My Senoko Fishery Port with Richard Kuah
Out of the many unique tours and activities available through My Community Festival, Time Out had the opportunity to attend My Senoko Fishery Port with Richard Kuah. Running from 1 am to 4am (the last tours are happening this weekend on August 20 and 21), this tour is well worth the late night – as it takes you right into the heart of the action at the port.
Senoko Fishery Port is known for its fresh seafood sold at attractive wholesale prices. Don’t be surprised to see regular folks arriving in the dead of night to haul off fish, crabs, stingrays, and other seafood. Yes, you can visit Senoko Fishery Port on your own, but the beauty of the tour is that you get a behind-the-scenes look that you wouldn’t otherwise.
Guide Richard Kuah is passionate about marine life and has volunteered for years with NParks to do intertidal walks and surveys. During the Senoko Fishery Port tour, he'll bring you around to catch the action as fishmongers receive shipments of seafood from land, air and sea. Watch as they unload trucks, skillfully sort seafood, and pack boxes of fresh catch for wet markets, restaurants and buyers around town.
Get to learn about the inner workings of the port, the culture and practices of the Teochew fish merchants, how the fishing trade has changed over the years, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Richard is also adept at pointing out interesting seafood – introducing species, their Teochew or Hokkien names, and even the best way to prepare them.
This is a golden opportunity to speak to some of the fish merchants at Senoko Fishery Port. Over at D’ Fish Market, Doreen, a young graduate of Nanyang Business School, NTU, took the unconventional path and now runs the business with her dad. At Lian Yak Fishing Merchant, you can mine the knowledge and memories of its big boss, who has been in the business for at least 60 years.
The tour also includes 30 minutes of free time, so that you can, yes, shop for seafood! The fresh catch here goes for a steal – just be mindful that you have to buy in bulk and transact in cash.
My Senoko Fishery Port with Richard Kuah (as well as My Jurong Fishery Port with May Hui) is a rare opportunity to look behind the scenes of the busy port. To sign up for the remaining tour dates, or to check out other My Community activities, visit mycommunityfestival.sg.
My Community Festival
My Community Festival is back with its third edition this year. Running from August 5 to 21, the event is centred on the theme of My Home Sweet Home featuring 64 fully physical tours and experiences across eight programme series. Event goers get exclusive access to the private spaces of the different communities in Singapore such as their homes, workplaces and places of worship. The anchor programme enables tour participants to meet different groups of people ranging from foreign workers to kampung dwellers and Jalan Besar rental flat residents.
New programmes have also been added to this year’s edition – Find My Fixer, My Little Singapore and What’s for my dinner series. Find My Fixer programme show participants ways to restore broken items and give it a new lease of life while My Little Singapore invites you to visit enclaves such as Little Belgium and Little Philippines. The last series sees international families opening up their houses and serve cultural dishes to visitors.
