The photograph shows Telok Blangah Village before 1876, clustered below Guthrie’s bungalow on the hilltop, and occupied by the Temenggong and his followers. The mood of the landscape is keenly emphasised by the poignant placement of the Malay man in traditional dress looking across the foothills of Mount Faber towards the Malay village. On the left, the burgeoning port facilities at the Jardine Matheson & Co. wharf signal the eventual end of this idyllic village life as global trade in the form of international steam-powered shipping meant that yet more land would be appropriated for new port facilities. Pulau Brani and Pulau Blakang Mati (today’s Sentosa Island) cut across the horizon in the background leading the viewer’s eye towards St. James, the whimsical name given to the residence at Tanjong Aur by its merchant owner, James Guthrie, the founder of Guthrie & Co.
