Photos Courtesy: fingersdontfing.com

From the 1960s to the 1970s, Longkang Fishing was a favourite pastime of many. This pastime involves catching small fish such as guppies from the longkang (small drain). This really fun activity enjoyed by people of all ages (mostly children, though) started during the 60s, when there were still kampongs (Malay for ‘villages’) in Singapore. When it rained, the longkangs would flood and many small fishes would be spotted swimming in the drains. After the rain, many children would then get some empty jam bottles and scamper down to the longkangs to catch fish.

As Singapore progressed, many of these kampongs were demolished and gradually, the activity lost its original popularity. Fortunately, there are still some places where you can indulge in longkang fishing in present-day Singapore, such as Qian Hu fish farm, Pasir Ris Kid’s Kampong and D’Kranji farm resort. These places offer you the experience of longkang fishing at a low cost.

The first time I tried longkang fishing was during a school trip to Pasir Ris Kid’s Kampong. Upon arrival, I expected to see a small muddy drain, but instead, I was greeted by a man-made plastic “drain” with concrete around it. When I first saw the small fishes, I thought that catching them would be a breeze as there were so many. After being given a rectangular net with a long, flimsy handle and a small transparent plastic bucket to contain the captured fish, I scurried to the longkang excitedly and began dipping the net into the water to catch the fishes. However, to my surprise, the fishes were faster and more agile than I had expected. It was a challenge trying to corner a fish to catch it.

I began thinking of techniques and strategies to catch the fishes effectively. The first strategy I devised was to dip the net vertically into the water and ask somebody beside me to chase the fish in my direction and hopefully, one or two fishes might accidentally swim into my net, at which point I would lift the net up. After three to five attempts, I realised that that strategy was useless as the fish were clever enough to avoid swimming into my net.

The second strategy I devised was to simply wait for a fish to swim near the surface of the water before dipping the net and catching the fish as quickly as I can. But as expected, the fishes were always faster than my net and I soon gave up.

Finally, the third strategy that I devised was to place my net right at the bottom of the longkang and like the first strategy; ask someone to scare the fishes. As the fishes swam over my net, I would immediately lift the net as quickly as I could to catch the fishes. After a few tries, I realised that this was the most effective strategy for me as I could catch fishes most of the time. I continued fishing using this strategy and soon, my bucket was teeming with small fishes. After fishing, we were expected to hand the buckets of fish over to the employees of Pasir Ris Kid’s Kampong for them to pack them in plastic bags filled with oxygen and water for us to bring our new pets back home.

From that trip, I learnt that longkang fishing is actually quite fun and challenging and not as easy as I thought. I hope that more will continue to support this fun and meaningful activity, so that future generations would have a chance to experience it.

Article written by: [Dominic Leong], [National Junior College]