WITH just a few days left to Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Bussorah Street is a hive of activity with shoppers out in force for last-minute shopping. Taking advantage of the prevailing festive mood, the pedestrianised thoroughfare, lined with souvenir shops at Singapore's Kampong Glam, is filled with people eager to celebrate the end of Ramadan and warmly welcome Syawal.
At an outlet selling a variety of Middle Eastern items, a conversation between two customers who had just performed their zohor prayers at the nearby Sultan Mosque, the largest and oldest Islamic place of worship in Singapore, comes within earshot.
Concentrating the discussion on a selection of headwear on sale, one of them gestures towards the fez and remarks that the red tasselled cap is believed to have provided inspiration for the Johor sultan to come up with the idea for the songkok in the 19th century.
Rapidly gaining popularity, this quintessential headgear is commonly worn until this day by Muslim males in the Malay Archipelago, including Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines and southern Thailand.
Using his own songkok as comparison, the slightly rotund elderly man highlights the differences between the two. Observing from a near distance, it does appear that the short cylindrical peakless fez bears close similarity in shape and form to the truncated cone songkok.
THE FEZ AND TIGA ABDUL
Curiosity is further piqued after coming across information about Tiga Abdul at the nearby Malay Heritage Centre. Set in a fictional Middle Eastern country named Isketambola, the hit blockbuster, filmed at the Shaw Brothers' Malay Film Production movie set in Jalan Ampas, featured the late Tan Sri P Ramlee and co-stars Haji Mahadi and Shahadat Kadarisman wearing fezzes. Coincidentally, that successful 1964 comedy turned out to be P. Ramlee's swansong in Singapore as he moved to Merdeka Studios in Kuala Lumpur just a year later.
Determination to shed more light on the day's revelations eventually results in a fact-finding mission at the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library.
Covering seven floors within the National Library building in Victoria Street and home to over 600,000 references in various formats, this repository is largely supported by the Lee Foundation's S$60 million donation awarded in 2003.
While accessing the vast amount of available materials, it soon becomes evident that the earlier conversation was referring to Johor's Sultan Abu Bakar, undoubtedly one of the greatest Malay personalities in early modern Malaya. The eldest son of Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim, he was born on Feb 3, 1833. Growing up at the Istana Lama in Singapore, the young prince spent his early years studying the Quran and traditional Malay law before moving on to the Telok Blangah Malay School.
There, under the tutelage of Reverend Benjamin Peach Keasberry, the prince learnt the ways of the British and spoke fluent English in addition to his native Malay. Keasberry, who had published many books in Malay with renowned scholar and teacher Munshi Abdullah, helped broaden young Abu Bakar's understanding of the world and, more importantly, inspired thought over the significant differences between traditional Malay rule and those adopted by the Europeans.
The prince continued residing in Singapore after his father moved the seat of government from Telok Blangah to Tanjong Puteri in 1855. Some seven years later, he was installed as Temenggong Seri Maharaja, an executive official title, after his father succumbed to high fever. The title was truncated to Maharaja in 1868 before becoming Sultan of Johor some 17 years later.
SECURING JOHOR'S FUTURE
The social interactions experienced and vast knowledge acquired during his formative years were not lost on Sultan Abu Bakar. He was quick to realise that the future of Johor depended heavily on his ability to create sound impressions of himself as a modern and progressive Malay ruler in the minds of the British administrators well as those belonging to the wealthy and influential mercantile society in Singapore and Britain.
In order to achieve this, Sultan Abu Bakar began surrounding himself with learned and capable people whose wise counsel and unwavering loyalty contributed immensely to the rapid development of Johor. Among his earliest appointments were the surviving sons of Munshi Abdullah. The eldest, Hussain, was given a teaching post at his alma mater in Telok Blangah while second son Mohamed Khalid helped organise Malay schools in Johor. The more capable third sibling, Mohamed Ibrahim, rose to prominence as Dato Bentara Dalam.
Rapid progress, brought about by an influx of immigrants, quickly transformed Tanjong Puteri from the sleepy fishing village it once was to a new bustling commercial centre that adopted the name Johor Baru in 1866.
Determined not to rest on his laurels, Sultan Abu Bakar began setting his sights on increasing Johor's prestige and influence beyond local shores. While some historians are of the opinion that this burning desire could have been sparked, in part, by the sultan's desire to make up for the opportunity missed when his father decided against his request to further his education in Europe in 1846 as well as the wanderlust instinct from his strong Bugis ancestry, the actual reason was to make as many friends abroad as possible to stave off growing foreign overtures and help secure Johor's political survival.
A SULTAN WITH MANY FIRSTS
Apart from becoming the first Malay ruler to visit Europe, Sultan Abu Bakar travelled extensively during his reign and covered many parts of Asia and the Middle East. Altogether, he made six European visits within a span of 30 years by extending relations not only to the United Kingdom but also other influential nations, including Germany, Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland.
During the inaugural visit to Britain, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) hosted a luncheon for Sultan Abu Bakar at St James' Palace on May 12, 1866. Two days later, the Johor ruler was granted an audience by Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace.
These public receptions, which greatly enhanced Sultan Abu Bakar's prestige in the interest of Johor, were not lost on the other Malay rulers. Three years later, Straits Settlements Governor Harry Ord turned down Trengganu's Sultan Omar Riayat Shah's request to be sent as an envoy to London on the grounds that the state was, at that time, under Siamese suzerainty.
A decade later, Sultan Abu Bakar, accompanied by Johor's first and longest serving Menteri Besar Jaafar Mohammed, headed off to India under the invitation of the Bengal Governor-General to participate in the reception to welcome the Prince of Wales. Despite being last in the long procession comprising primarily wealthy Indian kings and princes, Sultan Abu Bakar was not only warmly greeted by the heir to the British throne but also invited to dine at the Calcutta Government House and accorded a 17-gun salute. The lavish royal gesture of friendship caught many by surprise and elevated Johor in the eyes of everyone in India.
Ties with Britain were further strengthened when Straits Settlements Governor William Jervois, on behalf of Queen Victoria, awarded Sultan Abu Bakar the Grand Cross of St Michael and St George at the Singapore Town Hall on August 23, 1876. This event was especially significant as Sultan Abu Bakar was the first among the nine Malay rulers to receive this important first-class order.
The remaining texts become even more interesting when they reveal that Sultan Abu Bakar's fifth European trip in February 1893 was made specifically with the intention of visiting Turkey. As the first Malay ruler in Constantinople (today Istanbul), his primary intention was to draw examples from Ottoman experiences and reforms to help Johor ward off colonisation and remain free from foreign intervention.
Probably taking inspiration from the Ottoman Empire's 1876 constitution, Sultan Abu Bakar went on to promulgate the Undang-undang Tubuh Negeri Johor on April 14, 1895 and, in that effect, became the first constitutional Muslim ruler in the Malay Archipelago.
During his time in Turkey, Sultan Abu Bakar attended grand receptions and was decorated by Sultan Abdul Hamid II with the Ottoman Crown Order called Bintang Majidi as the Khalifah was pleased to know that there was a Muslim sovereign in the East. Friendship with Turkey went a step further when Sultan Abdul Hamid II gifted an ornate mihrab, a niche in the mosque wall to indicate the Kaabah's direction, for the newly completed Masjid Sultan Abu Bakar in 1900.
THE FEZ AND THE SONGKOK
It was also during the Turkish visit that Sultan Abu Bakar was said to have come up with the idea of the songkok after noticing the large number of people wearing fezzes there. The concept was warmly welcomed back home as it is considered sunat or voluntary good deed in Islam for adherents, who had previously used cloth, to cover their heads during prayers. Apart from usage among the general public, the Royal Malay Regiment also adopted the songkok as part of its uniform since its establishment on Jan 23, 1933.
During the early days, songkoks were individually handmade by skilled craftsmen who meticulously sewed the separate sections together to produce exquisite works of art. Today, however, they are mostly mass produced in factories to keep up with growing demand and maintain affordability.
Primarily, the songkok's structure consists of the atap or top section and sides called dinding. Traditional craftsmen begin by creating the inner frame using layers of folded newspapers where an oval shape for the atap is cut according to the intended customer's head diameter while a longer rectangular piece is prepared to form the dinding.
Then, the rectangular piece edges are sewn together before attachment to the atap. After that, the artisans sew a piece of black cloth along the bottom half of the dinding to obscure the newspaper backing from view before using a small hammer to soften the overall structure. Once the desired shape is achieved, a slightly larger velvet fabric piece is draped over the atap and meticulously sewn to cover the newspaper underneath. Manila cards are occasionally employed to reinforce the frame before leftover fabric is sewn over the remaining exposed parts.
Before returning the references to their rightful place, further information throws light on how Sultan Abu Bakar's extensive foreign visits were reciprocated by dignitaries from the world over.
Among the prominent many who came to witness Johor's progressiveness were Archduke Ferdinand (Austria), Prince Heirich (Prussia), King Kalakaua (Hawaii) and the Duke of Sutherland.
Sultan Abu Bakar made his final visit abroad on April 18, 1895 after his physicians suggested that a change in weather could improve his deteriorating health. Accompanied by his brother Engku Mohammad Khalid and private secretary Abdul Rahman Andak, the 60-year-old monarch was carried aboard a ship at Singapore's Victoria Dock in a chair. Arriving nearly a month later in London, he stayed at Bailey's Hotel and received frequent enquiries regarding his health from Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales.
Johor's progressive monarch who cared for his state above all else drew his last breath on a pleasant summer's evening in Mayfair on June 4, 1895. His body was brought back on the British warship Mercury on Aug 31, 1895. A week later, large crowds of mourners accompanied the funeral procession to Makam Diraja Mahmoodiah where their beloved monarch was laid to rest shortly after noon.