The Ferryman. Sailing on rivers, cruising across two shores, ferrying people across the Sepang river, handling a small ferry, closing the gap between two states, and ease countless passengers who cross the river. The Tang family has been operating at this jetty for three generations, never ceasing in maintaining this travel passage for inhabitants from these two shores.
The Sepang river flows between the states of Negeri Sembilan and Selangor, a work of nature separating two states. Not only is Sepang river the source of living for neighbouring villagers, it also bridges economical activity for residents from both ends. Transportation via water plays an important role, especially between Sungai Pelek located in the southeast part of Selangor and Bukit Pelanduk located at the northwest of Negeri Sembilan.
In the earlier days where land transportation were not developed, the inhabitants in the proximity are dependent on the boat service, where students go to school, housewives go shopping, farmers go to work, and more on. The scene back then was extremely busy, with plenty of boats crossing to and fro the river. In the golden era, there were plenty of boat and ferry services along the riverside, with some running their own independent business by building a simple jetty in their own territory. Since the traffic system connecting with the city were developed and roads were built, for now there is only one remaining ferry service.
The 63-year-old ferryman, who goes by Tang Kah Chai, navigates the small ferry skilfully over the shores of Negeri Sembilan (Bukit Pelanduk) and Selangor (Sungai Pelek) on a daily basis, fetching batches of passengers across the river. The family business is now in the third generation. During the Japanese occupation, Tang’s grandfather initiated the business with a small sampan rowed manually. It was hard work. In the recent decades, evolution of technology made life easier for boatmen and ferrymen, as the boats and ferries are powered by engine. This also boosted the safety of passengers, as well as increases the number of passengers each trip.
The river surface is about 150 metres wide, the trip across the shores only takes a couple of minutes, yet it employs the services of three generations of ferrymen for almost 80 years. They even earned the regard of the local community. A short encounter on the ferry daily makes passengers familiar with the ferryman, chit-chatting while on the ferry makes them more close knit, and illustrates a warm affection for each other.
Even though nowadays the traffic system is completed, the communion between Bukit Pelanduk and Sungai Pelek on the opposite side since settling in for half a century, where their living and economy has long been inseparable, however there is still no news about a bridge construction plan that the local residents were looking forward to for ages. The main communication and transport channels are travelling 20 minutes by land or two minutes by water.
Since ferries powered by engines replaced manual rowing, the tickets inflated from just a few cents to 50 cents. As the last ferryman in three generations of the Tang family, Tang Kah Chai remains committed steadfastly, crossing the river daily from early morning to the evening all year long.
For now, the two families of Tang and Chong taking turns weekly to be in charge of the jetty.
Text: Daniel Lim
有你 UNI Production
Producer : Mok Yii Chek
Coordinator : Daniel Lim
Cinematographer : Amelia Lim / Evon Pang
Drone : Daniel Lim
Video Editor : Evon Pang
Production Assistant : Michael Lerk
Music : Touching from Ashamaluev Music
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