BIBLIOASIA JUL – SEP 2018 Vol. 14 / Issue 02 / Feature Revulsion AND On 6 November 2017, the National Sail- sighting to cause a media flurry occurred Crocodiles were hunted down during the colonial ing Centre suspended all water-based in January 2018 at Sungei Buloh Wetland period in exchange for rewards from the authorities. activities in the sea off East Coast Park Reserve, where a crocodile was seen Villagers posing with a captured crocodile, c.1910. ofor four days after an estuarine crocodile basking under the sun on a path cutting Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. (Crocodylus porosus) – also known as the through the forest.4 saltwater crocodile – was spotted in the In colonial times, crocodiles were alarm and strike fear in people’s hearts waters there.1 This was one of five reported often caught and taken to police stations about the invasion of such large reptiles crocodile sightings in 2017, drawing both as bounty.5 These days, however, the Public into public recreational spaces. REVERENCE media and public attention to this elusive Utilities Board is more likely to receive Such sensational media reporting is reptile that inhabits the rivers, reservoirs calls from an anxious member of the based on the premise that people are more Crocodiles in Singapore and seas around Singapore.2 public whenever crocodile sightings occur comfortable appreciating crocodiles from Crocodiles have always been native to in water bodies or outside the perimeters a safe distance – confined in public spaces Singapore, but their numbers have dropped of public spaces under the purview of the such as zoos and farms.7 Those who grew Crocodiles elicit fear and respect by turns – and occasionally, drastically due to unbridled hunting as well National Parks Board. The Animal Con- up in the 1980s and 90s would remember as destruction of their natural habitats cerns Research and Education Society two such attractions that promised the even indifference. Kate Pocklington and Siddharta Perez throughout Singapore’s modern history. In (ACRES) too receives its share of calls thrill of being “up close and personal” document reptilian encounters at specific times in Singapore’s their search for new habitats, these reptiles to assist in the rescue and relo cation of with crocodiles. have often strayed into urban areas. wildlife that have strayed into public spaces. The Singapore Crocodilarium at East history and their impact on the human psyche. One of the early documented crocodile Coast Parkway and Jurong Reptile and encounters in a public space took place Reptilian Encounters Crocodile Paradise, which opened in 1981 in 1906 at the Swimming Club at Tanjong and 1988 respectively, bred crocodiles and Katong. The reptile was seen sunning itself Not surprisingly, sightings of crocodiles staged performances that attracted large Kate Pocklington is a Conservator at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum. She heads the on the club’s diving platform when someone in urban Singapore are treated as freak crowds. Stuntmen would risk life and limb collaborative research project, Buaya: The Making of a Non-Myth, at NUS Museum. Siddharta Perez is a 6 Curator at NUS Museum. Buaya is one of the prep-room research projects she is currently managing. took a shot at the creature, prompting it to occurrences. Mistaken identity aside, as they wrestled with the reptiles as a form flee in haste.3 The most recent recorded media reports of crocodile sightings raise of entertainment.8 14 15 BIBLIOASIA JUL – SEP 2018 Vol. 14 / Issue 02 / Feature Revulsion AND On 6 November 2017, the National Sail- sighting to cause a media flurry occurred Crocodiles were hunted down during the colonial ing Centre suspended all water-based in January 2018 at Sungei Buloh Wetland period in exchange for rewards from the authorities. activities in the sea off East Coast Park Reserve, where a crocodile was seen Villagers posing with a captured crocodile, c.1910. ofor four days after an estuarine crocodile basking under the sun on a path cutting Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. (Crocodylus porosus) – also known as the through the forest.4 saltwater crocodile – was spotted in the In colonial times, crocodiles were alarm and strike fear in people’s hearts waters there.1 This was one of five reported often caught and taken to police stations about the invasion of such large reptiles crocodile sightings in 2017, drawing both as bounty.5 These days, however, the Public into public recreational spaces. REVERENCE media and public attention to this elusive Utilities Board is more likely to receive Such sensational media reporting is reptile that inhabits the rivers, reservoirs calls from an anxious member of the based on the premise that people are more Crocodiles in Singapore and seas around Singapore.2 public whenever crocodile sightings occur comfortable appreciating crocodiles from Crocodiles have always been native to in water bodies or outside the perimeters a safe distance – confined in public spaces Singapore, but their numbers have dropped of public spaces under the purview of the such as zoos and farms.7 Those who grew Crocodiles elicit fear and respect by turns – and occasionally, drastically due to unbridled hunting as well National Parks Board. The Animal Con- up in the 1980s and 90s would remember as destruction of their natural habitats cerns Research and Education Society two such attractions that promised the even indifference. Kate Pocklington and Siddharta Perez throughout Singapore’s modern history. In (ACRES) too receives its share of calls thrill of being “up close and personal” document reptilian encounters at specific times in Singapore’s their search for new habitats, these reptiles to assist in the rescue and relo cation of with crocodiles. have often strayed into urban areas. wildlife that have strayed into public spaces. The Singapore Crocodilarium at East history and their impact on the human psyche. One of the early documented crocodile Coast Parkway and Jurong Reptile and encounters in a public space took place Reptilian Encounters Crocodile Paradise, which opened in 1981 in 1906 at the Swimming Club at Tanjong and 1988 respectively, bred crocodiles and Katong. The reptile was seen sunning itself Not surprisingly, sightings of crocodiles staged performances that attracted large Kate Pocklington is a Conservator at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum. She heads the on the club’s diving platform when someone in urban Singapore are treated as freak crowds. Stuntmen would risk life and limb collaborative research project, Buaya: The Making of a Non-Myth, at NUS Museum. Siddharta Perez is a 6 Curator at NUS Museum. Buaya is one of the prep-room research projects she is currently managing. took a shot at the creature, prompting it to occurrences. Mistaken identity aside, as they wrestled with the reptiles as a form flee in haste.3 The most recent recorded media reports of crocodile sightings raise of entertainment.8 14 15 BIBLIOASIA JUL – SEP 2018 Vol. 14 / Issue 02 / Feature 1960: The Year of the Crocodile on a sand bank. Fishermen would say These crocodile encounters evoked Farquhar’s dog had playfully waded a silent prayer whenever they spotted reactions in people ranging from bravado into the “Rochore River” when it was sud- In the post-colonial years, with Singapore the creature. to reverence and respect, and fear. But denly seized by a gigantic crocodile meas- facing an uncertain future, people living Residents were so protective of the there were also some who regarded the uring at least “3 fathoms” (5.5 metres). In in some parts of the island were faced creature that they would not disclose its existence of crocodiles with complete anger, Farquhar ordered for the river to with the presence of crocodiles. The location to anyone, believing that harm indifference. be barricaded and the crocodile speared range of emotions and reactions these would befall the fishermen if the sacred In August 1960, for instance, a to death. Its carcass was later hung on crocodile sightings elicited in people is crocodile moved to another site. Teo Boon crocodile suspected of escaping from a a fig tree by the “Beras Basah River” for quite fascinating. Chin, who had lived in the area for over crocodile farm in Serangoon Garden Estate all to see.20 In 1960, 31-year-old clerk Chew 20 years, indicated the area where the made itself at home in an unused water Although Munshi Abdullah claimed Kok Lee, along with a group of fisher- crocodile made its home with “a sweep hyacinth pond at nearby Vaughan Road. The that the attack on Farquhar’s dog was men from a nearby village, carried out of his arm” when he was interviewed by a creature was described as having a ten- the first time people knew of crocodiles an all-night vigil in Punggol to hunt down newspaper in March 1960. “We know the dency to submerge itself whenever people in Singapore, a text predating the Hikayat a 20- to 25-foot-long crocodile that had home of the kramat, but are not supposed looked at it. When a newspaper headline Abdullah disputes this. been terrorising fishermen in the area to tell it to anyone,” he cautioned. in The Singapore Free Press pronounced One of the accounts in Hikayat Hang (Above) The Singapore Crocodilarium at East Coast for some time.13 Another villager in Sungei Kadut by that a “Shy croc in flower pond spreads fear Tuah, a Malay text written between 1641 Park opened in 1981. The crocodile farm had an open-air pool and a sand pit for the crocodiles to Fifteen-year-old Goh Koon Seng the name of Ah Lim, who had seen the among kampong folk”, a long-time resident and 1739, tells the story of the legendary rest.