Our year in a conch shell
A quick recap of 2023 at Orang Laut SG
Hello everyone,
We hope that everyone had a well-deserved break and taking time to connect with their loved ones in the last few weeks. 2023 has been quite a ride, but it has been nothing short of a fulfilling one for us, and for that, we are grateful.
In the first quarter of the year, we started our year leading a tour on Pulau Sekijang Bendera (St John’s Island) as part of the Singapore Biennale 2023, and we were blessed with opportunities to lead members of the public on tours around the sunny island.
It was our greatest pleasure to have been a part of NHB’s SG Heritage Fest Symposium, where we interacted with other cultural partners as we plotted out the future of heritage festivals in Singapore and shared our experiences from hosting cultural events.
With the start of the Hari Raya festivities, we hosted our annual Bubur Lambuk Ikan Tenggiri distribution once again! This time, our kind friends at Mother Dough Bakery hosted the distribution drive, and we also extended the bubur drops to the Southern Islanders living in the neighbourhood. Seeing familiar and new faces was great, and knowing that we were delivering a bowl of warmth for the season of gratitude was extremely rewarding. We hope you’ve enjoyed the bubur!
Things took an exciting turn in May when we brought the history of the Orang Pulau to a performance art setting at the Esplanade Recital Studio. Through the visions of the P7:1SMA team, Air Da Tohor took shape. It was a huge milestone for our islander community, as former islanders and descendants came together to present a seamless performance on the Esplanade stage.
30 July was a day to remember—over 200 participants gathered in the cosy theatre of The Projector at Golden Mile Tower for Panggilan Anak Pulau, as esteemed voices including Dr Imran Tajudeen and Dr Hamzah Muzaini, and former Southern islanders and descendants, shared on maritime knowledge, livelihoods, urbanisation, myths, family, and food. Everyone was singing and dancing along to a soulful performance by Asnida Daud, a descendant from Pulau Sudong, and we ended off with PULAU, a short film featuring Singapore's former islanders, directed by and courtesy of Stephanie Thong.
If you’ve learned a lot at Panggilan Anak Pulau, we have good news for you—we’re coming back even bigger and stronger next year! We’re in the midst of planning for Hari Orang Pulau, a landmark event we are hosting next year, which sees an even wider range of collaborations and celebrations across island cultures. With a big event also comes big responsibilities behind the scenes—if you’d like to extend a helping hand to volunteer or partner with us, drop us an email at hello@oranglaut.sg, and we’ll get in touch! Any help is of great help to us.
In September, we also headed to Sydney, Australia, to share about the indigenous communities of Singapore at the Urban Agriculture Forum alongside Bjorn Low of Edible Garden City and United Nations Environment Goodwill Ambassador Nadya Hutagalung. It was a great privilege to share our islander history on an international platform.
With the NTU-CCA research team led by Prof Ute Meta Bauer, we had the opportunity to learn from our coastal neighbours, the Orang Suku Laut in Bintan. Hearing their stories only underscored the many similarities of coastal communities in the Nusantara.
In the last month of 2023, the Orang Laut SG / The Black Sampan team were sad to see our space at New Bridge Road go, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of all the meaningful conversations we’ve built under the atap across the year. After many editions of Atap Assembly at 269C New Bridge Road, we’ve just wrapped our first edition of Rice Media x Atap Assembly, which was a blast a few weeks ago!
Moderated by Yulianna Frederika, our panellists, PreetiPls, Naren Sankar, and Irsyad Dawood, took on the less-discussed topic of minority representation in Singapore, navigating us through the role of minorities in today’s society. Thank you, panellists, for your openness in sharing your personal experiences. We hope the audiences gleaned a lot from the discussion, and there will be more to come!
If you’re keen to work with our organisation, reach out to us for partnership opportunities in 2024! We’d be happy to share what we have planned with you.
See you soon!
Firdaus
Congratulations, One big bunch of innovative, creative and empathetic folks, y'all. I came here by discovering Firdaus's Orang Laut Singapura. How on earth I got there is another question.Keep up the great job.
Wow. Congratulations. Looking forward to your programs in the new year.