Destination 2: People of the Sea

Tour Guide: Welcome to our second destination, Suku Gelam. Did you know that long before Stamford Raffles came, it was the Orang Laut who were the earliest inhabitants these sorts of areas in Singapore? Want to know more about this indigenous group? Let’s begin.

Part 1: 1769

Ramrah laid on the floor of the inner room in her house which stood on stilts over the sea. Her mother Yang, her sisters and other women from Teluk Nipah gathered by her side. Suri, the midwife, performed several rituals to ward off birth demons. Looking at the reclining imminent mother, she stepped across the woman's belly and started a swaying motion by repeatedly alternating her own weight from one foot to another. This, silently, a “jampi sarat” (a powerful spell). Then, she used kapor (a white powder) to draw a white cross onto the hands of the expectant mother and on the doorstep of the room. 

On the other side of the island, the sampans glide stealthily amongst dots and sparks of water droplets and rain. Heading in coordinated formation, their leader catches sight of a flock of migrating birds flying determinedly towards the horizon. They lay, patiently in wait. The only audible sound were the whispers of the waves and the soft flapping of the sampan sail, as it stood bombarded by the whistling winds. 

“Soon, they will arrive”

(music)

Suddenly, the men in the other room noted that it was almost “tukar pasang” (change in the tide). The tide was rising and they had to move into action to quickly “putar” (rotate, turn) Ramrah to an appropriate position to correlate herself to the changing seascape.

The faint outline of a grand gliding figure is spotted in the distance. It approaches gradually, firmly, and without a speck of hesitation, till the convolution of strings and rope and sail meets the eyes of the men. A flag catches its first rays of the sun, and the colours are undeniably clear: red, white and blue. The flag of the VOC.

 

While all of this was happening, Kulut and Yang began to unpick the stitches of a few pillows. “It is because while Ramrah was pregnant, she stuffed the pillows with cotton wool and sewed them up. How can the baby leave? If we want to give birth, how can we close things? If a woman is still pregnant and she carries on working – sewing things up or nailing things – when it is about time to give birth and she is in pain, we must open up everything that she has either sewn up or nailed together. Otherwise, she would not be able to give birth. Her husband will have to open up everything. Open up everything.”

The Dutch ship bursts through the waves advancing in inevitable arrival into the sampan fleet. Its sails grand and white, boasting its stature like the feathers of a peacock. The tranquil afternoon explodes into a fit of fury and fear, as the eyes of the Dutch sailor meet those of the Orang Laut.

After the baby was delivered, Suri washed the infant in lime water. She then blew water from her mouth over its body to begin its breathing. The sarong (in this case meaning placenta) of the baby was washed, stored in a plastic bag, and hung outside and high up on the door of his parents' house to dry. At the age of three or four years old, the baby would have to eat the dried placenta. It could be eaten over a course of time in small portions or all at once. The dried placenta could be cooked in a variety of ways such as with vegetables, fish, or chili.

“If other people were to eat it, it would not be of any use because the sarong belongs to the child only. However, if you give it to the child who owns the placenta to eat it, and if you take a parang (short machete) and attempt to hack the child, there is no need to be afraid. The child will not be hurt. This is the adat (customs and traditional law) of the Orang Suku Laut. The child will not be wounded.”

The sampans charge into battle, Orang Laut wielding silver spears that glint maliciously under the afternoon sunlight. Like a pack of wolves hunting their prey, their leader throws the first strike with deadly accuracy, the battle has begun.

Part 2: 2019

(music)

“One morning, my child who was 1 year and 9 months old drowned in a pond. When I saw him, he was already bloated with water, I took my amulet and said whatever I could. I begged for help to save my child.”

“When I arrived at the clinic, the doctor said that my child was already gone.”

Tour guide: The role of the Orang Laut in Malay history began to decline with the disintegration of the Melaka-Johor dynasty. Further, in the 18th century, the Bugis had penetrated the Malay courts and had displaced the Orang Laut in importance.

“That is bad ilmu (magic).”

“It was because someone didn’t like our family. They had ill feelings towards us and did evil things. With the rise of ilmu, people began to use it for evil.”

“My name is Leti. I am Orang Seletar (a native of Singapore). Before the Chinese and the Malays came, my people were already here. It was filled only with forest, the water levels were so high that it reached the hills. Previously our people didn’t have the money. We only had to find food for ourselves. It was easy to find food in the sea.

Tour guide: By the 19th century, new developments led to the decline of value of Orang Laut to local rulers, and the new plantation and mining economy became more economically significant than trade in Straits produce. Introduction of the steamship and advances in arms technology made Orang Laut role as guardians of the sea lanes redundant

“One day I had a dream. I dreamt of the late Tok Batin (village headman). He came to me and asked to bring a cloth. My grandmother told me about the kampung next to us. She told me there was a problem there. There was a bulldozer clearing the land. The government was clearing our land without informing the natives.”

Tour guide: Over time, the Orang Laut were assimilated into Malay culture; with their conversion to Islam, they became ethnically identified as Malay. As a result of development projects, their villages and settlements were demolished, and they were relocated to public housing flats in various parts of Singapore.

Tour guide: In 1977, the Government started relocating families from places like Suku Gelam. From spacious kampung, my mother’s family of 10 moved into a one-room flat in Telok Blangah. It was uncomfortable for her living in the flat. Living in the flats made her feel trapped. My father couldn’t take it, his life was the island and he was already in his 60s so it was hard to adapt to the city life.

“They keep taking away our rights and I don’t like that. We have never done any wrong to others. Why do they keep hurting us?”

Tour guide: Over the years, the Orang Laut have tried to adapt to mainstream society, giving up their life on the boats for houses on land, attending government schools and learning to speak and write Malay. They converse with another in the Orang Seletar language, which sounds nothing like Malay. Some have intermarried with the Chinese or Malays and moved to the cities, while others have abandoned their animist beliefs for Christianity or Islam.

“When we have the sea, we don’t need to ask anything from others. I hope both the land and sea can stay forever.”

Tour guide: Yet many younger generations of the Orang Laut are holding onto their culture. Off the coast of Pulau Semakau, the older ones take the younger ones on their sampans out to sea to fish. On low tides, they look for snails at sea, frolic in the shallow water, or run on the beaches. Traditional recipes of sotong hitam (squid), asam pedas (asam fish), gulai nenas (pineapple in gulai broth) are still cooked up on special occasions. Every year, my cousins and I still visit the island. And on a few occasions, we would still get on our boats and go fishing.Yet as the afternoon approached evening, we would also release the fish, back to the sea.

“Our heart will always yearn for the sea.”

Tour Guide: I hope that was an interesting story. We will be moving on to a Pig Farm now, and take a look at the Kampongs of the past. There, I will tell you a story which is bound to touch your hearts, so do look forward to it!