The Singapura Malay 'heritage' that is Kampung Gelam

Continued from Special treat at the tomb of Habib Nuh.

Later we went to the area of Kampung Gelam close to Singapura (Singapore) city centre where lies an old Malay ruler palace which has been converted into a heritage centre.

Once, this whole area was a traditional Malay centre of power. The Sultan (Malay ruler) who presided at the palace used to rule an empire which extends over half of Peninsular Malaysia, Singapura, the islands of Riau and parts of Sumatera.



Now it is just a favourite watering hole for party-goers and those who think the night life and liberal attitude and thoughts are the signs of high civilisation, ultimate meaning of life.

No sir. This is not the place anymore for people who cerish traditions and like to protect their people from the invasion of the capitalists and their satanic values. Instead this is a place where so-called liberal 'Sufis' would love to converge. Forget the traditional Sufis and their 'closed' traditional minds. Who needs to pray and fast right? Who needs to take care of values and modesty. Who need to mind what you eat and drink? Who needs to worry about other people trying to convert your people to their ways under the guise of democracy and pluralism. Once you 'know' God you can drink and have sex as much as possible with however you want right? Hey... let's party and 'remember' God with a bout of Kamasutra...

It is ironic to me that an area which used to be a main traditional centre of Muslim Malay power could become such a night place. It is more ironic when one of the streets is called Arab Street... when the Arabs who came to Singapura more than a century ago used to be very religious people who would risk anything to travel all over the world to spread Islam. Now the word Arab here seems to refer to the distant time of Jahiliyah, the ignorant period before Prophet Muhammad SAW came to bring them light 1,400 years ago. Then again I'm just an 'ignorant sore' person who 'don't know' what religion and Sufism is all about. Otherwise I would be drinking till I drop and try to screw every good-looking woman worth chasing right? Hehe... :]

Special treat at the tomb of Habib Nuh

OK. Time to make excursions. This is from a short trip to the south made just over a week ago.

On Saturday 31st April I brought the family for short round of the island state of Singapura (Singapore). We visited again the tomb of Habib Nuh.

However we earlier got lost for more than 2 hours. After going to another place in Bukit Timah first, we wanted to go straight here but kept getting into the wrong roads and exits. So we arrived after Isyaq (time for the night prayers) and the door to the tomb was closed.

Never mind, we didn't despair. We visited the tomb of Sayyid Abdul Rahman Al-Habshi first, said to be Habib Nuh's nephew.

It is located just outside the main part of the tomb building, at a rather open area.

After combining Maghrib (dusk time) prayers along with that of Isyaq as allowed for Muslims on long trips, at the mosque downstairs I went up and found Habib Nuh's tomb already opened.

Even better there was a group coming up and they did some zikir, utterances of remembrance of Allah according to certain formulas.

They did it for quite some time. I think this is the best and longest I've ever spent at the tomb of Habib Nuh and I really loved it. For the record Habib Nuh was an eccentric person of saintly status living in the days of the English's early colonisation of Singapura early 19th century AD. He is a descendant of Prophet Muhammad SAW and was famous for conjuring up miracles. Below is a video clip showing parts of the start of the proceedings...







The top of Habib Nuh's tomb.

Sungai Golok at 'Point 5'

Continued from Sungai Golok at 'Point 4'.

OK. Should be enough of Sungai (river) Golok already. But I just can't help taking a few more pictures after seeing another part so close to the road.

This one is 4 minutes away from Point 4. And I encountered this after a brief spell of rain.

With this enough of admiring Sungai Golok. Time to concentrate on the drive to Rantau Panjang which was still a distance away. :]

Sungai Golok at 'Point 4'

Continued from Sungai Golok at 'Point 3'.

Further down the road I saw another interesting angle of Sungai (river of) Golok.

Let's mark this place as Point 4. It is 4 minutes away from Point 3.

A look downriver. That could be a jetty building.

A look ahead. The wall signify a Thai military checkpoint with barracks.

A look upriver. I think enough of admiring this river... or is it?

Sungai Golok at 'Point 3'

Continued from Sungai Golok at 'Point 2'.

Two minutes after leaving Point 2 I arrived at these parts of Sungai (river of) Golok. Let's call it Point 3.

It is so close to the road that I have to just stop and park the car besides and take pictures.

Using the same method of calculations used in the previous article (car travelling at an average speed of 60 kmh) this place should be 2 km further down the road from Point 2. But satellite pictures on Google Earth shows the part closes to the river is only a kilometre from that point. Then I remembered having to stop at the military checkpoint just outside Point 2. That could explain the time lapse...

Note: You could see the parts close to the river in the map shown in Sungai Golok at 'Point 2'. Check the bottom part. So there's no need to prepare another map.

Sungai Golok at 'Point 2'

Continued from Sungai (river of) Golok at Pengkalan Kubor.

From Pengkalan Kubor I took a rural road which follows the bends and curves of Sungai (river of) Golok upriver towards the town of Rantau Panjang. Except for the occasional distance and trees and suck blocking the view, you could practically see the river all along the way. Came a point I feel I must take propers pictures So I turned right passing 2-3 kampung or village houses and positioned the car facing the river before stepping out.

A look downriver. While I don't know the name of the place where I took these pictures or remember the exact point and location I could make a smart guess based on certain factors. Among the factors being I left Pengkalan Kubor and took the junction into this rural road at 6:28pm (it's written in the pictures property) and arrived here at 6:35pm. Taking Sungai Golok at Pengkalan Kubor as shown in the previous article as Point 1 let me mark this place as Point 2.

A look across. Remember it is the country of Thailand seen there. Getting back to the factors, it means it took me 7 minutes since leaving Pengkalan Kubor to get to this place. I believe I was travelling at an average speed of 60 kmh negotiating the twisting and turning road. So this place must be about 7 km from Pengkalan Kubor give and take a kilometer or so.

A look upriver. It seems I have made the right guesses and calculations regarding the location of the place.

A check using the tools on Google Earth program shows Point 2 lies across a junction into a smaller rural road. While this trip was close to half year ago I do remember seeing such a junction to my left but taking a small path to the right to get close to the river. There was a military check point near that junction and I believe what I've surmised here tallies with the actual experience.

Sungai (river of) Golok at Pengkalan Kubor

Time to finish the articles on the third day of travelling on the trip to the East Coast made end of 2010.

This is the Pengkalan Kubor immigration complex which lies at the northern border of the state of Kelantan.

Normally you could only get pass these parts with a valid passport and ferry ticket.

But ask nicely and they could let you go walk to the jetty. After all it is not against the law, unless you stepped into a boat to get across without a valid passport and a ticket.



For here lies Sungai (river of) Golok which forms the national border between the countries of Malaysia and Thailand. A look to the right, a look downriver and you can see the part of the river curving up north entering the South China Sea.

A look across and you can see the small Thai town of Takbai, a popular entry point for those intending to go to the region of Patani from Kelantan.

A look to the left or upriver. Notice the bigger ferry behind?

There's another jetty. It is for those who wants to bring their vehicles, cars and such across...

Enjoying the breeze at Pantai Sri Tujuh

Continued from The waters near Tumpat.

Next we went further up north and reached a place called Pantai Sri Tujuh.



It is actually the name of a beach (pantai = beach).

But you have to drive a distance to get to the actual beach passing what seemed to be lagoons and lakes.

That looks like open sea ahead. From here I have to walk.

Ah. It was breezy when we arrived around 5:30 pm. As we still had other places to rush to the wife and baby just waited in the car.

There. The beach and South China Sea.

A look to the right...

A look to the left. For the record this is the 757th article in this blogspot.

The waters near Tumpat

Continued from Tumpat train station in daylight.

Not far from the train station lies a recreational field and this hut.

Upon closer examination in turns out to be a platform facing a body of water.

A look to the right. It looks like a river.

A look ahead. The land across could be an island. I'm not sure but these parts of Tumpat could still be an extension of the Kelantan river delta. Crosscheck with the article Going around the Kelantan river delta made yesterday.

A look to the left.

Looks like open sea at the end...