Malaya-Borneo Exhibition

The Malaya-Borneo Exhibition of 1922 was conceived by Sir Laurence Guillemard, who was acting as the Governor of the Straits Settlements and the High Commissioner of the Federated Malay States at that point in time. According to the Official Guide, the Exhibition was organised with the aim of “bring[ing] together, for the first time in history, representatives of all classes from the two important Malayan countries under British influence” [Official Guide 1922], mainly the Malay Peninsula and Borneo. In the wake of an economic recession that began in 1920, the Exhibition was also intended to encourage increased economic trade by showcasing the “varied trade activities of this country in general, and of the great exchange port of Singapore” [Ibid]. Most importantly, the Exhibition was purposefully arranged to coincide with the Prince of Wales’s visit to Singapore, where he — and the larger public — would be treated to a fanfare of spectator sports such as boxing, indigenous arts and crafts, architecture, as well as a showcase of goods and materials which British Malaya could offer for trade. Visitors were also treated to band regimental music from the 2nd Battalion Duke of Cambridge’s Own (The Middlesex Regiment); hathera (of Near Eastern origin and performed in Arabic) and boria by a party of 30 dancers and singers from Penang; ronggeng and another hathera by a Malay club from Singapore; menora (with half of the performance in Siamese and the other half in Malay) from Kelantan and Kedah; makyong from Kelantan; mek mulung and gamelan from Kedah; Sulu dances from North Borneo; wayang kulit featuring Sri Rama from the Ramayana; ronggeng by a dance troupe from Malacca and Penang; various Malay music by the Jawi Peranakan Club; and bangsawan by the Nahar Opera from Singapore.