A ‘floating town’ teeming with crabs

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The symbol of Pulau Ketam at the ferry point.

The symbol of Pulau Ketam at the ferry point.

CRAB Island is a ‘floating town’ or a water village off the coast of Port Klang with 8,000 residents or thereabout.

It can be considered a town because of all the urban amenities a town should have — a police station, a voluntary fire brigade of good repute, a clinic, some hotels, schools, factories, temples, a bank and many restaurants.

“It’s a unique town on stilts. Most of these stilts had to be sunk more than 10 metres below the mud to hold up the buildings,” said a friend as he introduced Crab Island or Pulau Ketam to the group of Sarawakians on an educational tour of the island.

Based on oral history, the island was home to mangrove swamps and crabs. It was discovered by three Hainan fishermen who travelled to and from the then Port Swettenham to catch crabs for a living. Later, the trio decided to settle down on the island because they found the daily trips  very tiring. They named the island Pulau Ketam because it was teeming with crabs.

As more fishermen and their families arrived to join the small settlement, the population grew. And between 1945 and 1947, the Teochew and Hokkien Chinese, fleeing the invading Japanese army in Taiwan and China, found the island a good shelter for their families. They were safe throughout the Japanese occupation of Malaya.

The Sarawakian group consisted of lecturers who brought along a few students to see how this Chinese settlement had evolved from swamps during the colonial period to what it is today. They were to visit the fishermen of Teochew and Minnang (Hokkien) descent, and record some oral history for the students’ projects. One of the Sarawakians picked the island as part of her studies for a Master’s degree.

A Mainland Chinese student, accompanying the group, was surprised — albeit impressed — by the island’s history, saying, “So much of Southeast Asian history is linked to the Mainland Chinese and Chinese migration history can also be studied from the history of Malaysia.”

Architectural feat

Crab Island or Pulau Ketam is located off the coast of Port Klang, Selangor, and founded around 1880. Today, it is easily accessible from the Port Klang (formerly Port Swettenham) jetty by ferry.

One of the Sarawakians told thesundaypost, “It’s an amazing architectural feat, actually. Very similar to the Kampong Ayer of Brunei. The streets are now concretised — many are still under construction with sand and cement bags wheel-barrowed to the sites by smiling labourers.”

During the walkabout, the group called at a secondary school which, according to the caretaker of a nearby temple, has over 400 students. Since it was a weekend, no students were around. What stood out in the school compound was a basketball court with good fencing. Amazing!

The temple caretaker noted, “The students play very good basketball because that’s the only game they can play here besides ping-pong, football and hockey are definitely out.”

There are two primary schools with 300 and 150 students respectively.

“If you look closely, the roads are actually bridges linking the houses,” added the caretaker.

He was happy to provide any information the group cared to ask.

A member of the group, Wong, from Johor, commented, “I have never been to a water village like this. I find it very pleasant to hear bicycle bells ringing as we walk single file along the roads. There are bikes for adults and children, new trendy bikes and very old 50’s kind of bikes.

“Some people have already imported China-made electric bikes which can move faster. It’s good to see all these things. And best of all, the bicycling villagers are so patient with tourists during the latter’s leisurely stroll around town.”

Indeed, there is no shouting for the right of way — a nice change from the mainland where the tendency is to be brusque with slow traffic.

The group used a big ‘open’ speedboat from Port Klang to reach Pulau Ketam — in only 40 minutes. This big speedboat has a roof and can seat more than 16 passengers. A head count is made by the wharf security to check overloading. The group planned to return by the air-conditioned ‘express boat’ ferry.

Wong exclaimed, “I had so many opportunities to take photos today while coming across in the speedboat. The sea was really calm and the sky was blue. Lots of birds flew above. It was a very good journey. I’m glad I came. There’s nothing to fear.”

A covered speedboat for hire to Pulau Ketam.

A covered speedboat for hire to Pulau Ketam.

No fear when stranded

There are about 15 ferry trips per day. The last boat from the island leaves at 5.30pm on weekdays and 6pm on weekends. Speedboats can be chartered any time of the day or night.

If stranded on the island, visitors are told not to worry for they can stay overnight at the Sealion Hotel for around RM50 or at the Long Stay (homestay) for even less.

Shortly after passing the Sealion Hotel, the group came across the local police station which is small by any measure. There is also a fire brigade.

A friendly shopowner said: “We need the fire brigade here. We are all volunteers and have to make sure there are no fires — with so many wooden houses around.”

Pulau Ketam has three main streets with flourishing businesses run by fishmongers, green grocers, butchers, restaurant and sundry shop operators. There is also a dry prawn factory further from the town that attracts tourists from the mainland.

Groceries, fruits and other daily necessities are all transported from the mainland by ferry.

Prices are not exorbitant — a pleasant surprise to the group.

Sun hats cost only RM20 each, almost cheaper than those in China, according to Wong who bought one. Wearing the sun hat and sunglasses, she looked like a tourist from Korea — to the delight of the lady shopkeeper.

“Over here, we don’t charge too much because we don’t pay rental. We live above and behind the shop. It’s a simple business,” she said.

An Indian man, speaking fluent Hokkien, was making a large fishing net as the group passed a cluster of houses behind the main roads. Here, they witnessed the mending and making of fishing nets. Another man was repairing a boat engine.

The island is dotted with temples, based on the tourist map, but the lady shopkeeper pointed out, “No need to follow the map — just move around and you will find lots to see. If you want shortcuts, the villagers will show you. You will come back to the jetty again but don’t go to

the other jetty at Sungei Lima which is quite far away, and you might not catch the ferry you want. The best ferry point is the Pulau Ketam ferry terminal near here.”

The tourist map was, in fact, very accurate in indicating that two hours would be enough to tour the main town.

Towards the later part of the morning, the group, by then all hot and sweaty, decided to move indoors and order lunches of fish, prawns, noodles and oyster pancakes or la la chien.

Beer is plentiful and most shops display brands from different Southeast Asian countries.

A popular dish of silver pomfret.

A popular dish of silver pomfret.

Food heaven

The lady restaurant operator regaled in taking orders from the group, recommending to them the most popular dishes — fishball soup, fresh fish and prawns — at very reasonable prices.

She knows her price-conscious customers would not want to be whacked with a hefty bill.

“All our fish are around 900grams. No, we don’t push more than 1kg of fish to our customers unless we have stock or our customers ask for it. Our pomfrets were freshly caught in the morning.”

Her recommendations were, indeed, good and we had a hearty lunch. While eating their noon meals, the group saw more visitors getting off the ferry and moving towards the temple and the main streets with their luggage in tow. Most probably, they were staying the night.

Most of these noon-time visitors went straight to the nearby restaurants, filling up all the tables draped with fresh crisp red table cloths. Pulau Ketam is, indeed, a food heaven.

Near the restaurants, one could see community plaques put up to display the community spirit which is very strong. Cement paths, schools and temples were mainly sponsored by individuals with strong community spirit. Many names on signs and plaques are in Chinese.

An interesting way to pass the time was watching the locals go about their daily business on foot or on bicycles pushed along by pedal power or a modified electric motor. Some of the business people also use motorised trolleys.

There are many small jetties at the fishermen’s homes and one could see how hard working the fishermen are. Nets, boat engines, small and large containers are neatly stacked on platforms next to the fishermen’s own jetties with their boats berthed by the side. At low tide, the stilts are very conspicuous.

Some of the fishing boats sit on the mud further inland. These boats are built by the locals themselves and there are quite a number of master boat-builders here. Since the establishment of the settlement, a boat-building industry has flourished. The construction of big, medium and small boats has been commissioned. It’s a formidable local industry.

Fish rearing is expanding as evidenced by the large number of floating houses between the island and the mainland. All these houses are buoyed by blue-coloured diesel drums. Smaller boats are berthed at the fringes of the watery compound. It’s definitely a very lucrative business of which Pulau Ketam is very proud.

As the group disembarked from the ferry, they happily hollered their thanks to the friendly ferry man with this message attached, “We will come back again!”

A floating fish rearing farm.

A floating fish rearing farm.