Our GC works closely with the NGO – The Island Foundation (TIF), as well as the FIB students at our school. Every year, FIBs go on two service trips to Panglong Village, the indigenous community that the NGO is helping with, to carry out their service projects.
About The Island Foundation & Orang Suku Laut
The Island Foundation NGO aims to create “a network of thriving coastal communities in the Riau Archipelago”. It helps the Orang Suku Laut, an indigenous fishing community at Panglong Village of Bintan, Indonesia. The Orang Suku Laut is the original inhabitants of Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago. They used to be the People of the Sea and live on the water in their fishing boats, the sampan, throughout the entire life. Some Orang Suku Laut families used to live in Singapore in the past. However, the maritime boundaries across Singapore and Indonesia divided in 1960s cut their connection with Singapore and inhibited them from carrying on with their lifestyle in the sea.
Nowadays, they are transferred to live on the land, in order to adapt to the social trends. There are 267 people in Panglong village and about 60% of them are at working ages. Nonetheless, they are lack of land-based skills, so fishing, their main culture and skills, is their only income source. They have fish for all three meals and sell the rest to other villages for money to buy other necessities, like clean water, vegetables. Fishing is surely not a sustainable employment for Panglong Village since it depends on numerous factors, the weather and the amount of fish in those marine areas surrounded the village. In recent years, the amount of fish starts to decrease, but the local people do not notice it and are satisfied with their lives. The unsustainable employment will lead the depletion of marine life and no income source in the future. As a result, developing a second more sustainable source of income for Panglong Village is required.
Current Situation and Projects
Panglong Village seems a happy community and most of the villagers are satisfied with their standard of living and enjoy the leisure time. Furthermore, Panglong Village is also a harmonious society where all believe in their own faiths. There are two beliefs on religions among the village, respectively are Christianity and Islam. There is no conflict between two religions and the villagers believe that religions are good, it doesn’t matter which you choose. The church and mosque is next to each other. In addition, men and women are equally valued in the village and there is no issue on gender inequality.
Nonetheless, there are still many serious issues faced by the Orang Suku Lauts and both the government and an NGO, The Island Foundation is working on several projects to solve those issues. For the issue of unsustainable employment, the government is now supporting the village financially. It provided fishing farm equipments and donates goods weekly to the village. Moreover, Kura Kura and gone fishing programs are implemented by TIF, which assist the local skills, such as handicrafts and traditional fishing, to be spread out to the international market. Gone fishing is a program to develop tourism.
Apart from the unsustainable employment, the burning of rubbish and throwing garbage on the ground is one of the environmental problems, which can lead to air pollution and affect local people’s health. Cardiovascular, diabetes, gastrointestinal and some other health problems are on the rise since fresh fruits and vegetables are not easy accessible to the village and fish is their food for every meal. The government provides health care KIS and clinics for the villagers. Moreover, in order to promote the importance of health and nutrition, TIF developed a learning farm to educate children on seeds, the importance of vegetables and nutrition, as well as to try some farming techniques to promote agriculture.
Most children are enrolled in school, however, not many of them go to school every day since they are not aware of the importance of education. Middle school and high school is too far away from Panglong Village and the transportation is not convenient. TIF started an education program and founded a learning center within the village to encourage children to learn.
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