Sri Temasek

Infobox building
building_name = Sri Temasek
native_building_name=
former_names =


caption = Sri Temasek, photographed on 31 January 2006
map_type =
altitude =
building_type = Detached house
architectural_style =
structural_system =
cost =
location = Grounds of Istana Singapore
address = Orchard Road, Singapore
client =
owner = Government of Singapore
current_tenants = Prime Minister's official residence
coordinates = coord|1|18|14.3|N|103|50|35|E|display=inline,title
start_date =
completion_date = 1869
inauguration_date =
height =
other_dimensions =
floor_count = Two
floor_area = convert|1600|m2|sqft|abbr=on
main_contractor =
architect = J.F.A. McNair
structural_engineer =
services_engineer =
civil_engineer =
other_designers =
quantity_surveyor =
awards = National monument (1992); Urban Redevelopment Authority Architectural Heritage Award (2008)
references =

Sri Temasek (Chinese: 斯里淡马锡) is a two-storey detached house built in 1869 which is sited within the grounds of the Istana in Singapore. Previously, it served as the residence of the Colonial Secretary during the island's colonial era. Since Singapore's independence in 1965, it has been the official residence of the Prime Minister of Singapore, though none of Singapore's Prime Ministers has ever lived there. Together with the Istana, it was gazetted a national monument on 14 February 1992.

Name

The name of the house, Sri Temasek, means "splendour of Temasek" in the Malay language. The Malay word "seri" or "sri" means "charm; quintessence; splendour; glory" [citation|contribution=seri|editor=R [ichard] J [ames] Wilkinson|title=A Malay–English Dictionary (Romanised)|location=London|publisher=Macmillan|year=1955.] or a "" [citation|contribution=seri|editor=Richard [Olaf] Winstedt|title=An Unabridged Malay–English Dictionary|edition=5th|location=Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia|publisher=Marican & Sons|year=1963.] (something that attracts attention by its brilliancy or beauty; a centre of attraction, interest, or admiration), [citation|contribution=cynosure|url=http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50056812|title=OED Online|edition=2nd|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1989|accessdate=2008-10-08.] and is derived from the Sanskrit word Unicode|सार ("sāra"). [The Sanskrit word Unicode|सार ("sāra") means "essence, substance; the substantial or essential part of anything; the best or choicest part; the quintessence; the heart; cream, curds, nectar; strength, power, vigour, force, courage, prowess, valour, heroism, firmness, hardness; worth, excellence, highest degree of perfection; wealth, goods, riches": citation|contribution=Unicode|सार|editor=Monier Monier-Williams|title=A Sanskrit–English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Greek, Latin, Gothic, German, Anglo-Saxon and Other Cognate Indo-European Languages|location=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1872.] "Temasek", which means "sea town" in Javanese, was the name of an early city on the site of modern Singapore. Today, it is used as an epithet for Singapore.

Design

The construction of the Istana Singapore (then called Government House) and Sri Temasek was ordered by the Governor of the Straits Settlements, Sir Harry St. George Ord, after the original governor's residence had to be demolished in 1859 to make way for Fort Canning on the hill that bears its name.citation|title=The Istana and Sri Temasek|url=http://www.frommers.com/destinations/singapore/A23790.html|publisher=Frommer's|accessdate=2008-10-10.] Sri Temasek was designed by John Frederick Adolphus McNair (1829–1910), a civil engineer who was appointed Executive Engineer and Superintendent of Convicts of the Straits Settlements, and built largely using Indian convict labour from Bencoolen. It was completed in 1869.citation|author=Tay Suan Chiang|title=Heritage winners: Sri Temasek, the Prime Minister's official home, is an architectural heritage award winner this year|newspaper=The Straits Times (Home)|date=4 October 2008|page=E10 at E11.] [citation|author=Vernon Cornelius-Takahama|title=Istana|url=http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_807_2005-02-01.html|publisher=Singapore Infopedia, National Library Board|date=17 April 1999|accessdate=2008-10-10.]

A convert|1600|m2|sqft|adj=on two-storey detached house – often called a bungalow in Singapore – with European and Asian features, Sri Temasek has a symmetrical layout consisting of deep verandahs surrounding central living spaces. Notable architectural features include arches on its upper level, an intricate timber arcade with a mixture of eastern and western decorative motifs, and a Chinese moon gate (a circular gateway) on the building's second floor. Although few records exist concerning the moon gate's construction and usage, it is known to have made its appearance in the house in the 1960s and to have been designed and built by William Swaffield, a pre-World War II Comptroller of Government House and a professional furniture designer. It is constructed of chengal, teak and meranti wood. [citation|title=Architecture|url=http://www.istana.gov.sg/IstanaGrounds/Architecture/|publisher=|date=28 April 2006|accessdate=2008-10-08.] In the middle of the driveway in front of the house, there is a brick pit that was originally used by horse-drawn carriages. The house was gazetted together with the Istana as a national monument on 14 February 1992. [citation|title=55 gazetted national monuments of Singapore|url=http://app.mica.gov.sg/Data/0/PDF/1_PMB%20Monuments-2006.pdf|publisher=Preservation of Monuments Board|year=2006|accessdate=2008-10-08; citation|contribution=Istana and Sri Temasek|editor=Tommy Koh|title=Singapore: The Encyclopedia|location=Singapore|publisher=Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board|year=2006|isbn=981-4155-63-2|page=259.]

Sri Temasek was not used for a number of years and fell into disrepair.citation|author=Lee Siew Hua|title=Silent star of Singapore|url=http://www.asiaone.com/Business/My%2BMoney/Property/Story/A1Story20080817-82764.html|newspaper=The Straits Times (reproduced at AsiaOne)|date=15 August 2008. The article also appears at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website at http://app.mfa.gov.sg/pr/read_content.asp?View,10857,.] It then underwent restoration between 2006 and March 2008 by CPG Consultants under the supervision of architect Maureen Soh. As the original hand-crafted timber arches and railings on the first-storey verandah had been damaged by termites, replacements moulded from the originals made with an aluminium-cast alloy were used. Details on railings, doors and windows were restored, and several "pintu pagar" (traditional wooden half-doors) and wooden flooring reinstated. The former servants' quarters at the rear of the building were turned into a heritage gallery. The restoration works on Sri Temasek won the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Architectural Heritage Award in Category A (national monuments and fully conserved buildings) in 2008.

Use

When first built in 1869, Sri Temasek was the residence of the Colonial Secretary of the Straits Settlements. It is currently designated as the official residence of the Prime Minister of Singapore, though none of the past and present holders of the post, Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Chok Tong and Lee Hsien Loong, have lived in it as a family home, In the 1998 book "Lee Kuan Yew: The Man and His Ideas", [citation|author=Han Fook Kwang|author2=Warren Fernandez|author3=Sumiko Tan|title=Lee Kuan Yew: The Man and His Ideas|location=Singapore|publisher=Singapore Press Holdings [and] Times Editions|year=1998|isbn=9812040498.] Lee Kuan Yew said that when he became Prime Minister in 1959 he and his wife Kwa Geok Choo decided not to move into Sri Temasek with their three children, who were then aged seven, five and two, because the couple "did not want them to grow up in such grand surroundings with butlers and orderlies to fuss over their needs". The family did stay there in 1965 for a short time for security reasons when Singapore separated from Malaysia. Apart from that, according to a 2000 "Straits Times" interview with Kwa, the Lee children often played in the grounds of the house in the evening while their father played golf or made use of the practice tee and putting green. [See also citation|title=Lee Kuan Yew's interview with Talk Asia on CNN|url=http://www.singapore-window.org/sw02/020209c1.htm|publisher=CNN (archived at Singapore Window)|date=9 February 2002|accessdate=2008-10-10. During the interview, Lee said: "My official residence was at Sri Temasek in the Istana grounds where there are butlers and waiters galore. We decided to stay at home and not take the official residence which I used for entertainment purposes because we both believe that if they [our children] had so many waiters and helpers picking balls for them, doing things for them, it will give them an inflated and a false idea of what life would be like."]

Sri Temasek has been used mostly for official functions, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. Prominent visitors included Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Prime Minister of independent Malaysia; Spiro Agnew, the Vice President of the United States; Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; Denis Healey, British Defence Secretary; and King Hussein of Jordan. Sri Temasek was the venue for a party hosted in 1962 by Lee Kuan Yew to thank trade unionists and civil servants for their help with the referendum on Singapore's merger with Malaysia, and in 1983 the body of the late Minister for Finance Hon Sui Sen lay in state there. On 8 August 2008, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong delivered his National Day message from Sri Temasek for the first time. [citation|author=S. Ramesh|author2=Lee Siew Hoon|title=Singapore cuts 2008 GDP growth forecast to 4%–5%|url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/365901/1/.html|publisher=Channel NewsAsia|date=8 August 2008|accessdate=2008-10-10.]

Notes

References

*citation|author=Lee Siew Hua|title=Silent star of Singapore|url=http://www.asiaone.com/Business/My%2BMoney/Property/Story/A1Story20080817-82764.html|newspaper=The Straits Times (reproduced at AsiaOne)|date=15 August 2008. The article also appears at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website at http://app.mfa.gov.sg/pr/read_content.asp?View,10857,.
*citation|author=Tay Suan Chiang|title=Heritage winners: Sri Temasek, the Prime Minister's official home, is an architectural heritage award winner this year|newspaper=The Straits Times (Home)|date=4 October 2008|page=E10 at E11.

Further reading

*citation|title=The Istana Singapore: Its Grounds and Landscape|location=Singapore|publisher=President's Office|year=1994|isbn=997188447X (pbk.).
*citation|last=Seet|first=K [hiam] K [eong] |authorlink=K. K. Seet|last2=Mealin|first2=Peter, photographer|title=The Istana|location=Singapore|publisher=Times Editions|year=2000|isbn=9812321160 (pbk.).

External links

* [http://www.istana.gov.sg/IstanaGrounds/Architecture/ Sri Temasek at the Istana Singapore website]
* [http://www.livelife.ecitizen.gov.sg/culture/heritage/buildings_detail.asp?plc_id=8 Sri Temasek at the Singapore Government's eCitizen website]