last october, i paid my first visit to kampong glam. you know, the area encompassing arab street, bali lane, bussorah street and the biggest mosque in singapore — sultan mosque, or masjid sultan.
whether it’s exploring the shophouses and cafés or sipping a hot mug of teh tarik (”pulled” tea), there is a certain charm about this area that keeps me coming back again and again. recently, i took a walk within sultan mosque itself and learned something interesting about the building.
a certain part of the mosque is made of a very unconventional object. can you guess which part of the building and what material it is? (hint: it is a recycled object that can be found in a kitchen.)
if you already know what it is, shh! for those of you who are done guessing, read the rest of this post for the answer!
look carefully at the black strip that follows beneath the golden dome of the mosque. it is made up of multiple neat rows and columns of a certain object!
they are soy sauce bottles! can you believe it?
i’m thinking a lot of cement must have gone into the bottles and the surrounding gaps for them to be able to withstand the strain and weight of the shiny dome.
ta-da! and that’s your interesting trivia for the day! betcha didn’t know that, did ya?
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py (4)
goes by the name veron (english) or wanting (chinese). a definitive leo born august 1, 1984. a solo traveler. loves cats, coffee, sensual music, yummy food and technology. when she's not at her job as an IS developer for the government, she's likely to be out dining, or visiting an interesting art gallery or event.
are u sure?! dont blufff…!! haha. doesnt look like, u know. View all comments by Daphne Maia
lol! It’s true! Why won’t you believe me? I’m sad! View all comments by Veron
Yes, those are bottles. The architect had incorporated it. In a way, I see it as he hoped that everyone in the community could contribute to the building of the mosque. While the rich may donate money, I suppose it was wise choice to also allow the poor to contribute: By contributing bottles, which were more easily available to them. :) View all comments by py
That’s a nice theory, py! My heart feels all warm now.
I’m wondering if those soy sauce bottles were symbolic of anything in Islam. View all comments by Veron
No wonder my soya sauce kept disappearing… View all comments by Kevin
Funny. At least you’re contributing to the Muslim community. I do my part by eating satay. View all comments by Veron
holy moly, soy sauce bottles?? it is really cool when you think about it from a “crossing cultures” perspective! View all comments by Sion
Now that is pa-retty interesting! You have a sharp eye.
Note from the washed-up architect in me: The soy sauce bottles, or most any surface decoration would not be structural. They are just pasted/mortared to the surface, like wallpaper.
What would be a really interesting blog post would be ‘why’ and ‘how’ they came up with this idea.
There is a guy in Japan who is a pretty well known architect now, but he started out as an ‘architectural detective’. He would investigate the story of unusual buildings. His stories eventually became a syndicated column in several of the major news papers.
His architectural design: http://www.operacity.jp/ag/exh82/e/introduction/index.html
I wanted to do my PH.D in his lab at Tokyo Uni. His reply came in the form of a postcard. His handwriting the worst I have ever, ever seen.
It was weird, my last architectural designs were quite similar to his, and I had been completely unaware of his work. View all comments by Michael Baxter
Dude I never knew you ever were an architect. That’s pretty hawt!
And I wish I could take credit for spotting those bottles. But no, I got all that from an article pasted on the noticeboard of the mosque! lol! View all comments by Veron
I remember that when I attended the Original Singapore Walks tour of the Kampong Glam area, the tour guide had shared with us about the story. I can’t remember it in details, but if my memory does my well, the story goes like this: some folks (who weren’t rich nor well-to-do) came up to ask how they could help to contribute to the building of the mosque even though they don’t have much money. The architect overheard it, was touched by their thoughts, and decided to use bottles (common daily objects) in his design of the mosque.
But Veron, maybe you can join the tour to find out if I’ve recollected the story accurately.
Yes, those bottles are decorative items, not part of the structure. View all comments by py
That story does seem to make sense, and would explain how the bottles came to be used. Thanks for sharing!
That is one tour I need to check out. View all comments by Veron
That is a good tour to check out. I have blogged about it on Yesterday.sg View all comments by py
I didn’t notice that the dark band just below the dome were bottle bottoms until I went on a heritage tour during my National Service! View all comments by pkchukiss
I don’t think anyone would have noticed! View all comments by Veron
Oh Veron, by the way, will you be attending the Yesterday.sg meet up tonight? View all comments by py
Argh! I’m so out of the loop! Where and when? I might be at the Microsoft ReMIX Conference. View all comments by Veron
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