The Orang Seletar, the sea people of the Johor Strait
Long before the airbase, Seletar was home to the Orang Seletar — one of the Orang Laut, or “sea people”, groups of the waters between Singapore and the Malay Peninsula.
Life on the water
For centuries the Orang Seletar lived along the Tebrau (Johor) Strait. They moved through mangroves and river mouths in the pau kajang, a wooden boat that served as home for a family of up to six. When Stamford Raffles arrived in 1819, around 200 Orang Seletar were recorded among the island’s inhabitants.
Their name is linked to the Seletar area of Singapore; some writers suggest it may come from the Malay word selat, meaning strait.
Displacement and change
Coastal villages at the mouths of the Kranji and Kadut rivers and on Seletar Island gave way to development. In Singapore the community has largely assimilated into the local Malay population.
Across the strait, the Orang Seletar are recognised in Malaysia as one of the Orang Asli sub-ethnic groups. Today there are nine Orang Seletar settlements in Johor Bahru with a combined population of around 2,000.