Our Backstory What We Do Media & Partners Support Us

The spirit of the sea lives on.

Hamzah Mohamad is an experienced & skilled bubu (fish trap) maker from Pulau Sudong who has been keeping this fishing tradition alive.

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Orang Laut SG is a community-led non-profit working with Indigenous coastal communities in Singapore from the Southern Islands and beyond.

We support and empower community members from Singapore’s Southern Islands and beyond through policy advocacy, research and documentation, education, and community-led initiatives, while creating opportunities for people to learn directly from community members, engage meaningfully with Indigenous perspectives, and contribute to safeguarding Singapore’s Indigenous cultural heritage.

Through this work, we seek to preserve, sustain, and revitalise the living cultures, histories, practices, and knowledge systems of the Orang Laut and Orang Pulau for present and future generations.

Goals and Visions

Strengthen Cultural Continuity

We work to preserve and continue the culture, practices and stories of Indigenous coastal communities for future generations. By documenting and sharing community stories, oral histories, Indigenous knowledge systems, and cultural practices, we recognise the sea as a living space where island traditions continue to thrive.

Support Coastal Communities

Support the empowerment and recognition of Indigenous coastal communities affected by relocation by identifying community needs, creating opportunities for fair compensation, supporting community-led initiatives, safeguarding heritage spaces and places for gathering, and strengthening platforms for self-representation and storytelling.

Foster Awareness and Education

Integrate the histories, knowledge, and narratives of the Orang Laut and Orang Pulau into formal education and public life, fostering greater awareness and understanding of Singapore's Indigenous communities and their histories, cultures, and contemporary lived experiences.

Advocate for Representation of Indigenous Coastal Communities

Advocate for the meaningful inclusion of Singapore’s Indigenous island communities in policy-making and urban development, ensuring that their voices, knowledge systems, histories, and cultural heritage are recognised, respected, and represented across policy, heritage, education, and public life.

Community Building

We support Indigenous coastal communities impacted by relocation. Through community-led initiatives and spaces for gathering, we strengthen self-representation, support islanders in reclaiming their roles as knowledge holders, and create livelihood opportunities through fair compensation.

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Education & Public Engagement

We connect people with Singapore’s Indigenous communities through ethical, community-led education that promotes mutual learning, meaningful relationships, and a deeper understanding of Singapore's Indigenous histories and cultures.
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Through curated experiences, educational programmes, and public engagements, we foster deeper understanding of Indigenous histories, cultures, and contemporary issues.

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Research & Documentation

We champion ethical, community-led research to document oral histories, Indigenous knowledge systems, and community narratives, ensuring communities lead the stewardship of their own knowledge.

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Living Heritage & Cultural Continuity

We preserve and revitalise the living culture, traditions, languages, practices, and maritime heritage of the Orang Laut and Orang Pulau. We support the continuation and revitalisation of Indigenous cultural practices, traditions, and knowledge for present and future generations.

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Policy, Representation & Advocacy

We work towards greater recognition and equitable representation of Indigenous peoples, knowledge systems, and histories through meaningful participation in decision-making and inclusion of community voices in formal education.

We work with civil society and governmental groups to advocate for the conservation of heritage spaces and livelihoods. One of our main objectives is to understand the community’s needs and offer them a platform to share their voices, while working towards the preservation of our cultural heritage.

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Why do we talk about Indigenous narratives?

In Singapore, the Malays are formally recognised under Article 152 of the Constitution as the Indigenous people of Singapore. At the same time, the term “Malay” in Singapore should not be understood as a single or homogeneous identity. The broader Malay community includes people with diverse ancestral and cultural roots, including Javanese, Bugis, Baweanese (Boyanese), Minangkabau, and other communities from across the Malay Archipelago, whose identities and histories have developed in different ways within Singapore.

Within and alongside this broader Malay history are communities with longstanding relationships to Singapore’s islands, coasts, rivers, and seas, including communities known as the Orang Laut, Orang Pulau, Orang Seletar, Orang Kallang, Orang Gelam, and Orang Selat, among others. These communities are similarly diverse, with distinct histories, identities, territories, cultural practices, and relationships with land and sea.

OUR BACKSTORY

I had a very candid conversation with some Southern Islanders about how they would feel if our histories were to appear in museums. A lot of us have this sentiment that we would have failed as advocates for the preservation of our culture if we only appear in museums.

It cannot end in museums for us.

Firdaus Sani

in “Art, Advocacy and Ancestral Knowledge: Olafur Eliasson in Conversation with Firdaus Sani”, Samplings, August 2024

Today, Orang Laut SG has grown into a ground-up initiative that aims to reclaim the narratives of the Southern Islanders and support community members impacted by relocation.

We strive to raise awareness and advocate for community and cultural preservation through art, advocacy, educational and outreach programmes.

ALL PROGRAMS

experiences