Kampong Glam: Mosques and Malay Heritage

Jane Iyer’s love affair with Asia started on her arrival as a “wee lass” in Singapore (by boat!) in February 1963. A native Brit, life has ensured that she has boomeranged back to Asia - as a trailing teenager in 1970, followed by 2 stints as a trailing spouse from 1999, in the middle of which she sandwiched 6 years in New York City.  She’s grasped opportunities to get involved, and sees her volunteer work with Friends of the Museums (FOM) as nothing less than life changing. She served as its President in 2003/4,  has guided in 3 museums, coordinated the Explore Singapore! Team, led Study Tours to other parts of Asia and ran film and book groups. In 2015 she took the plunge to study to be a Singapore Tourist Guide and starting to set up regular tours following on from this. An excellent organiser and administrator, she’s a passionate ambassador for her adopted home of Singapore. Particularly interested in heritage and history, she is also a keen supporter of the performing arts.

Growing up in Czechoslovakia, Pavla set out to discover the world as soon as the Berlin wall collapsed, and at 22 she came to Singapore to study Mandarin. Her years living, studying and working in different countries plus her 2 “Third culture” children born to her and her Swiss / French husband, have given her a broad understanding and appreciation for diversity. After learning the art of tour guiding as a volunteer guide in the National Museum of Singapore and Malay Heritage Centre, Pavla chose to be a professional tour guide to share her passion for her Little Red Dot island of a home. With an interest in history, culture, architecture and languages, she loves connecting the cultural dots. Pavla’s caring and positive attitude ensures she easily relates to people with different backgrounds and walks of life.

Shanti is a Singaporean born and bred but her studies have taken her to the Paris Sorbonne and the Pushkin Institute of Moscow. In the 80s, Shanti was involved in the opening of Singapore’s private Peranakan Place Museum which showcased this unique, local culture. In the 90s, she worked alongside Singapore’s first Chief Minister, David Marshall in Paris. Apart from being licensed to guide in English, French and Russian, Shanti also speaks fluent Malay and Bengali. After having trained at the Urban Redevelopment Centre, the national urban planning authority of Singapore, she is now a docent at the Singapore City Gallery. Although Shanti is adept at many Singapore tours, she particularly enjoys lifestyle tours - from understanding urban greening policies to visiting hipster cafes in sub-urban neighborhoods; from strolling through a Singapore street festival to checking out hidden bars that use ingredients from their backyard.