History

In maritime Southeast Asia, sea people/sea nomads were, and some still remain in present day, boat dwelling nomads.

Southeast Asian Sea Nomads

Southeast Asian sea nomads are divided into three groups, based on their geography, culture and language (see e.g. Sopher 1977):

1. Moken and Moklen in the Mergui Archipelago of Burma and islands of south western Thailand, near the Andaman Sea;
2. various groups collectively called the Orang Laut who occupy the waters and islands of Riau-Lingga Archipelagos, Bintan and Batam islands, eastern coasts and islands of Sumatra, Singapore and southern Johor.

• One group, the Urak Lawoi, occupy islands along the southern end of the Moken-Moklen areas in Thailand. Because of the Urak Lawoi and Moken-Moklen both reside in the northern Malacca straits, the two subgroups are usually discussed in tandem.

3. The Sama- Bajau groups, who are geographically widespread, inhabiting the waters from the Sulu archipelago, Sulawesi and towards the islands of eastern Indonesia.

For latest research regarding sea nomads like the Bajaus, Urak Lawoi and Moken, check out the book Sea Nomads of Southeast Asia: From Past to the Present (2021).

Orang Laut

The Orang Laut (lit. ‘Sea people’ in Malay) have been important players in the history of Southeast Asia for three thousand years (Andaya & Andaya, 2001, p. 14). During the time of the Srivijaya empire (7th -11th century), the Orang Laut helped guide ships to important ports, patrolled the waters around the Malay peninsula and the Riau archipelago (Andaya, 2018). During the time of the Malaccan and Johor kingdom, they served as fierce warriors and navy troops for Malay rulers and collectors of sea products for trade (Andaya, 1975; Andaya, 2008; Chou, 2003; Anderbeck, 2012, p. 266 among others). They maintained strong patron-client relations with the rulers of Malacca and Johor, but this relationship soured during the end of the 17th century, when the last Malaccan sultan (who was also the Sultan of Johor), Sultan Mahmud Shah II, was assassinated in 1699. This brought about a divide within the different tribes of Orang Laut, and loyalties towards the new ruling families waned (Trocki, 2007, p. 26).

• Much has been written about the Orang Laut and their prominent role in the early history of the Straits of Malacca. For detailed discussions, please see, for example: Wolters (1979), Sopher (1977), Andaya & Andaya (2001), Leonard Andaya (1975, 2008), Chou (2003, 2010), Trocki (2007), Barnard (2007), Khoo (2024).
  • Andaya (2019) provides a review on the work done in the historiography of sea peoples of south east asia

Orang Seletar

The Orang Seletar are one group of Orang Laut. The people currently live in the south coast of Johor. There are currently 9 Orang Seletar villages in southern Johor. Prior to the 1980s, they also lived in areas of northern Singapore. The Orang Seletar were historically a boat-dwelling people who primarily roamed the rivers and coasts of southern Johor and northern parts of Singapore island (there were, however, some sightings of them in southern part of Singapore, see Pulau Sudong Seletars in Singapore)

From the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac “Orang-Sletar, détroit de Singapour”. Please refer to Archival photographs, drawings for details on the collection.

The Orang Seletar did not always stay in their boats afloat at sea, but periodically dock their boat houses in different places, different rivers and mangrove forests/marshes at different times, depending on the seasons (monsoon seasons) and the availability of marine resources.

The Orang Seletar have been living for a long time in the waters between southern Johor and Singapore, e.g. the Tebrau Strait (Johor Strait), the Johor River, Pulai River, their many tributaries, Seletar Island and Seletar River in Singapore.

The people today live in littoral villages by the sea or rivers. Some live in concrete houses built on land by the government or by the people themselves, while others live on stilt houses over shallow water.

Houses on stilts at Kampung Sungai Temon. The towers of the Country Garden Danga Bay development looms in the background. Photo by Sadiq Sami for Malaysia Now article

Orang Seletar in Singapore

“Seletar” is a place name on Singapore island. The Orang Seletar recall living Singapore and staying in the Seletar region and Seletar Island until the 1980s. Their oral tradition also traces ancient roots to the island.

Oral traditions recall that the orang seletar had lived in Singapore since time immemorial (”when men had tails”). It was they who gave the island its name. When they were hunting for wild boars, they encountered a creature resembling a lion, and so called the island “Singa Pulau” Lion Island. (see Seletar Folklore). (Chan et al., 2019)

Apart from Singapore, the Orang Seletar also inhabited the areas of the southern coast of Johor during this time. They were and are very familiar with the many rivers and tributaries that empty out into the Johor Strait.

1200-1300s

When Sang Nila Utama arrived in Singapore, he asked the Orang Seletar the name of the island, and they in turn replied ‘Singa Pulau’, which subsequently became “Singapore”

1400s-1500s

Orang Seletar (not exactly mentioned specifically, but this can be guessed) assisted Parameswara fleeing Singapore, through Seletar to Muar and then Malacca

• One of the earliest documentation of “Seletar” (as a geographical term) is from the Sejarah Melayu depicting events from 15-16th century, where it is said that Parameswara escaped from Singapore when the Majapahit attacked by way of the Seletar river to Muar, and eventually Malacca in the 14th century (Shellabear, 1896; Brown 1952). It was with the help of the Orang Laut that Parameswara founded the new settlement of Temasek (Singapore) (Wolters 1975:77-78; Kwa 2005: 126), and the same help was given when Parameswara escaped Singapore and founded Malacca (Cortesao/Pires, 1994 (1512-1515), p. 232-235). The Orang Seletar could have assisted the escape when Parameswara stopped by Seletar before departing for Muar. However, it is unknown whether they had a distinct identity from other Orang Laut groups at the time.
  • A recent reconstruction of the possible route by Imran (2020, p. 120-121) supports this: “From Bukit Larangan to Muar, the route, protected from sea attacks, was through the large mangrove interior of Singapore, which begins, at the back of the Rochore and Kallang Rivers in the south and brings one to the upstream section of the Seletar River in the north. Also, both deep rivers were occupied by Orang Laut tribes, who would have rendered help to the feeling court.” Imran also mentions that the king would have gone to the Johor River by way of the Seletar River, and from there made his way to Muar via interior jungles and rivers (Imran, 2020, p. 121). The resource zones of the Orang Seletar cover both the north coast of Singapore and the south coast of Johor, including the Johor River. It is with no doubt that the king’s guide from Seletar to Johor were the Orang Seletar. Once in Johor, the Orang Benua Sayong (forest dwellers around the Johor River) provided assistance to the king for his journey to Muar (Imran, 2020, p. 121).

1800s

• Trocki (1979, iv) in Chou (2010 p. 52)

Examples of this fragmentation and the resulting mosaic of allegiances follow some 1,000 Orang Laut who comprised the Suku Gelam, Seletar and Kallang aligned themselves with Temenggong Abdul Rahman of Singapore, a prominent sea-lord of the time (Trocki 1979, iv). They fished for him and served as his boatmen (Sopher, 1977, p. 105).

• Turnbull (1977, p. 5) A history of Singapore, 1819 – 1975. Singapore: OUP

In January 1819, the total population of Singapore was around 1000 comprising some 500 Orang Kallang, 200 Orang Seletar, 150 Orang Glam in the Singapore river, some other Orang Laut in the Keppel Harbour or Tanjong Pagar area, 20 to 30 Malays and a similar number of Chinese.

• Sather (1999, p. 8)

At the time of Raffles’ arrival, there were said to be two Orang Laut groups living on Singapore Island and along the adjacent Johor coast. These were the Orang Seletar and the Orang Kallang or Biduanda Kallang (in Malay, biduanda means “palace servant”)

Mid 19th century in Singapore

The writings of Logan, Thomson and Lapicque mentioned they had to go to Johor to find the Orang Seletar. This might mean that the Orang Seletar weren’t constantly in Singapore, and if they were, not in huge numbers and hard to find.

Where did the 200 Orang Seletar mentioned in 1819 go? The Orang Seletar in the 19th century were probably fairly nomadic, so they would venture back and forth from Johor to Singapore frequently.

• However mid 1800s, the Orang Seletar were asked by the Temenggong to look for gutta percha (important material at the time for export and generating wealth for the Temenggong, see Trocki 1979, p. 86-90) in Johor. It is said around this time that the ruler (like the Temenggong) asked (or moved) the Orang Seletar to live in one place (see the below section)

19th century in Johor

1847-1848

• Logan (1847, p. 302): Do not venture to sea, they are not confined to one river, but frequent most of the rivers and creeks of Johore that have their mouths in the old Strait and in the wide estuary of the Johore River. Ventured into a winding creek calls Trus Bau (note: probably Sungai Tebrau)
• Thomson (1847, p. 343): In the Old Straits of Singapore. They are River nomades, their locality extends from the Santee (Sungai Santi), at the east end of the Old Strait or Salat Tambrau to Pandas (Sungai Pendas) on the west.
  • They numbered 200 people living in 40 boats
• Logan (1848): Tamungong sent Orang Seletar to look for Gatta (i.e. gutta-percha) in Johor
  • important material at the time for export and generating wealth for the Temenggong, see Trocki 1979, p. 86-90

1850s

Turnbull (1977, p. 37)

• The Orang Seletar continued their wandering existence undisturbed until the 1850s when the Johor Straits became more frequented. Some then drifted off to more peaceful creeks on the mainland, while the remainder became absorbed in the on-shore population

1866

• Jumaat (2017, Chp 3) During this time, it was said that the Orang Seletar, who lived scattered around the straits of Tebrau, were asked by the rulers to be gathered to one place, so that they can learn to live in that particular area without abandoning their way of life
  • The Temenggong was under pressure from the British government in Singapore to deter piracy, and one of the ways of doing this is by settling Orang Laut on land (Trocki, 1979; Andaya 2019)

Lapicque (1893) Tebran (=Tebrau) river

• Pictures taken at : “Sounghei Tebrao” (Sungai Tebrau, Tebrau River), “Sunghei Pento” (Sungei Pelentong??)

20th century

The 20th century saw a lot of changes to the traditional areas settled by the Orang Seletar, both in Johor and in Singapore. As Malaysia and Singapore gained independence, international borders gradually enforced, and economic development intensified throughout the century, disruptions started to occur in the settlements of the Orang Seletar.

1900

Ridley and Skeat (1900). Orang Selitar lived a long time in the rivers of the Johore Strait

1904

Pakri & Graft (2012, p. 12) cited Ridley’s “Book of Travels, p. 326 & 339” that in 1904, he travelled to Gunung Pulai

“during his trip to Johor, Ridley commented that the Sakai in the area were rumored to be descendants of “Orang Selitar”, originally from Singapore, who had been exiled to the region following the British annexation of the island port.”

[During the period of 1920s/1930s, the Orang Seletar were asked to move from Singapore to Johor by the Sultan of Johor. Not all of the people moved across the Johor Strait permanently, with a few groups returning to Singapore (periodically moving back and forth). More details see Seletars in Singapore 20th century section. The below sections cover events occuring in Johor. ]

1923
Shorrick (1968, p. 9): Seletar taken from Singapore to Pulai River

• [Chan et al. interview]: There is an ancient grave site on an islet near Pulai Golf Resort (presumed to be Forest City Golf Resort), which dates back to “from when men had tails”
• so the Orang Seletar were probably around Pulai River area even before 1920s
• [Ariffin bin Nopiah 1979, p. 12-13]: (period not much earlier than the 1930s or 1940s]. The Sultan of Johor asked the Orang Seletar to abandon their nomadic boat dwelling life and settle on land. But they refused, preferring to remain on their boats and to roam freely around the coastal waters. The Sultan then asked the Orang Seletar batin if he could at least persuade his people to establish a permanent base. This was to be at Kuala Redan.

1930s
Yang Aseng’s account. Dying Tribes. 17 Nov 2008.

(Yang Aseng was 80 years old in 2008, so he was born in the 1920s, the decade when the Causeway was built).

• It’s a stark contrast with the times of my childhood in the 1930s when one could hardly look at any stretch of the Tebrau Straits without spotting tens or even hundreds of our tribes men’s boats floating in the water. Before the Causeway was built, our tribe was one large close-knit community as we could visit each other no matter where we lived around the Tebrau Straits. We could just row our boats from Gelang Patah in the west to the Tebrau Straits to Stulang Laut at the other end, as did the merchant ships plying the waterway to get to the Tanjung Puteri Port. The causeway split our community in two as we could no longer visit those on the other side. Travelling there by land was out of the question as we rarely even set foot on dry land, let alone travelled across it.

1942-1945 WW2 (Chan et al. interview)

• During Japanese occupation, do not have houses, and food were scarce
• Exchanges with others for food, e.g. fish for cassavas, sweet potatoes
• When the Japanese came to attack, all the Orang Asli ran away scattered, some into the sea, going as far as Indonesia while some into the forest, going as far as Kuala Lumpur, Perak and Selangor
• Not allowed to cook in the day, not to be found out by Japanese and killed
• Life was difficult, ate sagu, beras ayam, beras kapur
• Life improved after the British colonials came, more freedom to go out to fish
• Communists army attack malay villages looting for food and killing them
• Kilo hear from older generation: numerous airplanes flying over their heads with bombs.
• Food prices hiked and they had to hide in the inlands.
• The 2nd part of Japanese war, numerous people dead in the sea at the Tebrau area of Stulang, Johor.

[Jamilah Ariffin 2014, p. 133-137]

• Nek Kezing of Kampung Bakar Batu: The Orang Seletar were terrified of the sound of guns and would dive into the waters to hide
• Orang Seletar were not subjected to sook ching (killings of Chinese): The soldiers never did that to the Orang Asli. However, when the war was over the Seletar people would pick the bones of the dead that they found in the jungle and throw them into a well
• Elderly Orang Seletar: During this time, the living conditions were tough and frequent reprisals against the ethnic Chinese were brutal. The Japanese soldiers would often ask of the Orang Seletar “What are you? Chinese? Malay?” They would reply “Sea people, sir.” The soldiers would move on, leaving the Orang Seletar in peace.
• However, despite the Japanese soldiers’ friendly stance towards the Orang Seletar community, this did not stop them from harassing young Seletar maidens for sexual exploits. But it is interesting to note that even though the Seletar women had to hide from the Japanese soldiers, they would still extend help to their injured in the sea and dense forests
• Nek Kezing of Kampung Seletar Bakar Batu recalled how her people had helped the injured Japanese soldiers. According to her, the Japanese cannons were hidden in the jungle facing the Johor straits. The jungle had been very dense and only the Orang Asli were familiar with it. The incapacitated Japanese soldiers could not row or swim. She remembered quite vividly how she helped them. This was by carrying them bodily on her bare shoulders across the shallower part of the river, and then rowed them over to Singapore Island in her sampan.
• Tacing bin Beting of Kampung Seletar in Simpang Arang, Gelang Patah (81 at the time of our interview) also lived through the Japanese Occupation. When he was 15, he worked for the Japanese Army by cutting mangrove bark which they sent back to Japan. He still does not know what the bark was used for. “The Japanese did not disturb the Orang Asli, but life had been difficult all the same. They dared not take the situation for granted. They were too terrified to go to the mainland to buy food, and too scared to row too far out to sea”
• Under these difficult circumstances, Tacing narrated that the Seletar people only ate whatever they could salvage from the wild, such as fruits they picked from trees in the jungle, or any edible vegetation which they found growing in the mangrove swamps. At the sound of an airplane in the sky, the Seletar people would quickly douse their cooking fires and hide in the jungle. They would sleep in total darkness at night for fear of being seen.
• However, it must be noted that despite the hatred of the Japanese towards the Chinese race and the consequent massacre, there were instances where due to some unusual (and non-documented) reasons, this general rule did not always apply to every individual Chinese.
  • This noteworthy event occurred in the Gelang Patah area where one Chinese trader named Tan, who frequented the Sungai Pulai (Pulai River) area while carrying out barter trade with sea gypsies, managed to pacify the Japanese soldiers. He saved the Orang Seletar of Sungai Cengkeh from the unpredictable atrocities (of the Japanese) and cared for them. Due to his kind deeds, he gained the everlasting friendship and confidence of the Seletar people.
  • Consequently, his son Tan Kin Tong married a local Seletar girl by the name of Serom and they produced four sons and one daughter by the name of Ah Noil. They are now living in Kampung Simpang Arang and own a thriving fish trading stall.
  • From then on, mixed marriages has become more common between the Orang Seletar natives with Chinese as well as the Malays, especially when they had relocated their settlement from the riverine area of the nearby Sungai Cengkeh to their present village called “Kampung Seletar Simpang Arang”

[Interview with a Chinese resident who lived in Simpang Arang during WW2 times]

• They lived around Sungei simpang Arang and Sungai tiram Duku. The soil was fertile, so they planted sweet potatoes, cassava and vegetables. This attracted the orang seletar. The orang seletar would trade their fish for sweet potatoes, vegetable and charcoal. The orang seletar’s language sounds like Malay, but not entirely, so they communicated with gestures.

[Yang Aseng’s account, 17 Nov 2008, new straits times]

• “During the Japanese occupation, we did not venture out to the Tebrau straits, hiding under the cover of riverine mangroves of Sungai Pulai, Sungai Skudai, Sungai Melayu and other small rivers in the area. We heard loud explosions in the distance but I was not sure whether they came from Johor Bahru or Singapore. It could have been both, because we had seen warplanes shrieking above us and zigzagging over Singapore on the other side of the Johor Straits. Luckily, none of the bombs fell near my family’s boat. The frail dugout would not have survived even the smallest fragments of the bombs as it was made only to ride the waves of the sea. The mangroves not only protected us from Japanese atrocities. They enabled us to survive the war for years by providing shelter and food. The war took human lives, but the mangroves’ fish, mur crabs and shellfish flourished. As we spent the war years hiding in the mangroves, the most notable difference to us when it ended was that we could go out to sea again. “

1948s Sungai Redan

Jumaat (2017): During the Malayan Emergency, the Orang Seletar were made to live in a fixed place Kuala Sungai Redan (estuary of Pulai River)

• especially the people of one Batin Buruk bin Nentah who lived around the east of Straits of Tebrau (i.e. at the side of the Johor River)

• so they wouldn’t be influenced by the communists
• Those who lived on boats were banned from freely move about and only given permission to work, fish up until noon, e.g. from 6 am to 6pm
• At night they are not allowed to go anywhere at all, and their movements were always monitored by the police
• The move to Kuala Sungai Redan marks the starting point of them leaving behind the traditional lifestyle they have been practicing for centuries
• In this new place, they start to live on land, and build houses or pondol kediaman
• There was a time during the emergency that the people living together were about 200
  • At the time, there was one batin who became the head, and that person was Batin Nentah Tegon (father of Batin Buruk and Batin Bacik) and his wife Edan
• The mouth of the Sungai Redan, which faces Sungai Pulai is a place filled with a lot of sea creatures and mangrove trees, rich with flora and fauna, that can help sustain the lives of the orang seletar
• Traces of their settlement can be still seen in these places, for example fragments of bowls and plates and the cement water containers (like wells) they used to store water
• Now Kuala Sungai Redan has been transformed (destroyed) incorporated into the Tanjung Pelepas port in Gelang Patah
• Sungai Pulai and its affluents have been the main location for Orang Seletar to live their lives during the emergency. Now the fishermen of Orang Seletar from Kampung Simpang Arang still find food as fishermen in this area.
• During that time in Kuala Sungai Redan, they find ibau (salt water mussels), crabs and fish and get paid/ jobs/ wages from cutting mangroves for chinese merchants to make wood for coal
• The place where they find seafood include the area around Sungai Redan, including Tanjung Kupang until Pulau Merabung (=Pulau Merambong)
• They usually go to Malay villages nearby to trade, e.g. Kampung Sungai Punai, Kampung Sungai Karang, Sungai Boh, Sungai Peradin and Jeram Batu in Pontian
• Sungai Bueh (Sungai Sembueh) is also one of the places they lived during their time in Sungai Redan
• Sungai Simpang Arang has close connections with the Orang Seletar, being one of the affluent of Sungai Pulai
• Around Sungai Bueh is the place where they bury their dead, during their time in Sungai Redan

Source of photo. Tok Batin (headman) Buruk bin Nentah, as pointed out by Jefree (his grand-nephew), according to this article

1940s-1950s, Sather (1999)

According to Ivan Polunin 1953, who carried out a brief medical study of the orang seletar in 1951, these former boat people began to abandon their traditional dug out houseboats around 1948 at the beginning of the emergency, so that by the time he began his study, most had settled around Kuala Redan where the majority of families lived for at least part of the time in houses. Boat dwelling, Polunin believed was abandoned for several reason:

1. For fear of breaking the curfew enforced during the emergency by sleeping in open boats at night
2. The difficulty of obtaining sufficiently large trees to fashion dugout vessels
3. The increasing economic dependence of the Orang Seletar upon the Chinese who came eventually to own even the houseboats in which they lived

[Ariffin bin Nopiah, 1979, p. 25]

It was during the Emergency period (1948-60s] that they began to abandon their traditional houseboats and, as Polunin writes, to settle at Kuala Redan. There they erected Malay-style wooden plank houses, raised on high wooden piles over the mudflats at the edge of the Pulai River. Thus it was possible for them to bring their boats right up to the side of the houses.

1950s-1960s Bakar Batu and Simpang Arang

[Juma’at 2017]

• In 1950s-60s, at the end of the emergency, the government wanted to resettle the Orang Asli in one place, and involve them in the country’s development
• Some orang seletar who lived in kuala redan moved to new places, incl Simpang Arang
• This area (kuala sungai redan, simpang arang) has been listed as the Orang Asli Reserve Tanjung Kupang (Rizab Orang Asli Tanjung Kupang)
  • Kampung Simpang Arang used to be called Kampung Duku
• After the Orang Seletar lived in Sungai Redan for about 20 years, there appeared some split within their community
  • The people said it was because of the issue of the places to look for food was limited and the catch was dwindling
  • Maybe the reason was because the population was growing, but they were still living in the same place at the time
  • Some of them began to leave Kuala Redan and continued their old lives of roaming around freely
    • One of the first groups to leave kuala sungai redan around 1950s was lead by Batin Nentah along with some of his family and relatives
    • They continued their roaming lives in small groups, to the east of Selat Tebrau in Kota Tinggi and also the northern part of Singapore
    • Those who resided in Kuala Sungai Redan resumed their nomadic life, and went on to build new settlements along the Tebrau Strait.
  • Whenever there are conflicts or misunderstandings, the head of the house, followed by his family members, will choose to move way to a new place
    • They were no cases of them being in physical battle or murdering each other because of the conflict
  • Once the Orang Seletar has left entirely Kuala Sungai Redan, they split up and formed small different groups, by their families and relatives
  • Many, other than families, chose to follow their friends to Sungai Simpang Arang, Kampung Bakar Batu Tanjung Skudai, Kampung Pasir Pelangi and Kuala Tiram
    • When they were in Kuala Sungai Redan they were not allowed to use the land around them, because it was stressed by the Jabatan Perhutanan (the forestry department) that the area was a reserve, Hutan Simpan Sungai Pulai
    • Sather 1999: End of 1950s decided to establish a new settlement at Bakar Batu in order to be closer to Johor Bahru town so that they might market their fish and crabs directly to the townspeople. As an inducement, the Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli (JHEOA) built houses for those who agreed to move. Not all, however, chose to live in houses, and a number of families remained boat-living through the 1960s. Beside the Orang Seletar, the new Bakar Batu settlement also included Malay and Chinese fishermen and a resident Chinese shopkeeper.
    • [Sather 1999]: Around 1960s 🡪 JHEOA suggest move from Kuala Redan to Sungai Simpang Arang, another tributary of the Pulai, but on the opposite side of the river. The reason given was so that they might cultivate crops there (at Kuala Redan, the Forest Department would not allow this, as the area was a part of the Sungai Pulai Forest Reserve). Some refused resettlement, preferring instead to continue their more independent life as boat-dwellers. Even so, they abandoned Kuala Redan and established two new settlements: one at Pasir Pelangi and the other at Kuala Tiram (Ariffin, 1979, p. 26) Those who accepted the JHEOA plan moved to Simpang Arang. Thus Kuala Redan was abandoned and the four (1980s?) Orang Seletar settlements were established.
  • [Juma’at 2017] They were those that did not agree with the resettlement initiated by the JHEOA to Kampung Simpang Arang
    • They wanted to return to their original places and roam about
  • Some of them moved to Pasir Pelangi Stulang, Stulang Buluh (Stulang Laut area) and Air Biru in Pasir Gudang and Kuala Tiram east of Selat Tebrau
  • Lebam river, a tributary of the Johor river was home to a small boat-dwelling community

[Yang Aseng’s account, New Straits times 2008]

• Soon after our country’s independence, we were given a piece of land (which later became our present settlement) by the late Sultan Ismail, who said we should change our nomadic ways.

1970s

Sather (1999): Carey’s 1970s writing gives a thoroughly misleading impression of their condition at the time, saying they are purely nomadic and not staying in any one place longer than a day or two. While in the later 1970s, many Orang Seletar still spent much of their time in boats, with the establishment of permanent settlements in the late 1950s and 60s, first at Kuala Redan, then at Bakar Batu, true boat nomadism became for the most part a thing of the past. This is not to say that full time boat living families ceased to exist entirely. In 1965, I personally visited one such group near Gelang Patah, in the company of Ivan Polunin and Geoffrey Benjamin. Though boat-living, this group was by no means nomadic, however, but moored its houseboats close to a Chinese owned charcoal kiln (probably Simpang Arang, where there is a charcoal kiln), where the men of the group were employed as woodcutters.

1979

[Arrifin bin Nopiah]

• (p. 14) Population 1974 (JHEOA data) is 374
• (p. 14)There are four Orang Seletar communities: Bakar Batu, Simpang Arang, Pasir Pelangi, Kuala Tiram
  • (p. 27) houses at Paisr Pelangi and Kuala Tiram were built by the Orang Seletar themselves. These are quite similar to the traditional houses of Malay fishermen, built of wooden planks, roofed with atap and raised on piles over the water’s edge.
  • At Simpang Arang and Bakar Batu, the Orang Seletr are living in houses put up by the pasukan pembena, a special Orang Asli construction corps which is maintained by the JOA. These modern houses are of utilitarian design, having a single living room and a kitchen and verandah. They are constructed of wooden planks, are raised on piles, and have zinc roofs.
• (p. 1) It seem to me that there were significant differences in the lifestyle of the three Seletar communities which I was able to visit
• (p. 15) Population approx 514 people

1993

Settlement at Stulang Laut ordered by state government to move to Kuala Masai (source)

History in Singapore

The Orang Seletar lived both in Singapore and Malaysia until the late 1980s, when the Orang Seletar living in Singapore moved to Malaysia. Now all the Orang Seletar settlements are in Malaysia.

• Some Orang Seletar may have stayed in Singapore after the 1980s, see more details in Seletars in Singapore

Nowadays

There are currently eight (wiki says nine) Seletar kampungs:

1. Kampung Simpang Arang
2. Kampung Bakar Batu
3. Kampung Sungai Temon
4. Kampung Telok Jawa
5. Kampung Kuala Masai
6. Kampung Pasir Putih
7. Kampung Telok Kabong
8. Kampung Pasir Salam
9. (in wiki there is another, Kampung Kong Kong), crossed referenced with Cai (2020), this seems to be synonymous with Kampung Sungai Tiram

[2022] I have been recently informed that there is also a settlement in Sungai Papan (east of the Johor River). e.g. mentioned in the article here

Only two villages — Kampung Bakar Batu and Kampung Simpang Arang — have been partly gazetted as Aboriginal Reserves under the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954 (“Act 134”).

Kampung Simpang Arang

Gazetted as an aboriginal reserve. Probably the most aided by the government in terms of facilities, housing, electricity, water etc.

[Juma’at 2017]

• First settled by 6 families that were from Kuala Sungai Redan in 1953
  • one of the earliest being Batin Lan bin Beting and his father Beting bin Buting and their family
  • initially built simple houses with wooden mangrove pillars, floored with nibung and ceiling with bamboo and roofed with nipah along the river
  • then the department built houses made from concrete and brick and the people moved into those
• The name comes from the river, sungai Simpang Arang which runs next to it, north of the kampung
• The area is 163 acres and was given by the government in 1965, only in 1973 were they given housing assistance from the JOA (Orang Asli department) (Projek Bantuan Rumah Orang Asli (PBROA)
  • house with one bed room, living room, a porch, kichen
• In this new place, the villagers are introduced and helped with agriculture, and each family were given 4 acres to plant coconut and 1 acre to plant fruit trees e.g. rambutan, cempedak, manggo, jackfruit, durian trees, seen also today
• Rizab Orang Asli Kampung Simpang Arang was known as Rizab Orang Asli Tanjung Kupang, Mukim Tanjong Kupang
• Kampung Wak Bai (location unknown) is where the people from Pasir Salam, Telok Kabong, Pasir Putih, Kuala Masai and Telok Jawa bury their dead
• This village has the largest population compared to other kampungs
• There is electricity supply, water supply, mosque, school, medical centre, preschool, jetty etc.

Kampung Bakar Batu:
Gazetted as Aboriginal Reserve
*please note that there are two Bakar Batu’s in Johor Bahru. This is the Kampung Orang Asli Bakar Batu

Lawsuits

The Orang Seletar villagers sued the state government (and related government related developers) in 2011 for compensation for the destruction of the mangroves and areas which they have inhabited for centuries. The Orang Seletar won, with the Johor High Court orders the state government compensate RM5.2 million. However, the Orang Seletar appealed to gain back land instead of monetary compensation. The appeal is ongoing.

Some related articles regarding this: [here](https://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/major-win-orang-asli-high-102447012.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAACcmy8FL0-9XtnryAtcpprk_iqHfFG6OXsLI3PSZcBT71AWTxRMUfQ1ipjjVr1wQBLDEaIA07aGVxmxeEudg6tFeLPhhMaTbLw4ywTWGxDsi2_ZvRDSR0L7RxQYOR514myRjXushZAWjQk6_6GtuhODVdKJjq7P5jp7K2cK05cFu#:~:text=JOHOR BARU%2C Sept 30 — The,Johor Baru 27 years ago.), here and here

Update 2023: 12 Jan 2023 News article by Free Malaysia Today: “

An Orang Asli Seletar tribe in Johor, whose ancestral land was taken and sold to developers, will be relocated on new land to be gazetted for their settlement.

The 85 families, who previously inhabited Kampung Sungai Temon, will also be provided houses and amenities at the new settlement in Mukim Sungai Tiram.

The agreement was recorded in a consent order entered by a three-member Court of Appeal bench chaired by Justice Yaacob Sam.

As part of the consent judgment, the Johor government agreed to contribute RM1,500 to each of the 85 families towards the purchase of furniture for their new homes.

According to the court order, the state government will also provide amenities and pay compensation of RM6,500 to the families of 50 settlers of Kampung Bakar Batu.

The families had been earlier resettled by the state government on land gazetted for their use.

• other articles of the news: here and here

Orang Seletar origin (theories)

Although Orang Seletar are referred to as Orang Laut, they lack the usual traits and practices characteristic of Orang Laut, specifically, the Orang Laut groups in the Riau-Lingga archipelago.

• The Orang Seletar economy lacked the focus on tripang and turtle hunting (Sather, 1999, p. 10; Sopher, 1977, p. 249). Also the Seletar’s habitat and economy differered so much that local Malays called them “Orang Utan Seletar” [Forest Orang Seletar] (Thomson, 1847, p. 341, Sopher, 1977, p. 107)
• The Orang Seletar do not normally venture into the sea (as in high seas) and fearful of another group of Orang Laut, the Orang Suku Galang (Thomson, 1847, p. 341; Sather, 1999, p. 10; Sopher, 1977, p. 107, p. 337
  • though they do cross the Johor/ Singapore Strait a lot, also sometimes go to the southern islands of Singapore (information from interviews), and move around in the rivers of southern Johore.
• The Orang Seletar were not part of the suku organization like Galang, Tambus, Barok, Selat etc. (Sopher, 1977, p. 107; Sather 1999, p. 10; Chou 2010). However, Chou (2010, p. 23) talks of the Seletar using the term “the Orang Suku Seletar”. The same might be said for the Orang Kallang
  • Andaya (2008, p.182): There were sub-suku,…, whose identities were only known to the larger groups, and were, like the major suku, named after islands, rivers or creeks.

Because of these differences, there are competing theories on the origins of the Orang Seletar

1. (Sather 1999 writes) Sopher suggests that the Orang Seletar were once sea nomads, similar to the others, but that, at some point in the past, they retreated into the mangrove forests, where as a consequence of their long residence, they abandoned open water voyaging and became a chiefly riverine, rather than seafaring people.
   • Sopher (1977, p. 107) “The similarities between them and the sea nomads of the Riouw-Lingga islands, contrasted with their restricted habitat and economy (absence of agar-agar, tripang and turtle from their local resources), their extremely fearful attitude toward the men of the Suku Galang, and the fact that they were not a part of the suku organization , certainly point to a not very recent transformation from sea nomads, to long residence in a relict area resulting in complete abandonment of sea-going nomadic voyages and presumably also of seafaring skills, and to a concomitant cultural decline, giving the casual “observer an impression of extraoridinary misery”
   • Sopher (1977, p. 405) Pelras data points to Seletar transformation from sea nomads are not “very recent”
   • Oral interviews from Eddy Salim from Chan et al. interviews – recalls a civil war between pirates and orang Seletar might support this theory
   • Orang Seletar have very similar rituals and beliefs (e.g. penunggu, pengeras, ancak) like the Orang Laut of Riau (see Chou 2003)
2. (Sather 1999 writes) Skeat (1906) takes an alternative view, suggesting that the Orang Seletar were once Jakun or Aboriginal Malay forest people, who secondarily adapted to the mangrove swamps and creeks of southern Johor as boat nomads. (i.e. called orang laut = sea jakun)
   • Support for this may come from
     • kun in Jakun, and kon in Seletar, both believed to be Mon-Khmer
       • Benjamin 2002, p. 53, seems to be a process where southern Aslian speakers become Jakuns, who become Orang Melayu
       • in this case Southern Aslian —> Jakun —> Seletar
     • Aslian words in Seletar
     • male midwives? Rosemary Gianno reported for Semelai (Sather 1999)
     • Kahler (1960) continuity between language of Jakun and Seletar
     • cultivation of tubers (ubi/yam) by the Seletar (seen in Skeat & Blagden also), also the reason they are sometimes called Orang Utan Seletar
     • Batin structure in Seletar and Jakun (Skeat and Blagden, 1906, p. 511. 506), also immediate adjacent forest tribes like the “Sakai of Selangor” = probably Besisi
       • Sopher 1977, p. 290, no. 12ː This form of social organization closely resembles that of the forest primitives of Malaya. In one area, the Riau-Lingga Archipelago and the adjacent coasts and island groups, the title of batin for the headman is found exclusively among the strand primitives and the forest primitives in Johore and Malacca (Jakun) on the islands, and the east coast of Sumatra.
       • however oral interview reveals that batin is Malay usage, and the Seletar themselves use ketuak
   • may not be entire origin came from Aslian, but more of Aslian contact, maybe with the Besisi
     • Sopher 1977, p. 53, 67, 333: The Besisi were sometimes called Orang Laut, not because they are culturally Orang Laut, but because they live near the sea. They are fihsermen, but they fish in rivers more than the sea, also collect shellfish.
     • p. 67 “they have relations with the orang laut of johore coast”
     • “The cryptic remark about their relations with the Orang laut of the johore coast can hardly mean that they travel to that vicinity: the converse is more likely to be true. Most probably however they are visited or have been visited in the past by maritime people from the riau lingga territory of Johore who may have at one time formed a settlement or temporary camp in their vicinity intermarrying with the local coast dwelling groups. This would account for the besisi knowing some songs of the maritime people as these cultural items are easily borrowed and would explain too their claims of kinship. More than this cannot be inferred, sea nomads or descendants of sea nomads, except as a result of slight intermixing with such foreign groups.”
     • “Orang Laut of the Johor Coast” could be Seletar, but also could be Orang Laut from Riau-Lingga like the Orang Tambus, Mantang, Galang, Pusek, Sekanak, Bark, Moro and Sugi. As they regularly visit the Johor Singapore coast (Sather 1999, p. 10 citing Skeat and Ridley 1900, p. 248).
       • Logan 1847, “The Binua of Johore” p. 246:the sea nomades (orang tambusa, termed also orang laut and ryat laut, people of the sea, who lurk about the estuaries and creek’s of Johore, Libbam (=modern day Lebam river) and other rivers along the southern coast of the peninsula
     • Batin structure mentioned above
     • from Seletar Folklore, there is the story of the Great Flood, where the Seletar informant say the Besisi = Mah Meri also possess the same story, and that the Besisi are also Orang Laut
   • or maybe that theory 2 is history that precededed theory 1
     • before Orang Laut became Sea people, they were forest dwellers.
     • Sopher 1977, p. 290 “Although little reliable information exists for the former sea nomads of the riau lingga archipelago, the racial characteristics of the forest primitives of the area adjacent to the archipelago correspond to the general type of the sea nomads.”

Related to theory 1 —> Probably the Orang Seletar come from a specialization of function from a larger group of Orang Laut of Riau-Lingga

• Chou (2010, p. 21): “It is clear that putting together a complete picture of all the groups is to say the least not an easy task. Several reasons account for this difficulty. In the course of time, functions of some groups changed or were modified. Sometimes they were even given new responsibilities. The Malay rulers required an array of services. Intermittently, new or modified tasks were assigned to the existing groups or new ones were created out of necessity to satisfy the most recent demands. Sometimes the Malay overlords would move a group to a new location to provide some needed service or to supply the manpower needed to exploit the area’s resources (Sopher, 1977, 102).
• It might be possible that the Orang Seletar emerged out of a group of Orang Laut adapted / assigned to a specific task/function, for example, collecting forest products such as gutta-percha for the Temenggong, as described in Logan 1848, but at a much earlier date; or even providing entertainment such as dancing, Chou 2010, p. 23. The modern Orang Seletar still have memories of their members singing and dancing, gathering mangrove products for the Johor Sultans, as well as accompanying the Sultans during their hunting trips (Mariam 2002, p. 280). It is unclear how long this Seletar-Sultan relationship has been going on. It likely is an extension from the close relationship the Orang Laut had with their Malay rulers back when Malay kingdoms started forming in the 14th century.
• Another possible task could providing guidance: One of the earliest documentation of “Seletar” (as a geographical term) is from the Sejarah Melayu depicting events from 15-16th century, where it is said that Parameswara escaped from Singapore when the Majapahit attacked by way of the Seletar river to Muar, and eventually Malacca in the 14th century (Shellabear, 1896; Brown 1952). It was with the help of the Orang Laut that Parameswara founded the new settlement of Temasek (Singapore) (Wolters 1975:77-78; Kwa 2005: 126), and the same help was given when Parameswara escaped Singapore and founded Malacca (Cortesao/Pires, 1994 (1512-1515), p. 232-235). The Orang Seletar could have assisted the escape when Parameswara stopped by Seletar before departing for Muar. However, it is unknown whether they had a distinct identity from other Orang Laut groups at the time.
  • update: supporting evidence: litar in selitar has a meaning of a circuit. The Orang Kallang and the Orang Seletar formed a circuit of Orang Laut aiding the Sultan.
  • A reconstruction of the possible route by Imran (2020, p. 120-121): “From Bukit Larangan to Muar, the route, protected from sea attacks, was through the large mangrove interior of Singapore, which begins, at the back of the Rochore and Kallang Rivers in the south and brings one to the upstream section of the Seletar River in the north. Also, both deep rivers were occupied by Orang Laut tribes, who would have rendered help to the feeling court.” Imran also mentions that the king would have gone to the Johor River by way of the Seletar River, and from there made his way to Muar via interior jungles and rivers (Imran, 2020, p. 121). The resource zones of the Orang Seletar cover both the north coast of Singapore and the south coast of Johor, including the Johor River. It is with no doubt that the king’s guide from Seletar to Johor were the Orang Seletar. Once in Johor, the Orang Benua Sayong (forest dwellers around the Johor River) provided assistance to the king for his journey to Muar (Imran, 2020, p. 121).
  • Andaya (2008. p. 196) After the fall of Melaka to the Portugeuese in 1511, the last ruler of the kingdom fled upriver to royal residence in Bertam. From there he went to Muar, then upriver via the Penarikan route to the Pahang River, then down river to the coast, and finally by sea to Bintan. Except for the flight to Pahang, it was a retracing in the opposite direction of the very route taken by the Sri Tri Buana/Permaisura in the founding of Melaka. The route was deliberately chosen because it offered protection by the Orang Laut, who demonstrated a fierce loyalty to their Malayu lord.
    • Orang Seletar could have been one of the groups of Orang Laut, as the route traversed quite a big area and possible involved many different groups of Orang Laut/Inland Orang Asli in different areas.
    • The Orang Seletar could also have been involved (along with other orang laut groups) in the guiding / guarding of the capital of Johor Sultanate when it was moved (several times) to the Johor River (Kota Tinggi). The Johor river is one of the resource zones of the modern Orang Seletar, and their ancestors could have been exploiting the river’s resources for centuries. The guiding and guarding could have been done in cooperation with other orang laut groups.
      • Andaya (2008. p. 197): The decision of Sultan Alauddin and many of his successors to establish their capital somewhere up the Johor River was a sensible one. The Orang Laut patrolling the mouth of the river could give adequate warning of any approaching enemy fleet, as well as assemble Orang Laut in the neighboring islands to help defend the ruler. Equally important was that the river empties into one of the busiest waterways in the region. Between the Hook of Barbukit on the Johor mainland and the island Pedra Branca (Pulau Batu Putih) were three channels through which ships could sail between the South China Sea and the southern entrance of the Straits of Melaka. This was a particularly dangerous stretch that claimed many ships even in the nineteenth century. The task of the Orang Laut was to guide traders through these treacherous straits up the Johor River to the capital and to attack those considered to be Johor’s competitors or enemies.
• Allegiance between the Orang Laut and the Sultans of Johor-Melaka kingdom fragmented after 1699, where the last direct descendant of Parameswara was assassinated (Bernard, 2007, p. 41-42). By the 19th century, allegiance within the Orang Laut were complicated, as different groups were loyal to different Malay lords and rulers Chou (2010, p. 52) citing Trocki (1979, iv) revealed that some 10,000 Orang Laut who comprised the Suku Gelam, Seletar and Kallang aligned themselves with Temenggong Abdul Rahman of Singapore
  • The Temenggong supported Tengku Hussein (the Temenggongbeing a brother-in-law of Tengku Hussein. Tengku Hussein was crowned by the British to oppose the Dutch-backed Sultan Abdul Rahman in Riau. Sultan Abdul Rahman had Orang Laut supporting him as well, possible much much more than Tengku Hussein (Andaya, 2008, p. 191: “It mattered not that the Europeans had created two separate divisions; the Orang Laut continued to see the Sultan of Riau-Lingga as their true lord”)
• This time (Late 17th century to 19th century) would be a likely timeline where the Orang Seletar emerge as a distinct group/ or when they broke off from larger orang laut groups and go find seclusion. Oral history recounts civil war between the Orang Seletar and the “pirates” (Chan et al. interview). The pirates seem to be the plundering Orang Sekanak and Galang, whom the Orang Seletar were fearful of (Thomson, 1847, p. 341). The Sekanak and Galang were often employed by Malay lords in large scale raids and piracy in the first half of the 19th century (Sopher, 1977). Sopher (1977, p. 290) suggested that the harassments of the more violent groups contributed to the dispersion of other sea nomad groups.
• Ethnonym adoption as fairly fluid (Chou, 2010, p. 25). “Anthropological literature on the Malay World has also indicated that ethnonyms may undergo periodic or episodic transformations, especially when a people are faced with pressures, such as gaining status recognition in their interaction with dominant reference groups. Their latent ethnonyms may reappear with changed circumstances or when new allegiances are formed. Occasionally an amalgamation develops so that the different groups may elect to adopt a new group ethnonym while also retaining their formal identities (Hitchcock, 1996, p. 13)”