KAMPONG GLAM, SINGAPORE — F 1 Singapore Night Race is well-established and world famous with the current one being its 14th edition but a local organisation in Kampong Glam is doing more to make this annual highlight even more interesting and accessible to locals and foreigners.
Enter ‘The Glam Circuit Festival’ which runs now until September 22 at Kampong Gelam and overlaps with Grand Prix night races on Sept 21 to 22.
Those familiar with Singapore may know that Kampong Gelam (also known as Kampong Glam) has been the centre of Malays and Muslims in Singapore since the British colonial time in 1819 when Sultan of Johor agreed to Sir Stamford Raffles’ allocations of 23 hectares of land between Rocher River and the sea for the use by the Sultan.
A major mosque, Masjid Sultan, was soon erected, only to be demolished and rebuilt into the present form in 1924 with its picturesque main dome standing tall over nearby vernacular shophouses and reminding us why non-Muslims like us find animation movies like Aladdin exotic.
Today the district or village, (kampong being a Malay word for village) is one of Singapore’s most important and vibrant tourist destinations even without this special festival, which is in its fourth year this year. It’s where people come for good Malay and Turkish food, specialty coffee, saffron milk tea, souvenir shoppings and drinks in the evening.
With the Glam Circuit Festival this week, visitors are spoiled for more choice as food stalls, live music, singing competition, interactive arts, and special activities have been set up at three zones around the ‘village’.
At one of the booths, there’s not just a race car simulator but F1 Singapore race car simulator where you can drive (and crash) along the realistic simulated route dotted with iconic Singapore landmarks such as the Marina Bay Sands Hotel building and Singapore Flyer, which is one of the largest observation wheels in the world.
I gave it a try, crashed my race car several times at high speed, survived, and wasn’t jailed by Singaporean traffic police. You can drink while driving your F1 as well (but no marijuana please, it’s still illegal there).
There’s also a scream booth next to it. You can try to scream as loud as you could for tokens that can be exchanged for free passes to other activities or dining vouchers to the nearby Cappadocia Turkish & Mediterranean Restaurant at Bussorah Street. (The restaurant’s proprietor, Ms Lynette Lee, is a gregarious host, matched only by the delicious mezze and kebab prepared by her Turkish chef.)
I reckon the screaming booth should be popular among Chinese tourists as well as local Singaporeans, the latter mostly live inside relatively small flats where loud noise making is a taboo.
Food, music and other entertainments aside, the festival’s many booths boast the use of clean battery generators which are 100 percent powered by solar energy. GoRental SG, the Singaporean company, showcases Singapore’s path towards a green future by ensuring the festival emits zero air and noise pollution (except air pollution induced by food preparation and noise from the screaming booth, that is.)
Colin Peh, Managing Director of GoRental SG, told us the firm which is 5 years old, utilised Chinese and Singaporean technology, and is not just about profit making. Those attending the festival can select ‘impact’ initiatives offered by the firm, such as providing one day of “life-saving clean water to families” in an impoverished community in a neighbouring country.
“We are not just about profiting,” Peh told me last Friday. His firm will assist a remote village in Chiang Mai province, as part of their CSR, by installing solar cells next year.
For a local community leader, Muhammad Zaki Maarof, chairman of One Kampong Gelam (OKG), a community association that aims to “enliven and establish Kampong Gelam as a vibrant arts and cultural district”, the more visitors to the village, the better.
He added that the F 1 Grand Prix helps put Singapore on the global map even among foreigners who may not be familiar with the island nation state or our part of the world and is effectively a “good ambassador” for Singapore.
He is proud to be part of a festival that widens the attraction of the race through the festival, which runs until this Sunday, September 22, and said “the more [visitors] the merrier” as it “compliment” this month’s F 1 race.
(The writer would like to thank One Kampong Gelam, and the team at Muse & Motif, for their kind hospitality.)
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