Paintings by John Turnbull Thomson, Poems in Jawi Script, an Early 19Th
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BIBLIOASIA OCT - DEC 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 03 FEATURE J.T. Thomson’s Paintings to Mazu, Mother of the Heavenly Sages (Left) “Muslim Mosque in Campong Glam”. John Turnbull Thomson, 1846. Watercolour on paper, 15.3 x John Turnbull Thomson is best known for and patron goddess of sailors. The 22.7 cm. This single-storey brick building with the tiered pyramidal roof shows Masjid Sultan, or Sultan his role as Government Surveyor of the Chinese migrants would make offerings Mosque, in Kampong Glam that was demolished in 1932 to make way for the present onion-domed Straits Settlements as well as his design at the shrine in gratitude for their safe mosque we are familiar with. Hocken Collections, Uare Taoka O Hākena, University of Otago, New and engineering work on several key early passages to and from China. Zealand Hocken Collections, 92/1155. buildings in Singapore. What is less well Between 1839 and 1842, the (Below) “Chinese Temple to the Queen of Heaven”. John Turnbull Thomson, 1847. Watercolour on paper, known is that Thomson, a self-trained shrine was transformed into Thian 15.5 x 23 cm. This is the Thian Hock Keng temple on Telok Ayer Street. Built between 1839 and 1842, it is artist, also made invaluable contribu- Hock Keng temple after massive con- the oldest Hokkien temple in Singapore. Hocken Collections, Uare Taoka O Hākena, University of Otago, tions to the pictorial documentation of struction works. The project was New Zealand. Hocken Collections, 92/1156. Singapore through his paintings. spearheaded by Chinese merchant The four vibrant watercolour works Tan Tock Seng, who also funded a featured here, which exemplify Thom- large portion of the construction costs. son’s unique artistic approach and style, Many of the builders and artisans were vividly capture the state of Singapore’s brought in directly from Fujian. built landscape in the mid-1840s. They Today, Thian Hock Keng remains also reflect the cultural diversity of the the most important temple of Singa- communities and people who made their pore’s Hokkien community. Thom- home on the island. son’s painting shows its facade, which The 1847 painting, “Chinese Temple has largely been preserved. One to the Queen of Heaven”, depicts the Thian feature that stands out is the sea- Hock Keng temple on Telok Ayer Street. The front, which is visible in the painting’s temple began as a shrine erected around foreground. Telok Ayer Street used 1820–21 by Chinese immigrants from to run along the coast, before land Fujian province, China, and was dedicated reclamation pushed the road inland. Paintings by John Turnbull Thomson, poems in Jawi Thomson’s painting titled “Muslim complete with onion domes and minarets. Mosque in Campong Glam” (1846) is of Masjid Sultan is a well-known landmark in script, an early 19th-century map of Asia and a Russian special historical interest as it depicts the Kampong Glam today. traveller’s tale of Singapore are some of the paper Masjid Sultan (Sultan Mosque) in Kampong Another of Thomson’s paintings (see artefacts featured in the National Library’s latest Glam before it was replaced with the overleaf), “Hindoo Pagoda and (Chulia) exhibition, “On Paper: Singapore Before 1867”. present structure we are familiar with. The Mosque” (1846), depicts two religious earlier iteration of Sultan Mosque was a buildings along South Bridge Road. On single-storey brick building that featured the left is Sri Mariamman Temple, the a tiered pyramidal roof commonly found oldest Hindu temple in Singapore. The in traditional Southeast Asian religious structure shown in the painting, with architecture. its three-tiered gopuram (pyramidal It was built between 1824 and 1826 entrance tower), was constructed in by Sultan Husain, whom Stamford Raffles 1844 – by craftsmen and former Indian had installed as the Sultan of Johor in order convicts from Madras – replacing a wood- for the 1819 Treaty of Friendship and Alli- and-attap structure built in 1827 by the ance to be signed (the treaty allowed the Tamil pioneer Naraina Pillai. British East India Company, or EIC, to set From its inception, the Sri Mariam- up a trading post on Singapore). Land for man Temple has played a key role in the mosque was allocated by Raffles, who Singapore's Hindu community, serving also contributed 3,000 Spanish dollars on not only as a place of worship, but also behalf of the EIC towards its construction. as a refuge for newly arrived immigrants This building served the Muslim com- from India seeking accommodation and munity in Singapore for more than a employment. While the temple compound hundred years before it was torn down has remained largely unchanged since the in 1932 to make way for a new mosque, 1880s, the tower was replaced in 1925 designed by the architectural firm Swan with the elaborately decorated five-tiered and Maclaren in the Indo-Saracenic style, structure that stands today. Georgina Wong is an Assistant Curator with the National Library, Singapore, and co-curator of the exhibition, “On Paper: Singapore Before 1867”; Dr Azhar Ibrahim is a lecturer in the Department of Malay Studies, National University of Singapore; his research interests include religion and society; Assoc Prof Peter Borschberg teaches in the Department of History, National University of Singapore, specialising in Europe-Asia interaction, trade, exploration and cartography;Gracie Lee is a Senior Librarian with the National Library, Singapore, where she works with the Rare Materials Collection. 32 33 BIBLIOASIA OCT - DEC 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 03 FEATURE On the right of the painting is Jamae the Government Hill Looking Southeast”, and villas of the merchants and The opening page of Syair Dagang Berjual Beli (left) and Syair Potong Gaji (right). Tuan Simi, Singapore, 1830s, 22.5 x 17.5 cm. Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Mosque (Masjid Jamae), which was com- the viewer is positioned on what is now officials. The Chinese part of the Malayo–polynésien 96. pleted in 1833 to replace the original Fort Canning Hill, overlooking the Sin- town was compactly built upon, wood-and-attap mosque built by the Chulia gapore River. Densely built shophouses and resounded with busy traffic. In (Tamil Muslim) community, led by Anser and godowns can be seen along the the Chinese quarter fires frequently Saib, in the late 1820s. Today, the mosque’s river at Boat Quay, while a number of broke out, spreading devastation distinctive twin minarets continue to be a expansive bungalows, occupied mostly into hundreds of families.”1 landmark on South Bridge Road, but the by Europeans, are found by the seafront lush greenery surrounding the temple and north of the river. Taken together, Thomson’s sketches its spacious frontage seen in Thomson’s In his first book, Some Glimpses into and paintings serve as an invaluable painting have given way to shophouses Life in the Far East, published in 1864, visual record of 19th-century Singapore. and a busy vehicular thoroughfare. Thomson remarked on the stark contrast As a surveyor and engineer by training, Thomson’s works also include between the two areas: Thomson was able to bring both a critical sweeping views of Singapore from eye and a different perspective to his art. various vantage points. In his 1846 “The European part of the town was painting, titled “Singapore Town from studded with handsome mansions – Georgina Wong Syair Dagang Berjual Beli and Syair Potong Gaji Syair Dagang Berjual Beli (On Trading and Selling) and Syair Potong Gaji (On Wage Cuts) are two early 19th-centu- ry Malay narratives in the form of the syair (rhymed poem), written by Tuan Simi in Singapore. Tuan Simi was a scribe and translator who had worked for several British personalities, including Stamford Raffles. These two syair occupy a special “Such is the state of us Bugis and misery and frustrations of coolies from The handwritten Jawi texts of the two place in the Malay literary tradition, Malays Bencoolen (Bengkulu) who worked for syair were discovered alongside another, bearing testimony to the early years of When to the white man we surrender the EIC in Singapore. Tuan Simi notes titled Syair Tenku Perabu di Negeri Singapura colonial Singapore, then administered our fates that the coolies suffered economic hard- (On Tenku Perabu of Singapore), which by the British East India Company (EIC; Of the rulings – it’s true what they say ship because of senior managers who narrates a scandalous affair that allegedly sometimes referred to as the Company). The hand that gives is that which neglected their welfare. Profit maximisa- took place in the house of Sultan Husain, Both syair, composed in the 1830s, may confiscates” 3 tion had become the EIC’s mantra, to the between the Sultan’s consort Tenku Perabu be described as poems of protest, as extent that the work of three men often and his private secretary, Abdul Kadir. The they give voice to the author’s grievances The second work, Syair Potong had to be carried out by one man alone: three syair were compiled, transliterated against the EIC’s practices that affected Gaji, comprising 38 stanzas, narrates the and published in an anthology, Syair Tan- the lives and wellbeing of local traders “Perasaan hati sangatlah rendah tangan Singapura Abad Kesembilan Belas and workers. Kebajikan dibuat tidak berfaedah (19th-century Singapore Syair of Remon- Syair Dagang Berjual Beli, com- THE FORM OF THE SYAIR Beberapa lamanya bekerja sudah strance), by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, prising 56 stanzas, contains Tuan Simi’s Harganya dinilai setimbang ludah” 4 Malaysia, in 1994. A syair is a narrative poem made up observations on trade practices in Singa- Today, these texts are part of Sin- of quatrains, each with an end rhyme.