Comments on: Quick Trivia About Sultan Mosque

By: Veron

Veron — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 01:20:27 +0000

Argh! I’m so out of the loop! Where and when? I might be at the Microsoft ReMIX Conference. View all comments by Veron

By: py

py — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 23:43:50 +0000

Oh Veron, by the way, will you be attending the Yesterday.sg meet up tonight? View all comments by py

By: Veron

Veron — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 23:19:34 +0000

I don’t think anyone would have noticed! View all comments by Veron

By: pkchukiss

pkchukiss — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 23:09:38 +0000

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

By: py

py — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:02:43 +0000

That is a good tour to check out. I have blogged about it on Yesterday.sg View all comments by py

By: Veron

Veron — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:24:02 +0000

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

By: py

py — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 04:05:10 +0000

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

By: Veron

Veron — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 01:22:16 +0000

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

By: Michael Baxter

Michael Baxter — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 00:38:52 +0000

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

By: Sion

Sion — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 18:31:32 +0000

holy moly, soy sauce bottles?? it is really cool when you think about it from a “crossing cultures” perspective! View all comments by Sion

By: Veron

Veron — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:30:41 +0000

Funny. At least you’re contributing to the Muslim community. I do my part by eating satay. View all comments by Veron

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:26:35 +0000

No wonder my soya sauce kept disappearing… View all comments by Kevin

By: Veron

Veron — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:01:17 +0000

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

By: py

py — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:56:20 +0000

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

By: Veron

Veron — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:53:37 +0000

lol! It’s true! Why won’t you believe me? I’m sad! View all comments by Veron

By: Daphne Maia

Daphne Maia — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:51:10 +0000

are u sure?! dont blufff…!! haha. doesnt look like, u know. View all comments by Daphne Maia