Rural Nibong Tebal Story

In the past, a sampan service, costing half a cent, operated at this river crossing. This ferrying service, carrying both passengers and their bicycles, was the popular means for going between town and village due to its convenience and affordability. However, motorcycles became more common and popular as a faster mode of transportation in the 1990s. Finally, a pedestrian bridge built in 2010 superseded the use of sampan as a mode of local transportation. Today the jetty area is used by locals for the sale of fish and other river products. Several seafood restaurants popular among locals are also located by the jetty.

These verdant paddy fields have been the livelihood of local farmers since the 1700s. During the 1890s, the British introduced an irrigation system drawing from Sungai Kerian in an effort to increase rice yields to feed the growing labour population. Since the 2000’s, rice farmers have shifted from traditional and cooperative farming methods towards modern engineering and technology for greater efficiency. However, they face new challenges as the waterways flowing through their fields are now shallower and polluted by effluent from fish farms. Farmers must now draw water from the upper reaches of the river to irrigate their fields.

Rice farming used to require intensive manual labour. In the larger paddy fields where work could be overwhelming, farmers resorted to a traditional cooperative practice called berderau.

During the planting and harvesting cycles, farmers and their families would gather and work together on each

other’s fields in rotation. This spirit of gotong royong ensured work was completed in a timely fashion and promoted social relations among villagers as they feasted together after a hard day’s work.

Farmers also developed their own handmade tools for weeding, planting, tilling and harvesting in the soft, swampy land.

More recently, local farmers have mechanized much of the work. This includes leasing tractors for ploughing fields and unmanned drones for spraying fertilizers and pesticides. Some farmers have also begun to hire outside labour to work on their farms.

Walking along the scenic Jalan Sungai Acheh on a Tuesday morning, you will spot a street market nestled between two paddy fields. Referred to by locals as Pekan Selasa, the market spans 500 metres and operates from 6am to 11am.

This temporary open-air shopping street is the highlight of the week for rural folk and serves as a one-stop centre for their daily needs. The stalls offer a variety of goods that include fresh meats, fish, vegetables, cooked food, kitchenware, and other household essentials.

According to older residents, Pekan Selasa is a cultural legacy that long predates shops. In the past, the street market offered not just goods but also services and entertainment. You could have your tooth extracted or your ears pierced. Magicians and snake charmers kept audiences enthralled while traditional healers told tall stories and promised cures with their roots and potions.

The 1800’s mark the beginnings of Nibong Tebal’s old town, which developed at the site of the old jetty. Old warehouse buildings, single-storey godowns and the presence of an old market point to early commercial activity around the jetty. Gradually, a grid of new streets shaped the growth of the old town and its main drive called High Street (Jalan Atas). In its heyday, the old town offered all the necessary services. Fading signboards and old building facades indicate an early Chinese school, a metalworking shop, a bicycle shop, a hair salon as well as businesses selling coffins, biscuits and medicine.

Every day from around 10am to 1pm, a crowd of potential buyers including restaurant owners, fish vendors and household shoppers gather at this jetty just as boats start to bring in freshly caught sea produce. Customers highly rate the freshness and quality of the seafood here. After the produce is unloaded, weighed and gathered into small piles on the floor, the auction begins. The auctioneer calls out a high starting price for each pile. Interested buyers (fearing competition) can stop the auctioneer to accept the price and secure the purchase. If there are no takers, the auctioneer calls out a lower price and this continues until the produce is sold.

Tracts of low-lying flat land interspersed between rivers and streams make Nibong Tebal a prime location for the cultivation of crops. The plantation economy began in the 1800s with sugarcane. Early Chinese sugar planters exported processed sugar to Hong Kong and China while British planters supplied the European market. Sugarcane plantations gave way to rubber estates in the 1900’s, and rubber was supplanted by oil palm from the 1970’s. Since the 1990’s, these estates have been subdivided and sold often resulting in workers who have been displaced from their homes and jobs, to move to town and to new occupations.

Sungai Chenaam and its estuary, which are lined by mangrove forests, boast of a natural ecosystem teeming with fish and bird life. Local fishermen operating in the sea nearby enjoy a variety of harvest according to the seasons and tides. This jetty is more than just a spot for landing sea or river produce, but also serves as a mooring point and boat repair space. Tapping into the environmental assets of the area, the community has begun small-scale eco-tourism initiatives. As part of the river rehabilitation programme called ‘Denai Sungai Kebangsaan’, a wooden bridge was built for visitors to enjoy the calming beauty of this place.

The paddy fields by Sungai Acheh are dotted with farmer’s houses, some retaining architectural elements of traditional village houses while others have been modified for modern living. As the local Malay population have ancestors from Perak, Kedah and Acheh, the village houses here incorporate a range of architectural influences from these locations. These vernacular features include the A-roof frame or five-ridge roof, the stilt house structure, and the entrance staircase leading to the verandah or serambi.

Sungai Udang, is a fishing village near the mouth of Sungai Kerian. At its centre stands Thean Hou Sheng Mu Temple, dedicated to Machor, the guardian of seafarers. Locals often share a remarkable story of how the deity saved them from disaster.

In December 2004, fish in the village’s farms began acting strangely. Out of concern, the aquaculture association consulted local ritual elders. Through a divinatory practice known as “Supporting the Willow” (Fu Liu), the spirit of Immortal Master Gong (Xian Fa Shi Gong) entered the willow branch, which moved in the hands of the ritual handlers to reveal, through writing, that the fish were reacting to changes happening beneath the land.

Heeding the warning, villagers prayed at the temple, and made offerings of huat kuih, curry puffs, and tea to Machor for three nights. After the third night, the ground shook like an earthquake, and huge waves appeared in the distance. Just before reaching the jetty, the waves mysteriously parted.

The next day, news spread that nearby villages had been hit by a tsunami , with boats overturned, and jetties destroyed. But Sungai Udang was calm and untouched, and its boats and jetties remained intact.