Lat on Fort Canning & Singapura golden era

Posted by noelbynature under Heritage Sites and Trails
(0) Comment • (4069) Reads • Permalink

kinkonkid writes about the Malaysian cartoonist, Lat and the early history of Singapore and Melaka:

A cartoon script on the hill by Lat tells the story of the first Golden Age of Singapore and the legendary sultanate of bygone years. The period lasted from the 1300/s to around 1400. The Singapura sultanate was the precursor to the Malacca sultanate.

(Note: Singapura or Lion City in Sanskrit; Malacca as a city name was official change to Melaka, but will continue to use Malacca as reference to the historic sultanate).

Colorfully depicted and vividly drawn with a touch of Lat’s humor, the carton brings alive legends from the Sejarah Melayu or the Malay Annals, - stories of how Singapura got its name; of Badang the strongman who hurled a big rock from the hill to the mouth of the Singapore river; of palace maiden bathing in the forbidden spring, supposedly located on the north-western side of the slope facing the River Valley swimming pool (closed since 2003) ; of attack of the sword fish on Tanjong Pagar; and of Tanah Merah or red earth, where an attack from the Majapahit army to right a wrong on a palace maiden, stained the land red with blood.

Read the full post here.