Buayapura | Kate Pocklington

Buayapura

| Kate Pocklington

| featuring art by Fyerool Darma

Topical capsuleBuayapura

© Kate Pocklington, 2019artwork © Fyerool Darma, 2019

ISBN 978-981-14-2110-5 (e-book)

Published by Ethos Books, an imprint of Pagesetters Services Pte Ltd#06-131 Midview City28 Sin Ming LaneSingapore 573972www.ethosbooks.com.sgwww.facebook.com/ethosbooks

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About the Singapore Bicentennial e-book series

Take a quick dive into the diff erent time periods in Singapore history, the stories and legacies of our diff erent communities. Discover lesser-known histories of people, places and events. Each nugget off ers a unique glimpse into the layered lives and histories of our people, going into topics as diverse as natural history, architecture and religious practices.

About the Singapore Bicentennial

Th e Singapore Bicentennial marks the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the British in Singapore, a turning point in our history. But our story starts way before that.

Travelling back in time to 700 years ago, the Singapore Bicentennial is an occasion for us to refl ect on our extensive and textured history: how we have evolved, from a place with a geographically strategic location, into Singaporeans with a unique DNA.

Th is commemoration features a huge cast of contributors, as well as the regional and global developments that have shaped our lives and identities.

Buayapura

If not for the adverse connotations conceived in pop-culture, the crocodile could once have been the island’s icon. In One Hundred Years of Singapore (1921), renowned shikari George Paddison Owen (1850–1928) playfully suggested Singa-pore should have been renamed Rimau-pore for the abundance of tigers that once roamed the island. Yet, the crocodile, or Buaya, has always inhabited the waters and has, unlike the tiger, survived beyond man’s intent to eradicate it.

Th e human connection to the crocodile churns up fear and reverence as much as the tide ebbs and fl ows, and in our systems of rivers and streams and borders, it is as reliant on the rivers and oceans as we are.

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Th e crocodile is elusive and a masquerader, a mystery upon which so many countries have formed beliefs and mythologies.

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It has been seen as a protector, man-eater, guardian of rivers and fi shermen, of the underworld and of fertility, and a territory marker of human-borders.

Th is ancient reptile continues to be considered both friend and foe. Needless to say, the stories of man-eating crocodiles and the human revenge that follows still cause alarm in today’s news.

Th eir presence is not disastrous—in their natural habitat of mangroves, river estuaries and coastal borders, the saltwater crocodile maintains the balance of the ecosystem. It is an apex predator: at the top of the food chain, keeping mesopredators in check and prey populations in balance. Despite the unease their presence may instil, it is a good indicator of a healthy ecosystem.

Given opportunity, the crocodile may make a meal out of an unsuspecting human, and it has in the past, which is why Government-initiated signs are important in recognising where is and isn’t safe to venture into the water. Back in the 1800s, these warning ‘signs’ were occasionally morbid displays of a crocodile carcass, strung up in the area it was found, but most were reported in newspapers for people who had access to them. It’s from these newspapers, digitised through the National Library Board, that many of the 384 documented crocodiles were sourced. Other sources were through lists compiled at Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM), academic and non-academic journals, word-of-mouth, and the 18-month-long collaborative project between LKCNHM and NUS Museum titled Buaya: Th e Making of a Non-Myth.

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The Singapore crocodile

Th e saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus Schneider, 1801) is the largest of all living reptiles. On average, females measure 3 metres in length, and males 5 metres with some found at 6–7 metres, such as the famous 6.17 metre-long ‘Lolong’ who was found in the wild in Agusan del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines, and died in captivity (2013). His preserved body is now on display in the National Museum of Natural History, Manila.

Several crocodilian species are known to inhabit Asia, yet the saltwater crocodile is the only known species found wild in Singapore. Only two individuals of another species have been recorded here. In 1991, two juveniles of the False Gharial (Tomistoma schlegelii (Müller, 1838)) were found by a fi shing pond manager in Sungei Tampines at Pasir Ris. Th is species has never been recorded wild in Singapore nor in the neighbouring Malaysian state of Johor, but 15 individuals were registered to a crocodile breeding farm in 1990 and may have escaped during heavy rainfall. In the past, the novelty of gift ing ‘exotic’ animals led to several people having crocodiles as pets, for example, in 1948, a Wendy Wilmott was given a crocodile from Bangkok, which may have been the Siamese crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis Schneider, 1801).

Th e saltwater crocodile is remarkable for its ability to traverse the open sea, giving it a large distribution range from South Asia, throughout Southeast Asia, to the north of Australia and in the islands of Oceania.

An intriguing catch in 1933 showed the more local movements of a 4.8-metre-long crocodile caught in Johor by the Orang Laut and brought to Singapore. Th e capture had been commissioned with the intention of using it in a Clyde E. Elliot Hollywood production starring the animal collector Frank Buck (1884–1950), but the

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crocodile died overnight. Being pragmatic, the captors opened the crocodile in search of any gold it may have swallowed, such as jewellery from human victims. Instead, a large rock and 15 dog collars were found with license numbers dating back to 1893. Th e numbers were checked and showed the crocodile had been to Tebrau, 1927; Segamat, 1928 and Johor Bahru, 1931. It had apparently swum around Singapore and was heading north, on its return back to south Johor. Owners of the dogs were asked if they would like the license discs returned; “...we are, unfortunately, unable to hand over the animals as well, as the discs were found in the interior of a 16-foot, over-100-year-old crocodile”.

Th is isn’t the only time crocodiles were captured for use elsewhere. In 1909, a cargo of 21 snakes, 51 monkeys and 17 crocodiles arrived in New York from Singapore onboard the Atholl. Th e snakes and crocodiles had escaped and were causing havoc onboard the ship. Later in 1936, HMS Cornwall successfully delivered a crocodile from Malacca via Singapore to Portsmouth and fi nally Regent’s Park, London. It was noted that “the poor saurians had always expired en voyage from over-eating, cold or just sheer perversity” and “usually die before they get past Malta” (1936b).

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Image 1: Crocodile caught in the 1930s. Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

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Of ancient scales

Th e earliest mention of crocodiles in Singapore appears to be in Hikayat Hang Tuah, a manuscript written between 1641 and 1739. Th e part-historical document details the Raja of Melaka’s visit to Singapore, and whilst in the “Straits of Singapura” (today’s Johor Straits), his crown fell into the water. When asking for it to be salvaged, “no one came forward, for the Straits of Singapura was infested with man-eating crocodiles, and its water ran very deep.”

No other literature mentions crocodiles in Singapore until Hikayat Abdullah (1849) by Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir (1796–1854), otherwise known as Munshi Abdullah. Employed as scribe and translator to Stamford Raffl es (1781–1826), Munshi described an encounter between fi rst resident William Farquhar (1774–1839), his dog, and a crocodile along the bank of the Rochore River during Farquhar’s time in Singapore (1819–1823). Farquhar’s dog had waded into the river and was taken by a crocodile measuring 5.5 metres. With similar feeling to the violent public humiliation and demise of Sayid Yassin [sic.], the merchant who ran amok and stabbed Farquhar in 1823, the crocodile was trapped within a barricade, speared to death and the carcass hung from a jawi-jawi (fi g or banyan) tree by the Bras Basah River.

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Munshi noted “then for the fi rst time people knew that there were crocodiles at Singapore”, but his statement was likely old news to pre-existing communities. Crocodiles were undoubtedly abundant outside of the colonial sphere, where early maps identify expanses of mangrove areas which Yee et al. (2010) estimated to have been 75km2 in 1819, compared to the 6.59km2 left today.

Th e British endeavoured to establish agricultural use of the land, leading to detailed maps of the landscape and islands. As much as appearance gave name to the likes of Tanah Merah (Red Land) and Pasir Panjang (Long Sand), so too did activities such as Tuas (an early daytime fi shing method), and biodiversity such as Pulau Buaya (Crocodile Island). On a 1868 map, a ‘Pulau Boyah’ can be seen to the southwest of Singapore; it was later called ‘Pulau Boaia’, in 1885, and fi nally ‘Pulau Buaya’, or Crocodile Island. Today, the island is enclosed with others in the reclaimed conglomeration of Jurong Island. Tay et al. (2018) gauged that 5.25km2 of mangrove area was destroyed during reclamation— this past habitat and place name suggests a historical presence of crocodiles.

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Image 2: Survey Map of the Island of Singapore and its Dependencies, 1868. The name ‘Pulau Boyah’ was used before the island became Pulau Buaya. Survey Department Collection. Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

To the south was Pulau Pawai, previously also named ‘Alligator Island’ on older maps. A report in 1937 said it had a “thick jungle and mangrove swamp run across the centre of the island”, an ideal habitat for crocodiles.

As with other islands, there are also names owing to folklore, ‘Kusu’ (Hokkien: 龟屿 or Tortoise Islet) is an example of a Malay and Chinese legend, with the hero as a turtle who turned into an island to save some shipwrecked fi shermen. Perhaps elsewhere in the midst of time there had been crocodile legends on Pulau Pawai and Pulau Buaya.

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Image 3: Hydrographic Chart, 1855, showing ‘Alligator Island’, known today as Pulau Pawai. ‘Mangrove Island’ was an alternative name for Pulau Simakow, or what we know as Pulau Semakau today. Urban Redevelopment Authority Collection. Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

Mis/aligned perspectives of dark and light

Aligning legends and folklore with mythologies, the perceptions of crocodiles in Singapore touch upon belief systems spanning a huge geographical range from India to China, through Southeast Asia, and parts of Oceania. As cultures have merged, so too have these belief systems, which have developed similarities in their construction and re-construction over time.

Across the world, the crocodile is occasionally depicted on the axis mundi, or world tree, or cosmic axis, where the vertical

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plane of the underworld to the upperworld intersects with the horizontal plane of earth and the physical human journey of life.

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In Singapore the crocodile is seen as a guardian on the horizontal plane: for example, in 1960 in Sungei Kadut, a 6-metre crocodile was regarded as guardian of the river and protector of the fi shermen. It was perceived as sacred and kramat. In Indonesia, it was also noted by Wessing (2006) as being allied with ancestors or nature spirits who guard the borders of a village and their descendants. On the vertical plane, it is within the watery underworld, symbolic of femininity and fertility, unlike the dark ominous imagery oft en conjured by the term ‘underworld’.

Th e crocodile also features in thaumaturgical practice (of magic and miracle) and therianthropy (of human to animal transformation), such as the Malay origin of the crocodile recorded in Malay Magic (1900) by anthropologist Walter William Skeat (1866–1953). A mother took her child, Sarilang, to bathe in the river but he slipped from her hands. Th at night, she dreamt of her son and was told to go to the river the next day. On doing so, she saw Sarilang, and who had turned into a crocodile from the waist down. Now called ‘Toh (or Tok) Sarilang’, he told her to return in 14 days with an egg and a plantain. On returning, she found he had turned entirely into a crocodile. Henceforth, in aiming to cease the ferocity of a man-eating crocodile, a handful of rice, an egg and a plantain should be off ered at the riverbank, and Toh Sarilang’s name should be called.

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Th e unspoken power of the crocodile has also been used in motifs for luck and strength. In the NUS Museum collections, a crocodile can be seen on the side of an 18th century Malay swivel-gun, a

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lantaka. Asian Civilisations Museum also displayed a crocodile shaped ingot, or tin money, typically used by a talisman and buried at the corner of a new tin mine.

Th e most sacred is the buaya putih (white crocodile). Even today, oral histories allude to one inhabiting the Kallang River and appearing every 20 years, though no evidence has ever proved its existence. In 1983, a crocodile-catcher ‘Buaya King’ Lee Ah Tee, who had caught more than 100 crocodiles in “the swamps and estuaries in Punggol, Potong Pasir, Whampoa River and Lim Chu Kang”, was engaged by the police to help rid Kallang River of another crocodile. Fong (1983) reported that Mr Lee would help “provided it was not a white one”. In 1939, a kramat was located on map from 1842. Legend was that before urbanisation, a white crocodile would climb the hill each week, sleep beside a tomb and return to the river the next day. Th e mystery of them stems from Hikayat Hang Tuah: in retrieving the Raja’s lost crown, the Laksamana’s keris was taken by a white crocodile. Skeat (1900) says, “I may add that royal blood is supposed by many Malays to be white, and this is the pivot on which the plot of not a few Malay folk-tales is made to turn.”

In riddance and revival

In more physical realities of the 19th and early 20th century, the response to wild crocodiles varied from capture for a pet, killings for a taxidermy trophy, and killing due to danger. Th ey were frequently reported as “horrid”, “a scourge”, “a brute”, and at least 172 individuals were captured and/or killed through various means since 1819.

It became publicly apparent that the presence of crocodiles and tigers were a threat to human life in Singapore. In September 1843, some Chinese gambier planters came up with a monetary

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incentive as a reward for the ‘destruction’ of tigers. Restalrig (1843) states, “Th ese animals have long been the scourge of the country population and it is a stigma upon the Government of Singapore that energetic measures have not hitherto been taken to arrest the frightful loss of human life thus occasioned. We do not however think this object can be directly accomplished by holding out rewards for tiger’s heads.” Still, not long aft er, incentives were introduced to rid Malaya of ‘noxious’ and life-threatening animals. A reward was also raised for the capture of crocodiles in 1852, and the fi rst Government reward appeared in 1870, believed to be fi ve dollars for an “alligator upwards of nine feet in length”. In total, 19 crocodiles were recorded to have been taken to the police in hope of reward, or “to town” for sale. Rewards in Malaya in 1908 were 25 cents per foot (length), and 10 cents for each egg.

Methods for capturing crocodiles varied depending on who was in pursuit. Colonials typically used guns, while local communities had a much wider range of methods from noosing, netting, hook and bait, and the use of an alir, as noted by Hornaday in Two Years in the Jungle (1885). Th e alir, which is also known as nibong, consists of a hardwood spike, sharpened at both ends and tied to a length of rope or rattan joined to a fl oating coconut. Th e spike is fi tted with bait, typically a duck or chicken, and is left near the water or on a raft . When the crocodile swallows the bait, it also swallows the spike. Th e coconut then fl oats in the river showing the location of the crocodile. Th e spike is trapped in the stomach and when pulled causes lacerations, resulting in death.

Many of the crocodiles that were killed were then opened up to see what they might have consumed, such as the dog collars in the 1933 crocodile. One of the most shocking fi nds was in 1886, when a woman collecting clams and prawns in the Punggol river disappeared. Th e following week, a crocodile was killed and on being opened, the woman was found inside.

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In total, 41 crocodile attacks (27 non-fatal, 14 fatal) have been recorded since the fi rst in 1842 and the most recent in 1989.

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Th ese attacks were mostly upon people working in or close to a waterbody, before urbanisation and when more mangroves existed. In some instances, the human retaliated; some of those who were attacked held on to something to prevent being dragged into deeper water, as many have described the crocodile’s seeming intent. In two cases, the human prey survived by blinding the crocodile—one in 1898 with a hatchet, and the other in 1899 by gouging out the eyes with keys.

Th ere is a tale in both Malay Magic and Th e Straits Times (1907) that suggests the crocodile rids itself of guilt by burying a human body and leaving it to decompose. Upon doing so, it calls out over the water:

It was not I, O Sun! Not I, O Moon! Not I, O Stars! Bear witness all that it was not I, not I that killed this man; the water killed him.

Despite the fear and hunting of crocodiles, people still kept them as pets, and they oft en outgrew their captive homes and would be let free. In the 1800s, a Captain Gamble had put his pet crocodile in the Botanic Gardens lake, which led to chaos. It bit a Javanese gardener who was fetching water, and a search for the crocodile began; in 1892 the lake was drained, beat and poisoned with tuba roots. Blowing up the lake with dynamite was also contemplated, but “no dynamite can conveniently be had” and the crocodile was never found. Botanic Gardens Director, Henry Ridley (1855–1956) spoke in 1899 of crocodiles as “a rather stupid animal” and one at “the Gardens would come out of the water for a piece of meat when whistled to.”

More recently, in 1968, a pet crocodile kept at a laundry company in Delta Road bit a worker. In 1974, a 4.8 metre crocodile was donated to the Singapore Zoological Gardens by Joseph Lee as it had grown too big to keep. In 1989, St Nicholas Girls’ School in Ang Mo Kio had a crocodile pond with six juvenile crocodiles

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donated by Jurong Crocodile Paradise, a crocodile breeding farm fronted by daily shows off ering audiences a performance ‘spectacle’ of men wrestling with crocodiles. Th e commercialisation of crocodile skin had boomed since an initiative mentioned in 1924 urging for them to be put to ‘use’. Over the years, Singapore became internationally renowned for its crocodile skin trade and was described in 2006 as “primarily an entrepôt and processor, as well as having one of the world’s largest tanneries.” Th is commercialisation ran alongside Singapore’s development and urbanisation, and the close proximity and everyday presence of crocodiles dissipated into the remaining undisturbed mangrove areas. Th eir lack of presence led to the thinking that they were long gone, and in 1996 they were reported as “regionally extinct” in Singapore.

Image 4: The performances at the Jurong Crocodile Paradise, 1980. Singapore Tourist Promotion Board Collection. Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

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Quiet, under a last word

Th e human-nature connection has changed dramatically since the early days of predator eradication. Our awareness is stronger and our intention is much more harmonious.

Over time, the crocodile’s elusive manner has run parallel to its national publicity; rising and falling, dependent on depictions of where it should and shouldn’t be. Only recently have crocodiles really made a ‘come back’ in the public eye, as social media reports show an abundance of images and footage of the same few crocodiles that inhabitant the protected mangroves of the northwest corner of Singapore. Yet, all the while they have quietly continued their ancient journey, while we continue to modify and adapt our moral compass in our views of nature. Despite our modern-day access to all kinds of research and knowledge, the crocodile continues to off er us the imagination of mystery, and the curiosity of their lives in the rivers and streams that give us borders.

“Our knees are like mirrors to the crocodiles, he said.”

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Glossary

alir: a piece of wood shaved and sharpened at both ends to form a spike, used with a fl oating coconut and bait to catch crocodiles. Alir also refers to something whose movement is reliant on something else, i.e. a fl oating log is reliant on the movement of the water.

amok: as in ‘to run amok’ or ‘gone wild’, a sudden uncontrolled assault against people or objects.

buaya: a Malay term for crocodile, or crocodilian.

entrepôt: a place of import and export.

ingot: a block of metal, typically tin, silver, or gold.

keris: also kris. A Malay or Indonesian cutting device, typically with a waved blade and oft en spiritually imbued.

kramat: also keramat. A spiritual place, object or being, oft en providing protection, or thought to cure sickness through otherworldly power.

laksamana: the highest rank of naval offi cer, such as an admiral.

lantaka: a 18th century Malay swivel-gun, typically found on a ship.

mesopredator: a mid-ranking predator, which preys and is preyed upon.

nibong: a piece of wood shaved and sharpened at both ends to form a spike.

orang laut: a seafaring group of people, or sea nomads, typically living in the waters around Singapore, Malaysia, and Riau Islands.

pulau: a Malay term for island.

raja: derived from Sanskrit, also spelt rajah, meaning king or ruler.

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rimau: taken from harimau, the Malay term for tiger.

saurian: of or like a lizard; a general term for larger reptiles and oft en dinosaurs.

shikari: a hunter, particularly of ‘big game’, or a guide on a hunting expedition.

toh or tok: derived from Dato or Datuk, meaning grandfather or sir/sire, used as a term of respect.

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About the author

Kate Pocklington is the Conservator at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) at the National University of Singapore. Her 5-year research on crocodiles in Singapore is an ongoing project and incorporates the collaboration between LKCNHM and NUS Museum—the prep-room project Buaya: Th e Making of a Non-Myth, which was held at NUS Museum (2016–2018). Her conservation work crosses art and science, and prevents degradation of natural history specimens. Her research on the specimens draws upon paths of nature as history, and aims at revitalising the history of science and nature.

About the illustrator

Fyerool Darma (b. 1987) is an artist whose oeuvre is based on an extensive visual vocabulary drawn from popular culture, literature, archives, the internet, and his life.

He graduated with a degree in Fine Arts and has presented his artistic projects at institutions, expositions and artist-run spaces in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Shanghai, South Korea, New York and London. At this moment in writing, Fyerool continues to live and work in Singapore.

About Ethos Books

Giving voice to emerging and exciting writers from diverse backgrounds, we help foster an environment in which literature and the arts not only survive, but thrive.

Th at’s why our authors and their ideas come fi rst. By taking a collaborative approach to publishing, we bring each author’s voice and vision to fruition.

We are always open to new ideas: diff erent ways of working and fresh ways of delivering the unparalleled satisfaction only a good book can bring.

Established in 1997, Ethos Books, an imprint of Pagesetters Services Pte Ltd, aims to create books that capture the spirit of a people and refl ect the ethos of our changing times.

Visit us at www.ethosbooks.com.sg

About Coverkitchen

Coverkitchen is an award-winning book cover art studio based in Bangkok. Founded in 2006 by Xavier Comas and Rafael Andres, a Barcelona-born team of creatives with over 30-year experience in visual arts. True to its international and multicultural profi le, Coverkitchen designs covers for both publishers and independent authors worldwide in English, Spanish, Catalan, Dutch, German, French, Turkish and Arabic. Among its awarded covers are Viajo Sola by Samuel Bjork and Th e Devil’s Garden by Nigel Barley. To review our portfolio visit www.coverkitchen.com