The racing kolek of the Riau Islands (and formerly of Singapore)

Growing up in Singapore, I was aware of racing koleks, but I don't think I ever saw them, except in photographs. They captured my imagination, and later I tried to find out more.

The kolek is a type of open undecked boat found in the Riau archipelago, Singapore and Johore. These places were once part of the Old Johor Sultanate, but during the colonial period they were divided between the British (Singapore and Malaya) and the Dutch (he Dutch East Indies, later Indonesia).

Alexander Hamilton's "A Map of the Dominions of Johore and of the Island of Sumatra with the Adjacent Islands" (1727). Illustrating mainland Johore, eastern Sumatra, Singapore and Riau Archipelago as a single political entity, the map was made a century prior to the partition of 1824 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PedraBranca-MapofDominionsofJohore-Hamilton-1727.jpg



Warm weather, warm water and light winds in this region allowed the development of the racing kolek, a long, lean, low sailing canoe with enormous sails, tippy and easily flooded, steered by a paddle, and kept upright by crew members hanging out over the sides, with their feet on the gunwale, holding on to ropes attached to the mast. The boats were sailed throughout 


In Singapore, they were raced by the Malay community from the 1800s to the 1970s. The men who sailed the boats mostly lived in coastal kampongs (villages). When the kampongs were cleared for redevelopment, the inhabitants were resettled in high rise apartments, and the sport died out.

45-foot Racing Kolek, Singapore

from Mast and Sail in Europe and Asia, by H. Warrington Smythe. London 1906.

http://www.thecheappages.com/smyth/mast_n_sail_10.html

https://archive.org/details/mastandsailineu00smytgoog

Lines of a Singapore racing kolek, published in the Yachtsman

from Mast and Sail in Europe and Asia, by H. Warrington Smythe. London 1906.

http://www.thecheappages.com/smyth/mast_n_sail_10.html

https://archive.org/details/mastandsailineu00smytgoog

New Year Regatta, Singapore c 1905, from a postcard. National Archives of Singapore

http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/photographs/record-details/21899044-1162-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad

In one respect the kolek was well ahead of its time. The method of keeping the boat upright by holding on to a rope attached to the mast, and hanging out over the side with feet on the gunwale only made it's appearance in England in the 1930s when Beecher Moore adopted a similar system for his boat Vagabond. (It's not clear if he worked it out for himself or got the idea from somewhere else). The first proper trapeze appeared in 1938, in Falmouth.

The good news is that kolek racing is alive and well in neighbouring Indonesia.

Source : https://www.flickr.com/photos/haryadi_be/6136469459/

As I said, I've never seen them in action myself, but Sam Fadlil has written a lively description in his blog, and you can watch a video of a recent kolek race here.

Although Singapore is one of the world's greatest seaports, there is little interest in her maritime heritage. A small Maritime Museum on Sentosa was shut down some years ago, it's collection of boats left to languish in a warehouse. In its place, the so-called "Maritime Experiential Museum", a travesty of a of shopping mall cum theme park with educational pretensions, which I visited last year. It was a dispiriting and depressing experience. However, things seem to be looking up. The Singapore National Heriage Board has set up a Maritime Heritage Fund, and there is a new Maritime Heritage Centre.

Perhaps it's time for a revival of kolek racing, not just in Singapore, but in the neighbouring Malaysian state of Johor as well, where this sport was once practiced.

The big kolek races in Indonesia are held around 17 August, their National Day. The National Day of Singapore is on 9 August, that of Malaysia on 31 August. A great time for a kolek racing circuit between the three fraternal nations. I wish I could claim credit for this idea, but it was mooted 10 years ago. See the caption at the bottom of the last picture in this article.

Timber Tongkang, the last of Singapore's sailing traders

Commercial sailing vessels lasted a long time after the invention of steamships. Right up to the second world war, large four-masted square-rigged vessels sailed the Southern Ocean carrying wool and other goods. Until the mid-1970s fishing schooners sailed to the Grand Banks off Canada in search of cod. In Indonesia today, Bugis schooners continue to carry goods under sail. Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, the brigantine Tres Hombres, which has no engine whatsoever, has been carrying goods under sail since 2009.

In Singapore, commercial sailing vessels transported goods until the mid 1980s. The last of these were the timber tongkangs, which were unique to Singapore.



These were large wooden boats, about 90 feet from stem to stern, and 30 feet wide, with a depth amidships of 12-15 feet. They carried a long bowsprit forward, which had a characteristic lattice appearance when viewed from above, and were steered with a tiller attached to a large, stern-hung perforated rudder. Timber tongkangs were built for the purpose of carrying logs of timber, although later on they also carried firewood and charcoal, and traded between Singapore, southern Johor and Sumatra. They were designed, built and sailed by Chinese, but had a western gaff ketch rig , with a boomed mizzen, a loose footed main, staysail, and jibs. Accommodation for the crew of 6 to 7 men was in a raised area at the stern.

The timber tongkang was slow and unwieldy. However, used to transport non-perishable goods, it was economical to operate and could be used in areas with rudimentary port facilities, which explains why it persisted as long as it did.

I've been doing some research into these vessels which were a characteristic feature of the Kallang Basin in Singapore (now part of the Marina Bay), and I'll be writing more about them.

The Singapore House 1819 - 1942 by Lee Kip Lin

The Singapore House 1819 - 1942 by Lee Kip Lin (my father) is a detailed account of Singapore domestic architecture during the colonial period, from the foundation of the colony up to its fall to the Japanese. It is beautifully illustrated and very readable, a great resource for anyone interested in the topic. It remains to this day the only major work on the subject.


Published in 1988, it has been out of print for many years but has now been reissued in a facsimile edition by Marshall Cavendish, and is currently available in bookshops in Singapore, as well as from online retailers.

I was invited to write a tip in page for special copies of the book. Here is what I wrote:

My father was born in 1925, just after the high noon of the British Empire, and grew up surrounded by the houses described in this book. Shortly after the Japanese occupation, he departed for Britain where he studied architecture at the Bartlett School of University College London. He then worked for a bit as an architect for the London County Council before returning to Singapore. Although his training took place in the 1950s during the heroic period of modern architecture, students at the Bartlett chafed under a curriculum that was heavily traditional, and grounded in the classics. One of the things he had to do as a first year student was to render in line and wash a Corinthian column, as well as the alphabet in Roman letters, for which he was awarded "first mention".

However in his outlook and practice he was always a firm modernist, and he believed that architecture should reflect the spirit, materials and technology of the age. He was totally opposed to building in the styles of the past.

Those who spend a substantial time abroad often appreciate and see things in their native land in ways which they otherwise might not. Going to England in the 1950s was a very different proposition from what it is now. Travel between Singapore and England took several weeks by sea, and people did not generally come home for holidays because of the time and expense. There were few foreigners, and rice was mostly served as a dessert. It was a totally immersive experience.

I think that having spent years in England, studying and visiting the architectural wonders of Britain and Europe, he returned to Singapore to find that there were marvellous things all around him which everyone either took for granted, or dismissed out of hand. When he started photographing and researching the houses and buildings of Singapore, almost nobody was interested in such things. After independence, rapid urban redevelopment, coupled with a lack of appreciation of our architectural heritage, resulted in demolition of old houses and buildings on a massive scale, often to be replaced by inferior work. Many of the buildings depicted in this book are long gone.

I believe that my father would have been pleased by the growing interest in Singapore for our history and heritage. Just enough of pre-war architecture remains so that we can get some sense of what it was like before the war. And I think that he would also be pleased that today's architects in Singapore are designing buildings of our own time and age.

Now, in an era of apartment blocks and condos, The Singapore House changes our perspective.

The Singapore House 1819 - 1942 by Lee Kip Lin
First published in 1988, Facsimile edition 2015 by Marshall Cavendish
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