NUS Seafarers

Two NUS Seafarers trips were undertaken in late May and early June on the schooner Four Friends. The first voyage was organised by the Special Programme in Science (SPS) and sailed from Jakarta to Pontianak over 13 days. Led by two SPS faculty, the team included undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as three SPS alumni. The thalassic voyage allowed the team to explore uninhabited islands, appreciate life in insular Southeast Asia, and interact with the native wildlife. Freeing a turtle that was entangled in a net was a poignant moment. Adhering to the spirit of SPS, each participant was responsible for a mini project related to the ocean. Projects included night-time photography of the sky, comparing the coral reefs of the region with that of Singapore, finding land without any navigational technology, how to psychologically cope with being lost at sea, and the coconut tree in tropical imagery.

The second voyage began three days after the first, journeying from Pontianak to Bintan. Organised by the Department of Southeast Asian Studies and consisting of a similarly diverse group of students and alumni, this voyage journeyed through the remote Tambelan Archipelago. Despite its inaccessibility, team members' interaction with the residents there revealed their deep connection to the region's political and economic currents which have bearings on their livelihoods as fishermen. Many were well-travelled: one had sold fish near Singapore in the 1990s and another was originally from Sulawesi. "Indeed" said Professor Jan Mrázek to the villagers on Pulau Pinang who trounced our group at volleyball, "we are also from an island, but more isolated than you, since we know nothing of the waters around us."