Tongkangs and Twakows

“Boatmen of South Indian Muslim origin known as Chulias were recruited for their nautical skills in manning coastal vessels, notably the bulkier tongkangs that required careful handling… After 1867 when Singapore became a Crown Colony ruled directly from London rather than Kolkata, India, the Indian lightermen gradually lost their dominance… Chinese lightermen who operated smaller, more manoeuvrable twakows, took over the riverine trade and largely displaced the Indian boatmen and their larger tongkangs by the early 20^thcentury… Traditionally, twakows owned by Teochew boatmen had red “eyes” painted on their front ends while Hokkien-owned boats had green “eyes”. These “eyes” were believed by the boatmen to help the lighters “see” their way, especially when the vessels were plying the open sea between the river and ships anchored offshore. However, they also had the practical function which was to allow boatmen to tell, when the water level reached the “eyes”*, that a boat was fully laden.”

-        “Singapore River Walk” (Discover our Shared Heritage, National Heritage Board)

(*The origin of the phrase “up to our eyes in…”?)

Images from the Past: A Standpipe and our Water Story

Public Standpipe in Toa Payoh Village, c 1960s

http://www.nas.gov.sg/blogs/archivistpick/public-standpipe/

See news clipping (Dec 1961, below) on Johor buying water from Singapore in 1961.

Excerpt from a news blog about our Water Story:

Under the 1962 agreement Johor can draw up to 5 mgd of treated water. But they have raised their drawings up to 16 mgd. Why?

There are two water treatment plants on the Johor river operated by Malaysia, in addition to the one run by PUB (SG).

Stories from History: Playing in the Singapore River, 1949

From a Tourist guidebook on the Singapore River:
Many Singaporeans have fond memories of the Singapore River even before its clean-up. One of them is Chia Hearn Kok (Singapore Memory Project Contributor), a retired teacher who grew up near Boat Quay and had this memory to share:

“Living at the junction of Canton Street and Circular Road in 1949 at the age of nine, I always looked forward to the first three and middle three days of the lunar month because that was when the tide of the Singapore River was at its highest between 10 am and 12 noon. That was the time you would find me joining the many boys playing in the flooded streets and swimming in the Singapore River. We would be in our short pants – no swimming trunks as we could not afford them – and bare-bodied. A distinct feature of our swimming style was that our heads were always above water because of the stench from the animal and human wastes and the rubbish. 

One of our favourite antics was to catch a ride to the Elgin Bridge on the heavily loaded tongkangs that plied the river by climbing onto the rubber tyres on its sides. At the Elgin Bridge, the braver of the boys would dive while the less brave would jump down when the “all-clear” shouts was given. We would then return by clinging to another tongkang moving in the opposite direction. Those were carefree, sweet and innocent days!”

Stories from History - The Orang Gelam that lived on the Singapore River

From a Tourist guidebook on the Singapore River:

Another group of Orang Laut, known as the Orang Gelam, lived on the Singapore River where they inhabited boats in the middle of the river that formed a veritable “floating village”. These Orang Laut made a living by fishing, selling food to the crews of visiting ships and ferrying people across the river for a fee.

According to Wa Hakim, an Orang Laut villager who was present when Raffles landed:

“At the time when Tuan Raffles came, there were under one hundred small houses and huts at the mouth of the river… about thirty families of Orang Laut also lived in boats a little way up the Singapore River at the wide part. About half the Orang Laut lived ashore and half in boats […] There were a few Malays who lived nearby, their huts facing the sea.”