The Mansion was owned by the Alkaff family whose ancestors arrived in Singapore from Indonesia in 1852; the first to come was Shaik bin Abdul Rahman. The Alkaffs were great traders who had a lucrative business between India and Indonesia in spices, coffee and sugar. Later the Alkaffs were also involved in property business.

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The Alkaff Mansion was built by Syed Abdul Rahman Alkaff who came to Singapore from Yemen. Located on Bukit Jagoh (the old name for Telok Blangah Green), the Alkaff Mansion was built primarily as a retreat for the Alkaff family and also to entertain their numerous clients and guests of different races. Sometimes the hill was referred to as Mount Washington by the American guests who were entertained there by the Alkaffs. Not only a variety of food was served to their guests but entertainment with floor shows and music was provided in the terraces of the Mansion.

 

It is not clear why the Alkaff Mansion was abandoned after World War II and the Mansion went into a state of disrepair as can be seen in the 1980 photo above. In 1986 the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board became interested in the Mansion and awarded the restoration of this unique Mansion to Hotel Properties Limited to restore the past glory of the Mansion into a restaurant and yet retaining the old world charm of the Alkaffs.

 

Syed Abdul Rahman Alkaff also owned the Hotel de L'Europe, a famous hotel for Europeans and distinguished visitors to Singapore; he also ran the 'Europe Garage' - cars and carriages were hired out to the public and thus he could be called the pioneer in car rentals in Singapore. It is believed the Alkaffs sold the Hotel because they were against the sale of liquor on the premises. The old Moorish style Arcade Building in Raffles Place was also built by him in 1888; the offices and shops were located on the first storey while the ground floor was reserved for their horse carriages which were also used as public transport. The Arcade Building was sold and the new building - Alkaff Building - is in Market Street.

 

Syed Shaik Alkaff developed, what is now Sennett Estate off MacPherson Road, the Alkaff Lake Gardens which was atypical Japanese tea gardens with an excellent restaurant, tea kiosks and an artificial lake reminiscent of old Japan. There was also boating in the lake. The Alkaffs bred and trained their horses in the neighbourhood an also had both a bicycle and motorcycle racing track.

 

In 1949 the Alkaffs sold the land with gardens to the Sennett Realty Company for $2 million. The earth removed from the hillock which represented Mount Fuji was used to fill the beautiful lake to become the playing field of Willow Avenue Secondary School.

 

In Sennett Estate today we have the Alkaff Mosque and Alkaff Avenue. What is presently Potong Pasir was owned by the Alkaffs who leased the land to Indians who reared cattle in the area. Before the invasion of Malaya by the Japanese, the British Army requisitioned the land in the Alkaff Gardens to build a camp for the Indian troops. Immediately after the British Surrender in February 1942 many Indian prisoners of war were accommodated in the camp behind barbed wires for a period before they were transferred to the main camp in Port Dickson on the west coast of Malaya.

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Ingram (1936) gave a description of the type of social classes of the Hadhramis. Among them were migrants from Iraq, the Seyyids (Syeds), who were descendants of the grandsons of Prophet Muhammad, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali. The Syeds were well known for their education and influence over religious matters. Another social class, Sheikhs, was also influential in matters concerning religion. Both the Syeds and the Sheikhs formed the top of the social class in Hadhramaut. The Arabs in Singapore are descended from the Syeds and Sheikhs. As such, they carry the title of "Syed" and "Sharifah" (for men and women respectively) and "Sheikh" (also spelled "Shaikh") and "Shaykhah" (also spelled "Shaikha") (for men and women respectively).

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In the heyday of Arab prosperity, the Arabs in Singapore maintained close links with Hadhramaut and large amounts of money were sent back to the homeland. The rich built themselves splendid houses, like the Alkaff house. They also sent their sons back to Hadhramaut for periods of time to enhance their identity as Hadhramis. This custom maintained their language and Hadhrami culture. It even resulted in some Malay being incorporated in the spoken Arabic of Hadhramaut. Hadhramaut was regarded as a cultural training ground of the young Arab men and the time spent there was the final preparation for manhood. Upon their return to Singapore, these young men would take their place in the family businesses.

 

During World War II it became impossible for the Hadhramis in Singapore to travel abroad but they continued to do so thereafter. However, after the Rent Control Act came into effect, Hadrami incomes were frozen and it became clear that the wakaf (trust) incomes would not be sufficient for the next generation. It was then that the Arab families took a keener interest in the education of their children. The richer families sent their children to London to study and the children of others spent time working in Aden rather than just going to Hadhramaut. The cultural and linguistic links were still maintained. However, the family incomes continued to decline.

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In the 1960s, there came a major change. The independence of South Yemen with a communist government in power put an end to the Singapore Hadramis returning home. At the same time, the economic developments in Singapore made the importance of the English language and of obtaining an education even more essential. The new Arab generation had grown up without speaking Arabic and had lost both its identity and its affiliation with Hadhramaut. Some families, in the oil boom of the 1970s, tried sending their sons to the Persian Gulf or Saudi Arabia, but it was not a success. The young men did not like living in Saudi Arabia as their prospects in Singapore were better than on the Arabian peninsula.