Syed Gulab Shah – A Forgotten Luminary of Singapore

A Full Life

Syed Gulab Shah was born near the town of Haripur into a sayyid family – descendants of Prophet Muhammad pbuh and highly respected members of society. His ancestors were Pirs – Sufi scholars and saints – who had settled in the region from Bukhara for more than two centuries. At the age of 18, he came to Malaya to join the Johor Military Force. When Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor founded the Johor Military Force in 1886, he employed the British policy of recruiting individuals from the Punjab and NWFP for military and security positions. Syed Gulab Shah served Sultan Abu Bakar as his bodyguard for ten years until his death in 1896. During his years of service in the state of Johor, Syed Gulab Shah left a lasting impression on the royal family. He married Sharifah Zainah, the granddaughter of Syed Salim Al-Attas, the first Mufti of Johor who himself had considerable influence and standing among the state’s royalty.

With his wife, Syed Gulab Shah moved to Singapore and started his own businesses – Colonial Printing Press and Sunshine Dairy Farm. The names of his two ventures suggest that he had embraced a kind of modernity that was British. The latter was approved by the Municipal Health Officials and lauded as a “model dairy farm” for its modern appliances and sanitary conditions, with its bottles imported from the renowned Dairy Supply Company in London. It is likely that Sultan Abu Bakar’s modernist attitude and well-documented proclivities as an Anglophile had left a lasting influence on the sayyid’s young self. Syed Gulab Shah was known to dress impeccably in a suit and tie but with a Malay songkok. This representation of a cosmopolitan Malay-Muslim identity – popular with sections of the Malay - Muslim elites during the colonial era – can be regarded as a creolisation of colonial British and local Malay identities.

By the First World War, migrants from the Punjab and the NWFP already had a significant presence in Singapore. Considered by the British to be ‘martial races’, these individuals were often recruited into the military and sent overseas to police other British territories which included Malaya and Singapore. As British Subjects, these migrants travelled to Singapore in search of employment and often found jobs as watchmen, drivers and contracted tailors. Those who had been in Singapore long enough were able to secure contracts with the British in providing goods and services to military camps and bases while others operated as independent merchants or peddlers

Blessing to All the Communities

During the First World War, the British Government encouraged various ethnic communities in Malaya to get together and pledge monetary support for the British and their allies through a campaign known as ‘Our Day’. Muslims from the Punjab and NWFP were among those who actively raised funds for the campaign. In September 1917 for example, they met at the residence of one of their members and pledged a various amounts for the ‘Our Day’ fund. Syed Gulab Shah received special mention for his generous contributions during the meeting and throughout the duration of the War. For his zeal and efforts in raising money for the ‘Our Day’ fund, he received letters of commendation and praise from Major-General Sir Dudley Ridout, General Officer Commanding the Troops in the Straits Settlements. Syed Gulab Shah’s charitable disposition was frequently recognised by the British. In 1918, he was commended by Captain A. R. Chancellor, Inspector-General of Police for his role in providing relief to Arab stokers when the French mail steamship they worked on were stranded in nearby waters. These contributions of his and a close relationship with the British Government gave Syed Gulab Shah a great sense of fulfilment – even in old age.

Nana Aman recounts visiting the elderly sayyid for the first time:

When I came to Singapore [in 1953], my brother (who had been in Singapore for more than a decade) told me to pay a visit to Syed Gulab Shah. So I did, I visited him at his residence in Saint Michael’s Estate. It was a big house – a mansion – built in the old Malay style… On the walls of his house were framed pictures with the Governor and other British officials... He showed them to me and shared stories of the old days – of what he did, his contributions… What did I understand? I was a young man then, I just nodded my head…

For more than half a century in Singapore, Syed Gulab Shah was at the forefront of the Muslim community. His familiarity with Malay society and his vision in looking past ethnic boundaries greatly facilitated his prolific contributions. As early as 1898, slightly more than a decade after his arrival in Malaya, Syed Gulab Shah founded Fathul Karib football club with two of his contemporaries. Through his advice, guidance and sheer hard work in training the football team, Fathul Karib won the Tramway Cup in 1909. The Tramway Cup was one of the earliest football tournaments in Singapore. It was organised by the Darul Adab Club – one of the oldest and most popular Malay clubs in Singapore – on behalf of the Singapore Tramway Company. Syed Gulab Shah himself served as honorary secretary of the Darul Adab Club later in the 1930s. Fathul Karib continued their dominance in Singapore football through the 1940s and 1950s before eventually being renamed Balestier United in the 1970s.

Syed Gulab Shah was a tireless social activist who worked actively for the advancement of the Muslim community in Singapore. He was a highly respected leader of the community, displaying a commitment to serve the host society which he had become part of. He was appointed a member of the Mohammedan Advisory Board from 1919 to represent the Muslim community on matters related to Islam, as well as the customs and welfare of the community. Additionally, he sat on various committees such as the Committee of the Child Welfare Society Fund in 1927. In November 1920, he was specially appointed to preside over a historic meeting to discuss the question of Muslim representation on the Legislative Council. The meeting was attended by Muslim luminaries across Singapore, representatives of various Muslim associations and even representatives from Penang. Such was the measure of importance and the weight of anticipation carried by this meeting that it was reported that the meeting hall was packed to the extent that many in attendance were forced to stand.

Yet, Syed Gulab Shah’s active involvement in the Malay and larger Muslim community did not preclude him from actively identifying with his brethren from the Indian subcontinent, irrespective of their religious beliefs. He was known to contribute to various non-Muslim Indian communities who held him in equally high regard as Muslims in Singapore did. In August 1931, he was honoured by the North Indian Hindu community for his contributions and services rendered to them. Syed Gulab Shah was on the committee of the India-Ceylon Club in the early 1930s, and the Malaya Patriotic Fund (Indian Section) in 1940. He was also appointed to a committee to manage the building and funds of a Musafirkhana (rest house) for Indian Muslim migrants in 1939.

It is not an overstatement to claim that Syed Gulab Shah contributed immensely to Singapore society and was well-loved by all sections of society. Nana Aman recounts:

He frequently visited the Kampong Glam area. Sometimes he would go to the Koh-I-Noor Restaurant – a Pakistani restaurant along North Bridge Road. (I was staying there, at the shophouse on the second floor.) Everybody knew him. They would greet him excitedly, salaam him. ‘Baaji*, sit down and have tea. Eat something,’ they would say…

Syed Gulab Shah had a daughter with his wife Sharifah Zainah. She was married to Syed Mohamed bin Omar Alsagoff (Justice of Peace and Municipal Commissioner for Singapore). Syed Mohamed Alsagoff himself was a prominent member of the Hadrami Arab and Muslim communities in Singapore. Syed Gulab Shah passed away on 12 September 1956, at the age of 90. He left behind his estate and businesses in Singapore to his maternal grandson, Syed Mohsen bin Mohamed Alsagoff who he was particularly fond of. He also bequeathed a big estate of about 800 acres of farmland in Pakistan to his family and relatives. His remains, together with that of his wife, have since been re-interred from the Bidadari Muslim Cemetery to the Choa Chu Kang Muslim Cemetery.

Excellent Role Model for Modern Muslims

In a time where we seek to build a dynamic Muslim community in Singapore, it is important that we remember and celebrate personalities from our communal past. Individuals like Syed Gulab Shah act as role models and inspiration for present and future generations. In his lifetime, he was a blessing; a committed and passionate member of our society – not just to Malays, Muslims or his fellow migrants from the Hazara region of the North-West Frontier Province of British India. He interacted and assisted various communities across Singapore. Most importantly, Syed Gulab Shah showed the exciting possibility of maintaining our identity as Muslims while embracing the challenges of modernisation. There may not be roads named after him or monuments built in his honour, but his passion and spirit of activism have the potential to serve as an inspiration to us as we look to the future.

This article was written based on the writer’s interview with Syed Aman Shah, an 85-year old migrant from the Hazara District of Pakistan, and a recorded interview with Syed Mohsen Alsagoff, as part of the National Archives’ Oral History Collection, and various newspaper articles published in Singapore over a period of six decades.