Title
Silver Coin Button, George V, Military Baju Tutup Use
Year/Period
1928
Region
Singapore
Dimension
Object size: Dia: 2.0 cm
Accession No.
2001-01281
Collection of
This penny button bearing the profile of King George V belonged to a Malay man in Singapore in the 1920s. The button was used to fasten the ‘tutup’, a high-collar white cotton shirt modelled on the military tunic. The tutup was worn by European and Asian office workers in commercial areas such as Raffles Place and Collyer Quay up to the 1940s. Members of the English-educated Malay middle class worked as jurors and interpreters in law courts. They also worked as teachers, clerks and assistants in schools and government departments.
