The Istana Lama was a palace once located at

Telok Blangah Telok Blangah (, ta, தெலுக் பிளாங்கா) is a subzone region and housing estate located in the area behind Keppel Harbour in Bukit Merah, Singapore. ''Teluk Blanga'' is the district between Pasir Panjang and Tanjong Paga ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. It was first built for

Temenggong Abdul Rahman Dato Temenggong Daeng Abdul Rahman bin Tun Daeng Abdul Hamid (1755 – 8 December 1825) was the Temenggong of Johor during the Bendahara dynasty. He was best known of being instrumental in the Treaty of Singapore with the British East India Compa ...

in 1824. It had since been demolished in 1954.

History

About four years after the

Treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations An international organization or international o ...

was signed in 1819 which marked Singapore as a British settlement,

, his family and followers moved to the 200 acres of land (part of Teluk Belanga area) as assigned by Sir

Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is ...

. The European-style mansion known as Istana Lama was built and completed in 1824. Temenggong Abdul Rahman died in this house on 8 December 1825 and was buried at the nearby

Makam Diraja Teluk Blangah Makam Diraja Johor Telok Blangah (Jawi: ) is a Johor royal mausoleum co-located next to the grounds of ''Masjid Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim'' in Telok Blangah, Singapore. The royal cemetery is the final resting place of the descendants of the House ...

. His eldest son Tun Haji Abdullah first informally succeed him as the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

Temenggong of Johor The Temenggong of Johor is one of the members of the Orang Kaya Council first established by Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah himself. The first Temenggong being appointed in 1757 was Temenggong Abdul Jamal. The Temenggong of Johor was given the task of ...

. The house was later refurnished with concrete structures by his second son Daeng Ibrahim in 1830, who would informally succeed Tun Haji Abdullah as the Temonggong in 1833. It was noted for being the birthplace for Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim's son

Abu Bakar Abū Bakr ( ar, أبو بكر ) is an Arabic given name meaning "Father of a Young Camel" (Abu meaning 'Father of' and Bakr meaning 'Young Camel') that is widely used by Sunni Muslims. Other transliterations include Abu Bakar, Abu Bekr, Ebubekir, ...

, his eventual successor and future

Sultan of Johor The Sultan of Johor is a hereditary seat and the sovereign ruler of the Malaysian state of Johor. In the past, the sultan held absolute power over the state and was advised by a ''bendahara''. Currently, the role of ''bendahara'' has been take ...

, who was born on 3 February 1833. Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim was officially made known on 19 August 1841, and upon becoming the

Maharajah of Johor on 10 March 1855, he began to administer his territory

Iskandar Puteri Iskandar Puteri is a Cities of Malaysia, city which functions as the administrative capital of the state of Johor, Malaysia (Kota Iskandar) and represents the seat of government of the state of Johor (Menteri Besar of Johor, Executive branch & ...

from this residence.

Demolition

Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim died in the house on 31 January 1862 and was buried at the nearby Makam on the following day, his son Abu Bakar succeed him as the Temenggong on 2 February 1862 and soon moved his residence to Tyersall. The house was demolished in 1954.

Aftermath

On 9 April 1964, the Bata Shoe Factory was officially opened by the then

Finance Minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

Goh Keng Swee Goh Keng Swee (; 6 October 1918 – 14 May 2010), born Robert Goh Keng Swee, was a Singaporean politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 1973 and 1985. Goh is widely recognised as one of the founding fathers of Singa ...

on about half of its former site from the bottom, with the address of 66 Telok Blangah Road and was granted a 30-year lease in May. The factory eventually closed and was demolished by 1994. In 1995, a condominium known as ''Harbourlights'' was built on the former site of the shoe factory and was completed by 1997. Currently, near the ''Harbourlights'' condominium, remnants of the palace's historic Dutch-bricked platform structure, its drain network and nearby former gate posts can be still seen among its surrounding overgrown vegetation.

References

{{reflist Demolished buildings and structures in Singapore Buildings and structures demolished in 1954 Places in Singapore Palaces in Singapore Royal residences in Singapore Protected areas of Singapore Houses completed in 1824 1824 establishments in the British Empire 1954 disestablishments in the British Empire 1824 establishments in the Straits Settlements 1824 establishments in Singapore 1954 disestablishments in Singapore