More than 40 years ago, the former occupants of Pulau Semakau were asked to evacuate the island. We were the last to leave. Today, our families live in Singapore, some living nearer to the open waters, hoping to return to where we used to live.
As the occupants of Pulau Semakau, we refer to ourselves as the Orang Pulau or Orang Semakau. Like our family, some of the islanders were ‘settled’ Orang Laut communities who have ancestral connections to other maritime tribes from the Riau Islands and beyond. We once make up a small subset of Singapore’s rich Orang Laut community and the wider Nusantara.
We fear that our way of life will be forgotten as our country progresses. Though the island is no longer what we knew it to be, we hope that its wondrous spirit lives within us through our memories and food.