Memory, Heritage, and the Singapore River: “It Is Like a Dead Snake”

Abstract

The Singapore River and its environs have seemingly gone through a constant process of change since 1983, when the river ceased to have any further role in the port activities of Singapore. In September of that year, the ubiquitous lighters that since the time of Raffles had plied the waters of the river and harbor left the heart of the city for the last time. Their departure marked the end of an important epoch for the river in Singapore’s modern history. For more than 150 years, the lighterage industry had been an integral part of the port and riverine activities. The industry’s removal from the river was a result of wider changes that were taking place in Singapore and which were completely transforming the economic, urban, and social environments of the island state. Ten years after the removal of the lighterage industry from the Singapore River, while researching a history of the waterway and its role in Singapore’s past, I was able to meet some of the few remaining river lightermen and lighter owners, then based at facilities in Pasir Panjang, on the southwest shore of the island. Over a period of approximately six months, I was able to conduct oral history interviews with owners of lighters and some of their employees. I also had the opportunity to venture out into the harbor and observe the nature of the work lightermen were engaged in firsthand. The contacts I established provided me with visits to Pulau Retan Laut, now absorbed by the enormous Pasir Panjang Container Terminal, where lighters were taken for repair.