In a nutshell...

Kampong Glam is a really intresting place. One can also learn many things on the culture and history of Kampong Glam. There are also many shops like the Aljunied brothers, Rich and good cake cake shops and many more. Most of the shops sell traditional Malay costumes. Some shops also sell the Kom pang, rattan baskets etc.

The Muslims' attire

Traditional Malay attire tends to be conservative. Ladies wear the baju kuriong or sarong kebaya. Embroided edges, decorative motifs and textiles like batik gives the simple attire a distinctive appearance. Some also wear the selendang or tudung, head coverins that conceal ones head and neck.

Malay men wear the baju melayu, which consists of a long sleeved shirt, trousers and a kain sarong. On official occasions, they wear a plain samping, a sorong that reaches the knees. After they go on the haj Muslim men usually wear a songkok, a velvet head covering.

The Baju Melayu (courtesy of google)

The baju kurong ( courtesy of google)

The Muslims' Religion

Most Malays practice Islam. Devotees(called muslims) adhere to the teachings in the Quran. ( A malay bible) Their culture, lifestyle and beliefs are largely influenced by the religion. For example, Muslims do not consume pork and alcohol. They also maintain a modest dress code, pray five times a day, fast during Ramadan and endeavour to go on the haj at least once in their lifetime. The haj is during the 12th month of the Islamic calendar. Muslims go on a pilgrimage to Mecca where the Ka’abah- the cubical structure believed to be the first house of worship for Allah- is located. At Mecca, pilgrims perform rituals and pray to Allah for His mercy.

gelam tree

The name kampong glam comes from the glam tree. The glam tree is actually useful. The bark of the tree is used to replace the rotten wood of boats and the leaf is use to make a type of oil. It is very smelly but is helps if you have a stomach ache. The timber is used as firewood or constructing boats.

Source : Google Images

The mosque ( courtesy of google)

There is a mosque in Kampong Glam. The muslims go there to pray 5 times everyday. They sing their prayer songs out loud whenever it is time to pray. Their songs would sound through the whole of Kampong Glam. The prayer songs that was sang out loud also serves as a purpose to tell other muslims in Kampong Glam that it is time to pray. When we were looking at a few textile shops, we heard the muslims singinig the prayer songs. We have not heard it before and were quite interested and excited over it. Our tour guide told us not to make noise as it is time for the muslims to pray and that we should respect them.

The rich and good cake shop ( Courtesy of eastcoastlife.blogspot.com/2006/11/rich-good-cake-shop.html)

This is the good and rich cake shop. It is a very famous pastery shop in Kampong Glam. It is well-known for its delicious cakes. The cake flavours includes durian, chocolate, kaya . Our tour guide showed a short cut to the cake shop for the parent volunteer and Mrs leong. It is so good that even its name for the shop sings praises of its cakes.

Textiles in kampong glam

There are many shop houses along Kampong glam. Especially the textile shops. There are many of them around. There are many materials too(eg. silk). They are often used to make saris and carpets. These textiles are very smooth and have many patterns. Even though there are many muslims around Kampong Glam, It does not mean that all the textile shops are run by muslims. They can also be run by people from other countries such as Arabia and Indonasia. We met some of them and and learnt 'thank you' , 'goodbye' and 'hello' in their national language.