- a boatmen's odyssey -

One might have yet pondered the daily routine of a boatman in Singapore. It is easy to overlook this minuscule demographic as boatmen hardly play a visible role in anybody's life in what appears to be a very much self-consuming city state today. But say if one were to decide to pay nearby rural Pulau Ubin a visit from the eastern shores of Singapore, one might probably be able to catch a small glimpse of what it is like to be eking out a living as a boatman around the straits of Singapore.

These photographs seek to portray one of the many trips-for-hire carried out by some boatmen everyday across the waters of Singapore – something which to them is probably nothing more than a mere pattern of survival that they have long inured themselves to, and yet at the same time something which may invite deeper questions as to how much longer these boatmen can continue to hold their own positions in the face of gentrification that is starting to creep into the outskirt areas of Singapore.

Rendezvous. Boatmen gather and wait under a pavilion for assignments to ferry passengers across the waters.

Hop on. A senior issues directions for passengers to board an assigned vessel (bumboat) at the jetty.

Watch your step. A boatman maintains a bumboat in steady position for passengers to board safely onto the vessel.

Sit tight. Passengers settle in on a bumboat prior to departure. Each bumboat carries a maximum of about 12 passengers per trip.

Journey on. A bumboat throttles away from its point of origin as a passenger (a good friend) enjoys a drag on the rear deck.

Negotiate arrival. A sister ship steers and manoevres in the distance in preparation to dock ahead of other bumboats as it approaches the destination.

Line up for the next ride. A boatman secures his bumboat alongside others at the point of destination before retreating to join his fellow mates in their wait for the next assignment.