Gedung Kuning: Memories of a Malay Childhood

Hidayah Amin

Paperback, 224 pages

2nd edition

9789811482359

Gedung Kuning or the Yellow Mansion was home to the family of Haji Yusoff ‘Tali Pinggang’ from 1912 to 1999. It was acquired by the Singapore government in August 1999 under the Land Acquisition Act. What used to house six families is now preserved as a historic building under the Malay Heritage Centre. 

Hidayah Amin, one of Haji Yusoff’s great-granddaughters, revisits her childhood home and takes readers beyond the gate guarded by stone eagles, through rooms with big mirrors and marble floors, and shares interesting anecdotes growing up in Gedung Kuning. 

Through 28 short stories, readers get a historical narrative detailing the lives of people living in Gedung Kuning and the Malays of Singapore from 1850s to 1999.

“This book is more than a reminiscence of what it means to be raised in a particular ethnic group in Singapore. It shows us the unique features of an especially historic neighbourhood, the evolution of a Singaporean identity in which specific values are shared by all, and how important aspects of that identity have been preserved in words and pictures.” – John N. Miksic