Where Colonial Governors and Modern-Day Presidents Once Lived
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BIBLIOASIA JAN - MAR 2020 VOL. 15 ISSUE 04 FEATURE Built at a cost of $185,000 and completed in October 1869, the Istana was first known as Government House. It was originally built by the British colonial government to serve as the residence of the governor of the Straits Settlements and later the governor of the Colony of Singapore. Courtesy of National Museum of Singapore, National The resplendent Istana – where colonial governors Heritage Board. and modern-day presidents once lived – celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2019. Wong Sher Maine recounts key moments in its history. “The building is a handsome one – 1819, the early governors (initially known by Prince Albert – Duke of Edinburgh and the handsomest by a long way in the as Residents)3 lived in a wooden house the second son of Queen Victoria – in Settlement and one which will be on Government Hill4 (now Fort Canning). December 1869 hastened the pace of an ornament to the place long after However, when the house was demolished construction.6 those who fought for and against it in 1859 to make way for a fort, another Government House took shape have passed away.”1 home had to be found for the governor. under the hands of convict labourers A 106-acre (0.4 sq km) plot of land from India, Ceylon and Hong Kong who was identified as an alternative. It was were paid 20 cents a day to work as stone – The Straits Times, 24 April 1869 part of the former nutmeg plantation masons, plumbers, carpenters, painters owned by the East India Company barrister and stone cutters. It was completed in Charles Robert Prinsep, after whom Prin- October 1869 at a cost of $185,000.7 sep Street is named. The plantation had The stately building was designed These words by a Straits Times scribe some been devastated by a disease that killed in the neo-Palladian style8 and reflected 150 years ago would prove to be uncannily off all the nutmeg trees in the mid-1850s architectural elements of the East and prophetic. He was referring to Government in Singapore.5 The land was on elevated West: imposing Greek-style columns, tHouse, which is today known as the Istana, ground and provided superb views of the cornices and arches reminiscent of the official residence and office of the presi- town and harbour. buildings in Europe, and wide verandahs, dent of Singapore. A century-and-a-half Government House was built on large louvred windows and dwarfed old, the Istana – which means “palace” in the instructions of Harry St George Ord, piers adapted from traditional Malay Malay – is a gazetted national monument then governor of the Straits Settlements architecture. and also functions as the working office of (1867–73). The appointed architect was Between 1869 and 1959, Govern- the prime minister of Singapore. It is the Colonial Engineer Major John Frederick ment House was home to 18 colonial closest thing Singapore has to Buckingham Adolphus McNair. governors.9 Government House also Palace or the White House. In July 1867, the Straits Settlements bore witness to a procession of kings, Legislative Council approved a budget of sultans, dukes and other members of the Colonial Beginnings $100,000 to build a structure that was nobility, who graced the halls with their Government House was originally built by much smaller in scale than the present presence. These included the Sultan of the British colonial government to serve building we now know as the Istana. In Selangor Abdul Samad, who called on the as the residence of the governor of the the same month, the governor’s wife Lady governor in 1890 with an entourage of Straits Settlements and later the governor Ord laid the foundation stone. over 30 people, and King Chulalongkorn of the Colony of Singapore.2 For about A plan for a larger building was sub- of Siam who visited with a reported 66 40 years after Stamford Raffles landed in sequently approved, but the money set people in 1871.10 aside was insufficient. McNair managed Given Singapore’s prime geographi- to get the additional funds he needed by cal location, the island was a popular The grand facade of the Istana, with its reflection Wong Sher Maine is a freelance writer who has written mirrored on the shimmering surface of the lawn two books about the Istana: Our Istana was published pointing out unanticipated construction stopover for European visitors en route to fountain. Courtesy of Marshall Cavendish and in 2015, while 50 Best Kept Secrets of the Istana: People challenges, such as the need to build a China, and some of these visitors put up the Istana. and Places was published in 2019. granite foundation. An upcoming visit at Government House on transit. These 54 55 BIBLIOASIA JAN - MAR 2020 VOL. 15 ISSUE 04 FEATURE House was renamed Istana Negara Singa- nitaries. She was particularly well known Puan Noor Aishah also trained the William Goode, who became Singapore’s pura, or Palace of the State of Singapore. for her gula melaka dessert made with Istana’s chefs to whip up her signature 21 first Yang di-Pertuan This was shortened to The Istana when sago, egg white and coconut milk. The dishes which included curry puffs and Negara, hosting Singapore separated from the Federation First Lady was also known for her shrimp kueh onde onde.23 One of her trainees, a tea party for of Malaysia on 9 August 1965 to become and sardine sambal sandwich rolls: Wong Shang Hoon, is still said to be Junior Chamber an independent, sovereign nation. cooking up a storm in the Istana today. International (Jaycees) at Government House, From housing colonial governors “I wanted something different so After Singapore gained indepen- 1956. Garden parties who hailed from Britain, the Istana instead of cutting the sandwiches dence in 1965, the new nation began held on the front lawn became the designated official residence into triangles or rectangles like establishing diplomatic ties with other of Government House for the presidents of Singapore. The usual sandwiches, I would roll countries, and soon, visitors from foreign were a regular feature last governor of Singapore was Wil- them up and cut them into circular countries started streaming in. Memo- in the social calendar of the British governor liam Allmond Codrington Goode, who segments like a Swiss Roll. That way, rable visits include those by West German and his wife. Ministry served as the Yang di-Pertuan Negara the ‘sandwiches’ would be easier Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, China’s Deng of Information and (Malay for “Head of State”) from June to eat… we usually had two fillings Xiaoping and Queen Elizabeth II of the the Arts Collection, to December 1959, before making way – sardines and shrimp sambal.”22 United Kingdom. Queen Elizabeth visited courtesy of National for Yusof Ishak, the first local-born Archives of Singapore. Head of State. When Singapore gained (Left) President Yusof independence, Yusof was sworn in as Ishak and Puan Noor the country’s first president. Aishah with their children While the Istana still remains the at Sri Melati, c. 1960s. official residence of Singapore’s presi- Yusof Ishak Collection, dents, only two have actually lived on courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. the Istana grounds and, even then, not in the main building: Yusof lived (Below) Puan Noor Aishah in an outlying bungalow named Sri (second from right), wife of Singapore’s first Melati, which was built in 1869 to house president, Yusof Ishak, 17 included the likes of the English botani- beyond its domain, was bombed by the bombardment, the governor said the colonial under-secretaries. Third seen here hosting a cal artist Marianne North, who visited Japanese. When the soldiers discovered don’t stay here because [it] was president Devan Nair lived in the Lodge, reception at the Istana in 1876 and waxed lyrical about the lush the escape hatch, they sealed it by push- dangerous. Then they got us a which was built to replace Sri Melati for delegates of the Red vegetation around Government House; ing grenades into the tunnel, killing a lorry… We moved to some old after it was torn down in the 1970s Cross Society seminar, 11 1966. Ministry of Annie Brassey, inveterate traveller and number of staff and partially damaging house at Java Road. when termite infestation rendered it Information and the 14 wife of the first Earl of Brassey, who the cellar. structurally unsafe. Arts Collection, courtesy stayed over in 1877 when her schooner The remaining staff escaped and “When the Japanese came, we all Yusof explained at the time when of National Archives of had to be replenished with coal at the hid in houses along Kampong Java Road. came back. They asked us to come he became Head of State that he felt Singapore. Tanjong Pagar docks; and Prince Albert When Count Hisaichi Terauchi, a Field back. My father did the cleaning that the Istana’s main building was too Victor and his brother, Prince George Marshall in the Imperial Japanese Army and gardening... A year before they lavish for him and his three children. The of Wales, who were treated to a royal and Commander of the Southern Expe- went off, they called me to come family stayed in Sri Melati for 11 years, party at the house by Governor Frederick ditionary Army Group, took up residence and work in the Istana because I between 1959 and 1970, where Yusof Weld in 1882.12 in Government House in March 1943, he was learning Japanese. I said okay indulged in his passion for gardening by On occasion, the large and leafy brought them back.