Pulau Pangkor : Routine, Fishermen & Fishman

7.30 a.m.


I found myself sitting in Uncle Goh’s regular coffee shop, while everyone else was still in their bed. I'm having my hot milo and prawn-mee, opposite an old noodle factory. Ironically, we suppose to “hunt” for prawns, later.

Soon afterwards, Uncle Goh arrived with Ah Ne, a hired Indian helper. Although Xiao Zhen told me about his brother's tale before, I still ask Uncle Goh "What about your son? Did he ever follow you?" "Oh, he followed me once, for half a day, spent the rest of the day vomiting. Once and for all, ha! Seasick!" Uncle Goh chuckles.

Both father and daughter asked the same question, will you? Well, same answer from me to both of them : Never try, never know! Previous snorkeling and island hooping trips on the east coast helps to prove something, I guess.


Anyway after Ah Ne bought 2 pieces of ice, we are ready for action. No, not whiskey on rock. There is no fridge on Uncle Goh’s small boat, so the ice will come in handy.

8.00 a.m.


Do you swim?

That's the first question Uncle Goh ask me soon after I jumped onto his boat. "Yes, of course, no problem!" I answered with confidence. While the question may sounds related, but the real story behind it was Ah Ne did fell to the open sea once. That's about the same time Uncle Goh found out that he can't swim!

Ah Ne survived, not about to quit, though. I am not sure if he knows how to swim now, but he must know how to earn money, I guess. Life, huh!

8.30 a.m.


It took us about half hour to reach our "destination". No radar on the boat to show us our exact location, no sonar to trace the creatures underneath the boat. With the Zone A license, I suppose the boat are well within 5 nautical mile off the coast. According to Uncle Goh, every fisherman has their own place on the sea, just like the prawns, but underwater.


That's when we start circling around, searching for the suitable location to set our nets while Ah Ne waiting in front with the floater. Upon instruction from Uncle Goh, he quickly threw the floater out, dragging the 100 meter++ gill net along, as the boat slowly cruising forward. Those nets will be left drifting with the currents, caught anything that gets in their way.


In this case, hopefully, prawns.

9.30 a.m.


It must have taken us an hour to repeat the same procedure, before we could set all 3 bundles of the nets out. Then we come back to haul the first net, release it again before going for the second net. Then the third net.


I, for one, can't wait to see what's being caught.


Not surprisingly, prawns makes up only about 20++% of the total catch. Else we'll get all sorts of fishers, crabs, squids… even jellyfish! And yes, or no - - bycatch. In this case, it's jellyfish or other much smaller catch. Normally fishes were badly wounded once they are caught on the nylon mesh, escape only to die afterwards. Sometime, when they are in hurry, smaller crabs are being crushed with hammer, while they are still tangling on the nets.

Sad but true. Imagine dolphins, sea turtle, whale...That's why drifting gill nets are banned on larger scale, they can go as long as 65km and 12 meter deep! Not sure about this one, though.

Now, the waves are getting rougher, and our boat would sway voilently especially when it stop or slow down. As the boat goes on stop-and-go while circling around, i'm feeling rather dizzy, finding it hard to stand still. I'm holidng onto something most of the time, trying not to get myself throw out of the boat. Amazingly, both Uncle Goh and Ah Ne could just stand on board, hands on their back.

12.00 p.m.


The half hour++ hauling process can be tiring, especially under the hot sun! In short pants, short sleeve T-shirt, and bare footed, I proudly stand with them for the first 3 hauls.

And that was it. I took most of my time relaxing at the back, enjoying the view of clouds floating above Pangkor Island, with my feet half dipped in the sea water. Else I will be walking all over the small deck, taking pictures, chat with Uncle Goh and went back hiding in the shades again :)

That's when i slowly recovered from my seasickness, by keeping myself busy! Glad that i didn't throw up. It took me nearly 3 hours to get used to the new environment!


Soon after they finish the last or the 6th haul, we had our chicken rice for lunch. Good life experience to have lunch on a moving boat, standing! I caught something, no? At least, I caught the moments for Xian Zhen, since she never really saw how his dad did it! For 50 years, and still counting...

12.30 p.m.


As we are going to "park" our boat, I saw something amiss. Pardon me, I don't even realize the tidal effect until I "saw" it! Eventually both of them need to pull the mass up onto the jetty, lost some fish and crab in the process.


The caught of the day will then transported and sold to a retailer nearby, after separating them into different basket, double quick. So-called cheap fish will usually turn into fishballs, while prawns can easily worth 10 times higher, Ringgit per kilogram.

2.15 p.m.

Finally, home! Don't ask me where Uncle Goh go afterward, or what Ah Ne did with his salary, I need some rest! Hope to make a round trip of the island in bicycle, after my nap. Hope it will be as good!