Imagine we are back in Kuching, Sarawak. After a morning of museum hopping, where do you take a break for a bite? The museum precinct is west of the old town, so the Old Court House is a possibility. This small complex of single-storey colonial buildings which served as Kuching's judicial centre has now been converted to a centre for food and culture, just like the Old Parliament House in Singapore.
The colonial colonnaded splendour of Kuching's Old Court House
Around the quadrangle sits Commons restaurant and the Ranee Museum
Commons is an upmarket eatery which serves local and Western dishes. Its ambience is colonial and relaxing, its high ceilings and air-conditioned environment is conducive for an extended rest, and that's where we had our lunch. Nothing beats a carafe of juice - lychee and cucumber provided that refreshment one just craves for. The Western dishes which we had were decent, but not something to write home about. However, the chilli prawns served with sourdough toast was something else. We had our fill, and that was good enough.
Lychee cucumber juice was Janet's absolute favourite drink
Chill prawns in a tangy sauce
Commons Fish & Chips was rather common
The Commons Cheeseburger was somewhat better
The Charles Brooke memorial stands between Old Court House and the waterfront
Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s upcoming 2026/27 concert season looks to be its most pivotal and important in years. Now in its 47th year, the SSO is at a new set of crossroads. All was revealed at its season media launch held at Raffles Hotel’s East India Room on Wednesday afternoon. In attendance was SSO’s fourth Music Director, the Finnish conductor Hannu Lintu, who shared with all present his vision and hopes for the orchestra.
In a short interview conducted by SSO’s new Head of Artistic Planning Christopher Cheong, Music Director-Designate Lintu indicated the SSO as a new phase in his own artistic development, having concurrent positions at the Finnish National Opera & Ballet and Gulbenkien Orchestra in Lisbon. Having guest-conducted the SSO in 2017 and 2018, he had many positive feelings that something big was happening in Singapore and East Asia, and wanted to be part of that.
Lintu’s inaugural concerts take place in July, with performances of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra and Bartok’s single-act opera Bluebeard’s Castle. Within weeks of his tenure, he takes the SSO on tour to China, with seven concerts in two weeks. Within all this time, he will get to know the orchestra, musicians and their music-making better. Programming in seasons to come will include repertoire what the orchestra needs, his personal interests as well what the audience wants. All this will be finely balanced, and the results will be heard in the concerts. Lintu hopes the orchestra will help transform Singapore to become an important artistic hub in Asia.
Twenty-five percent of the works heard in 2026-27 will be World and Singapore premieres, including pieces by Singaporean composers Kelly Tang, Tan Chan Boon, Zechariah Goh, Germaine Goh and Sulwyn Lok. Wang Chenwei’s The Sisters’ Islands will be taken on tour to China.
There will be Singapore debuts for conductors Marin Alsop, Markus Stenz, Pietari Inkinen and Francois Leleux, and returning artists include pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin, cellist Steven Isserlis and violinists Gil Shaham, Augustin Hadelich and James Ehnes. Special collaborations include performances by Two Set Violin, singer-actress Nathania Ong and Apsaras Dance Company, while the Singapore National Youth Orchestra accompanies a viewing of Jurassic Park. There is something for everyone in the season to come.
"I Love Kuching" on Market Street (10) near India Street market
Kuching, Sarawak may not be as famous for its street art as Penang, which has a long-standing cottage industry of its own right. However, good quality murals may be found in the narrow streets of Kuching's old bazaar area, where tourists and hipsters tend to congregate. I may not have hunted down all these murals but have found most of the better ones. Some are graffiti but nicely done, with no profanities or woke agenda.
Most of the official street art are of the old tradesmen and labourers that make the history of Kuching, and they rightly deserve pride of place to be remembered. Most of these were painted by Kuching-born Leonard Siaw. His eye for detail and brushwork is simply terrific. Surprisingly, there are not many cat murals in Kuching, but one prominently placed statue tableau in a traffic circle is probably good enough.
The old hawkers and craftsmen of the old bazaar, on Ewe Hai Street (1).
The old tradesmen and craftsmen on China Street heading to the Main Bazaar (2).
The longest mural of all, of coolies at work and rest...
...located on a side alley off Upper China Street heading towards Wawasan Street (3).
The Jazz Mural near the Riverside Majestic Hotel (4)
Hornbill mural at the head of Wayang Street (5).
Heading into graffiti territory, at a drinking spot on Bishopsgate (6)
Austin 3:16 @ Bishopsgate (6), which seems appropriate on Easter Sunday
Bishopsgate (6) with a view of the State Legislative Assembly Building
Grooviest five-foot-way on Ewe Hai Street (1)
Tourist-orientated mural on Bishopsgate Street near the Main Bazaar Road (7)
Street art outside a backpackers' lodge by Lau Ya Kheng Food Court (8)
The unmistakable children's mural at Marian Boutique Lodging House (9), our home for four days.
The murals are numbered, to be found in the map above
Looking back, I've missed a couple of really big murals despite being near their localities, and that is really my loss. Looks like we've got to go back to Kuching again!
Update: Here are the murals we missed,
captured on Google Maps
The Borneo Mural Alley (11) near India Street
The men of textiles near India Street (12)
The best cat mural of all, at Wawasan Road and China Street (13)
There are just two record shops in Kuching... and I went to both! Record or CD shops used to be ubiquitous. You used to find them in every shopping centre, arcade or main street. Now they are gone, or maybe hidden in plain sight. I did not look out for these in Kuching, Sarawak, but stumbled on the first one at Carpenter Street.
The sign in Bahasa Malaysia says, "Beware of black vinyl. It'll empty your wallet, ruin your life, and poverty awaits." Damn right.
It's called Bandat Record Store, located on the second storey of a shophouse and entered via a steep staircase. It's mostly pop and rock music, with CDs, vinyl and cassettes. There's still a cool vibe about it, and its air conditioning is an escape from the hot Kuching weather outside. Nope, there is absolutely no classical music here, and Richard Clayderman definitely does not qualify, but I bought a Malaysian keroncong recording.
Everyone seems to worship Bob Marley
Thanks to the helpful young man behind the counter, I was directed to the other record shop, and that one is called Heavy Soul Vintage. It's located in the basement of a deserted Riverside Shopping Complex, sharing the premises with an apparel shop. It's Saturday afternoon, and there's absolutely nobody about!
The cover says Vladimir Horowitz plays Beethoven Piano Sonatas, but it's actually Isaac Stern and Eugene Istomin playing Beethoven Violin Sonatas. Caveat emptor!
There's mostly pop and rock, but guess what ... a second-hand section of used classical CDs. It's very small but here I found Isaac Stern, Jessye Norman, Herbert von Karajan and surprise, surprise a new mint-condition Denon recording of Mahler's First Symphony directed by Eliahu Inbal. The last three albums were MYR 10 each! Janet said my holiday in Kuching has been fulfilled, quite unexpectedly. While this is not Disc Union, she's quite right!
Dr Chang Tou Liang is a Singaporean family physician in private practice. From 2004 to 2008 he was the Artistic Director of the Singapore International Piano Festival. He has also been the classical music reviewer of The Straits Times (Singapore's national daily) since 1997. He is married to Janet, has a son Shan Ming, and keeps a household of six rescued cats.
