Gedung Kuning

Gedung Kuning in Malay means the Yellow Mansion. It is located at No. 73 Sultan Gate. Since 1999, it was gazetted by the National Heritage Board as a National Monument. The government regained it from a Malay family under the Land Acquisition Act. Haji Yusoff Bin Haji Mohamed Noor, a prominent belt merchant, bought the building in the first decade of the 20th Century. It is a historical site as it was formerly an official residence of Bendahara (Prime Minister) and his family even before the British colonial era began. Bendahara was the most senior palace official who was in-charge of assisting the Sultan (King) in overseeing the day-to-day affairs of the the state. The historical legacy of the building explains the building's yellow colour, which symbolises the royal colour of the Malay-Muslim Sultanate, and its close proximity to the Malay Heritage Centre (MHC),which was once the Sultan's Palace, Istana Kampong Gelam. When we arrived at Gedung Kuning, we were greeted with a warm welcome by a group of polite waitresses. The Bendahara House had been conserved, restored and converted to a restaurant called Tepak Sireh. Apart from serving a wide range of Oriental delicacies during lunch buffet, the place is also now a prime target for newly wed Malay couples to hold their wedding receptions.