Sultan Gate in Singapore Kampong Glam

This was the road that leads into the Istana Kampong Glam, the palace of the sultan of Singapore. The first Sultan, Hussein Mahomed/ Mohamed Shah (1776-1835) his family and followers were brought here from Riau by Sir Stamford Raffles. (Johor royalty was at that time resident in Pulau Penyengat.) Hussein referred to himself as the Yang diPertuan Singapura, but the Riau Malays referred to him as the Yang diPertuan Selat (or Lord of the Straits).

Raffles allotted 56 acres (22.4 hectares) of land in this area for the Sultan and his followers. In 1823, the Sultan's property had 731 feet of sea frontage. Sultan Hussein built a large rambling palm leaf palace here towards the end of 1819. The current palace was built probably by George Coleman sometime in 1840 and still stands here today.

On the same road as the Istana Kampung Glam is Gedung Kuning (the Yellow Mansion) which was formerly known as the Bendahara's (Chief Minister) House, owned by Tengku Mahmud, the third son of Sultan Ali (1824-1877). Tengku Mahmud's brother, Tengku Alam Shah (1856-1891) lived in the Istana Kampung Glam. They were both powerless in stopping Temenggong Abu Bakar (1833-1895) from claiming the Johor territories through British support. Gedung Kuning was later sold to Javanese businessman Haji Yusof bin Haji Mohammad. The government acquired the house in 1999 and together with the Istana Kampong Glam, the Malay Heritage Centre was formed in 2004. Gedung Kuning now houses the restaurant Tepak Sireh.

Source: Singapore Street Names by Victor R. Savage and Brenda S. A. Yeah, pg. 351

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