What's In a clock??

A little bird told me........



Yeah, am refering to our very own Malaysian "Big Ben" at the Sultan Abdul Samad Building.
The first peals of the clock was heard in 1897, struck during a parade to mark Queen Victoria's 78th birthday. For a clock that was made 111 years ago, it has kept inpeccable time, and helped to marked all of Malaysia's New Years and Merdeka Day with aplomb. As far as we know, it has never stopped ticking, not even during the 46month Japanese occupation when it was put forward two hours to match Tokyo time.
This time piece is set to the time signal from Telekom Malaysia.
You'll be amazed to know that the time piece is still being wound manually twice a week by a technician.



Winding the clock is heavy work! It takes two men about an hour to give the crankshaft 200 turns, which will lift two massive weights about three storeys to the top of the tower. The larger weight,650lbs of lead, powers the hammer that strikes the bell hourly and half-hourly, and the smaller 350lb one keeps the clock going.
The clock winders learnt it all entirely from their predecessors. There's no manual, no blueprints, and no written instruction.

Technicians from the Surveying and Mapping Department has to climb up 4 flights of ricketing stairs to make sure the giant grandfather clock stays wound.



The bell chamber, is pretty well litted, thanks to the 12keyhole-shaped windows.



One more floor up is the top of the tower are the four opaque glass clockfaces. A thick tubular pendulum regulates the ticking of the seconds, which hangs from a metal plate, which has incredibly borne the 50kg pendulum for more than a century.



Near the bell's crown is the name of its English maker, Gillett & Johnson, and 1897 the year the bell was cast. It was ordered by Crown Agents of Downing Street, London.
This clock is a Number 3 movement striking the hours, with the facility to strike the half hours. The Bell weighs 20 hundred-weight, driving four 8foot 6inch diameter cast iron, glazed dials. The whole shipment was manufactured in 90days.

The cost free on board (minus shipping expenditure) from London Docks was £356 and 10shillings. To replicate the same clock and bell today would cost at least £60,000 today. The clock was shipped via the Straits Steamship Company on the SS Singapore.

So the next time you pass by this historical clock tower, take a moment to remember the winders who has to carry out his work two times a week, irrespective of holidays and all, and its no easy feat!


ref: Nuance-Mar 03