set by the founding fathers will stand this place in good stead and help propel future generations to greater heights.
Rossman’s ensuing invitation to an after-lunch cup of freshly brewed Arabic coffee at a nearby cafe sets the stage for a most fitting end to my visit to this wonderful place that’s steeped in so much history, culture and most importantly, memories.