SAMPAN BOAT
Sampan, known as kolek in Malay, is a small wooden boat, skiff
or canoe-like coastal craft that is typically propelled by oars. Also known as
Chinese shoe-boats, it is a common native craft that sometimes comes with a
sail, used for fishing and short range transportation.
The word sampan had originated from the Chinese word sanpan,
meaning “boat” (san means “three” and pan means “board”). It is also spelt
champana, champan, sampane, siampan, sampaan and sampang.
Used all over Asia, the sampan was once seen in great numbers at
the Singapore River until 1983. Only a few remain currently; these can be found
in the coastal areas of mainland Singapore and the surrounding islands.
History
The earliest of this type of boats came from China, and the
Chinese sampan had been mentioned in travel writings from the West in as early
as the 17th century.
While the word and name has been applied by Europeans to any
small boat of Chinese pattern in the China seas, there are many types of
sampans – of different sizes and design variations – in Asia.
In Singapore, sampans were used along rivers and coastal areas
for fishing and short range transportation.8 Although primitive, they were for
a time virtually the sole means of transporting passengers and crew between
ships at anchorages and the various landing jetties.
Sampans were widely used in the heyday of economic activity at
the Singapore River until September 1983, when the river was cleared as part of
the river clean-up campaign.
Description
A native craft, sampans are keelless boats generally made of at
least three planks or pine boards, which gave it the Chinese name, sanpan.
Sampan also became an official English and Malay word meaning “small boat”.
Sampans are usually about 8 ft long or less, while the large versions are about
20 to 23 ft long. The largest sampans, which are about 30 ft long, are used as
cargo carriers or trading vessels.A small-sized craft has a capacity of up to
three people; it was also used to carry small amounts of goods in the past, as
well as hawking snacks and sundry items at the waterfront.
Usually propelled by a short, single-bladed or double-bladed
paddle, the more modern sampans are outboard motor powered.
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