Sultan Gate is the name of a road leading to the Istana Kampong Glam (once the seat of Malay royalty in Singapore). Also on this street is the Bendahara House of Palladian architectural influence, and built by Haji Yusof, in the 1920s at No. 73 Sultan Gate. It is situated immediately outside the Istana Kampong Glam palace grounds. Haji Yusof's descendants lived in this bungalow until the late 1990s. Bendahara in Malay means "Chief Minister". On 7 July 1989, the historic district of Kampong Glam was gazetted a conservation area, and the two- and three-storey shophouses along this short stretch have were restored as part of these conservation plans. It was also announced on 12 March 1999, that the Istana Kampong Glam together with Bendahara House will be preserved and converted into a "Malay Heritage Centre".
Variant Names
Tamil name: Raja Kottei means "Rajah's palace".
Chinese name:
In Hokkien:
(a) Ong Hu Khau refers to "The mouth of the Palace".
(b) Phah Thi Koi refers to "The street of the Iron-smiths".
(c) Sio Po Phah Thi Koi refers to "Small Singapore's Iron-smiths" street.
(d) Twa Che Kha refers to "The foot of the big well". There used to be an old well in the middle of the road at Sultan's Gate. Today, there are still a few Iron-smiths along this street.
Author
Vernon Cornelius
References
Kampong Glam: Historic district (pp. 10, 19, 79) (1995). Singapore: Urban Redevelopment Authority.
(Call no.: SING 363.69095957 KAM)
The information in this article is valid as at 1999 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
