Istana Kampong Gelam

In front of you is the palace of the sultans of Singapore, now the Malay Heritage Centre. Its story begins with a pact that changed the island's fate.

1A made-to-measure sultan

In February 1819, Stamford Raffles wanted to set up a British trading post on the island, but he needed the signature of a local ruler. Johor already had a sultan recognised by the Dutch, so Raffles backed his elder brother, Hussein Shah, and recognised him as sultan instead. In exchange for his signature, Hussein received an allowance and some twenty-three hectares here, in Kampong Gelam, where he built a wooden palace. In 1824, a new treaty ceded the whole island to the British.

The district takes its name from the gelam, a tree that grew along the shore and was used for boat-building and as a medicine.

2The masonry palace

The building you see was commissioned by his son, Sultan Ali, between 1836 and 1843. It blends European Palladian style with Malay motifs. It is attributed to George Coleman, the leading colonial architect of the day, although there is no definitive proof.

In 1897, a court ruled that no one could claim to be the sultan's successor, and the estate passed to the Crown.

The descendants went on living here for decades. After restoration in 2004, the palace became a museum, and it has been a national monument since 2015.

3What to look for

• The yellow facade with its ground-floor arches.
• The plaque on the gate, with the name in Latin letters and in Jawi, the Malay script written in Arabic letters.
• Gedung Kuning, the "yellow mansion" next door, which also belonged to the royal family.