When he was just 10 years old, Mr Mohd Nazir Dolah was sailing solo for fun on a small wooden boat between the southwestern offshore island of Pulau Samulun and Tanjong Kling on mainland Singapore.
The distance between the two is less than a kilometre, but leaving a child who was in primary school to make this crossing alone would make most parents jittery.
His parents, though, did not bat an eyelid. After all, he had been accompanying his then-fisherman father on a boat from the time he was seven years old and having been born on Pulau Samulun, the sea was his backyard.
Samulun is derived from sembulun, the name of a tribe of orang laut (sea people) who once lived in the area.
The 74-year-old retiree, who is more commonly known by his stage name Nasir Abdullah, recalled: “After school sometimes, I would follow my father to the sea to fish, catch seafood with bubu (traditional fish trap) … it became a hobby.
“I prefer (going to sea) alone than being with friends. There’s a serenity in being by yourself.”
At age 13, he and other Pulau Samulun residents were asked to move to Pulau Merlimau to make way for the development of Jurong Shipyard. Still, sailing and fishing remained his favourite pastime.
However, all that came to a halt when at around the age of 20, when he and other orang pulau (Malay for island people) were again asked to move, this time to a kampung in Teban on mainland Singapore.
Official figures are unavailable, but Mr Nasir estimated to his best recollection that there were about 200 families on Pulau Merlimau at the time, including families who had moved there from Pulau Samulun.
Merlimau along with several other southern offshore islands were reclaimed to form modern-day Jurong Island, which is now used by energy and chemical companies.
Speaking to CNA TODAY at West Coast Park during the inaugural Orang Pulau Day on June 14, Mr Nasir who is a retired gardener said: “There were so many sweet memories, living on the (offshore) islands. That was why when we were first told to move, many were resistant.”
Our interview was interrupted because Mr Nasir, who leads a traditional Malay music ensemble called Orkes Melayu Mutiara, had to perform at the event organised by Orang Laut SG. The ground-up group has been documenting and preserving the life of inhabitants of the offshore islands of Singapore, the orang pulau who are the descendants of the orang laut.
After excusing himself from our interview, Mr Nasir walked over to the stage with a slight limp. However, any signs of a creaky knee and other aches and pains faded away quickly during his two-hour show, which I realised was about as long as Lady Gaga’s latest performance in Singapore.
As his band, comprising mainly his children, played uplifting and traditional Malay songs, Mr Nasir gave the attendees a glimpse into island life – where everything is a little better with some music surrounded by family and friends.
