Alkaff Mansion is an early 20th-century colonial bungalow located within the Telok Blangah Hill Park in Singapore. The hill was originally called Mt Washington, and was part of a sprawling land estate owned by a wealthy Arab Syed Shaikh bin Abdul Rahman Alkaff. Around 1918, Syed Shaikh Alkaff built the bungalow as his primary residence which he abandoned after World War II. The property was later acquired by the government.
Alkaff Mansion was subsequently tendered and awarded to food and beverage company LES, which occupied it from 2011 to 2016. In 2018, the tender for Alkaff Mansion was awarded to Jardin Enchante Pte Ltd by the Singapore Land Authority. "The Alkaff Mansion" under the 1-Group collective of lifestyle F&B concepts, now houses three dining concepts: Wildseed Café, 1918 Heritage Bar and UNA (a refined Spanish restaurant previously at One Rochester). The Alkaff Mansion began operations and was open to the public between April – May 2019.
History
Before 1916
The area known as Telok Blangah Hill today was known as Mount Washington in the early 20th century. A European house was already constructed on the site surrounded by rubber and coconut trees before the plot of land was purchased by Syed Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah Alkaff in 1916.
1918–1930s
In 1918, the mansion with its distinctive architecture was constructed. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the mansion hosted many social functions that included people of various races and social classes. These functions had a role in strengthening inter-communal bonds. In 1930, a newspaper report mentions that the mansion was used by an organization called the "Young Arabs" to host a team of amateur Malay footballers who recently won the 1930 Singapore Cup. This event was explicitly reported to be one hosted to help relieve Arab-Malay tensions and bolster Muslim solidarity following a recent misunderstanding.
In 1936, the Chinese community, through the Chinese Consul General, made full use of the building to host a visiting general and provincial governor from China. In this function, a dinner was held and attended by people of various linguistic groups (to the point of necessitating a translator). A press conference was also held, whereby the Chinese governor expressed his "appreciation of the unity of the Chinese in Singapore". These events which cut across racial lines are significant as they call into question the theories of Colonial scholar John Sydenham Furnivall, who argued that British ruled colonial societies were 'plural societies' – societies divided along communal lines that only converged at the market place, or in violence and instability once the ambit of British colonial power was gone. The various communities, far from being totally segregated met at the mansion, and such meetings were entirely spontaneous without explicit support of the British. The antecedents of "racial and religious harmony" which dominates race discourse in present-day Singapore, thus found expression in the mansion.
The mansion also served as a space that empowered women. In a 1936 newspaper section called "Women's interests", an article written by a lady who expressed her deep impressions of the mansion. In her account, women regularly served as joint hosts with their husbands in various social functions. This is contrasted starkly against the fact that women were, at the same time banned from other areas like the "sacred precincts of the Swimming club". In a time of patriarchy, such a role could be seen as an example where women were not mere inert members of society, but active ones who made good use of their agency. The writer also listed the various women who attended social gatherings, often with descriptions of how they gracefully conducted themselves. In one occasion, the author even praised the musical skills of a female guest. The mansion thus served as a site where women could find their voice and express themselves – notions which are often elusive in male-dominated histories.
Circa 1942–1970s
What happened to the mansion during the Japanese occupation years and its aftermath remain relatively unknown. During the war, Telok Blangah Hill was located along the same ridge that hosted the climactic Battle of Pasir Panjang. One could wager a guess that the mansion was abandoned for safety reasons. In any case, the mansion was abandoned after the war. According to the heritage description plaque found at the mansion today, the house was sold as the Alkaffs were facing severe business losses. The identity of those who took over the mansion is unknown.