Saturday, June 6, 2009

Pulau Duyung...Traditional Boat Maker Village...

Location: Kg Duyung Besar, 20100 Kuala Terengganu. It is very near to the Sultan Mahmud bridge.

Pulau Duyung, translated as Mermaid Island. However, it is not an island, but instead this place consists of Pulau Duyung Besar and Pulau Duyung Kecil. These 2 peninsulars extend from the mainland and river towards the sea. Particularly, Pulau Duyung is well known for boat-building, not only in Malaysia, but also towards the whole world.

We were told during our visit that the craftmen have been building traditional boats without using masterplans or blueprints. Even that, the orders have been coming in around the world, especially from Europe. The craftmen even told us that it takes years to complete to build a nice boat, especially they really need to make sure that the cengal trees (a hardwood timber also knowns as ironwood) is completely dry up. They will put the hardwood under the hot sun to make sure it is dried up.

During our tour, the craftmen told us that there are 2 orders from KRU Studio (Malaysia local film production). The orders meant for the filming purposes.

However, nowadays it is hard to get the timber as nearby primary jungle is gone. If there were any cengal tree left, it is protected by the law. If one to buy the cengal tree, one need to pay a heavy price for the timber, and subsequently increase the cost of the boat.

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