Hari ulangtahun keputeraan Nabi junjungan Saiyidina Muhammad Ibnu Abdullah jatuh pada Ahad 5 Februari 2012. Selawat dan salam keatasnya. Mempunyai akhlak yang mulia, sebaik-baik contoh dan yang membawa ugama yang lebih tinggi dan mulia dari yang lain. Barangsiapa yang berpegang kepada peningalannya (Quran dan Sunnahnya) nescaya tidak akan sesat buat selama-lamanya.
Sallu alaih.
Riau Islands. The dots on the horizon are fish traps with huts
Riau archipelago is situated just south of Singapore and is part of Riau Islands Province of Indonesia which also includes islands in the South China Sea between East and West Malaysia. There are 3200 islands in the province and mostly uninhabited. Tanjung Pinang in Pulau Bintan is the capital city and the administrative office for the province but the hive of economic activities are in Pulau Batam just next to Pulau Bintan. Suffice to say that the island of Pulau Batam is where the bulk of the population resides accounting for 2/3 of it. The rest are scattered in other major islands of the province and on smaller islands in the vicinity of these major islands.
Many are uninhabited (pardon the pincushion oops barrel)
There is only one International Ferry Terminal in Pulau Bintan, at least five in Pulau Batam and one in Pulau Karimun. These ferry terminals cater for ferries that go to and from Singapore and Malaysia. They also serve as international entry points to Indonesia.
Travelling between the major islands in the Riau Archipelago are by ferries, each of which can accommodate more than a hundred passengers. The travelling time can be as long as five hours for the outlying islands like Pulau Lingga or Pulau Singkep from Pulau Bintan or Pulau Batam. Time that is worth spent on the roof deck if the weather permits. There are also fast boat services to intermediate islands that can accommodate about thirty passengers, they are called Speed by the locals. These boats are powered by three or four high-powered huge outboard motors.
Main mode of transport between major islands
If weather permits, best to be on roof deck
Speeds at Sekupang Domestic Ferry Terminal, Batam. The one on the left have five engines. Speeds with three engines are either smaller in size or have bigger engine capacity
In this age of Internet, communication is not a problem. At the least there is one Internet Café in every major islands if not many. If one happens to be in a secluded island spot, cell phone coverage should suffice. Radio signals travel further over water than over land because land is ground, it absorbs the signals more. As for entertainment, the usual applies, local television that is. Besides the terrestrial television coverage, there is also satellite coverage for the outlying areas in all of Indonesia.
Communication is not a problem
Entertainment
Only a handful of islands have mountains, the rest are mainly hilly and while others are just pieces of flat lands. The inhabitants on these scattered outlying islands mostly live by the sea in houses built on stilts. They were mostly fishermen. A few of them were boat builders, masters boat builders, they are very skilled in their craft. They travel within their vicinity by their personal sampans or small boats and if the economics is strong there are ferry services by small boats called Pompong. Life is very simple. If a kampung have a jetty, the ferry will berth at it for passengers to board and alight but if there isn’t any, then they will be ferried over to and from the ferry by small boat. The manoeuvre to board and alight the ferry requires skill if not courage on the passenger part plus the ability to swim or at least to stay afloat.
Few islands with mountains
The rest are mainly hilly
Just a piece of flat land, a candidate for personal island
Typical colony with quite a number of inhabitants
Typical colony houses
Typical colony houses (secluded)
Fish traps and huts
Boats being built
Pompong
Jetty in a populous kampung
The need of a boat for colony with no jetty
boarding the ferry sometimes can be hazardous
If you are going for seaside resort, Pulau Batam and Pulau Bintan have lots of it. But if you are the adventurous types, then the outlying islands beckon you. No frills, just basic.
Rainbow
Colok Raya
Setelah sebulan berpuasa kita menyambut tibanya 1 Syawal. Semoga ibadah puasa kita diterima Allah s.w.t.. Dengan limpah kurnia RahmatNya yang tiada terkira mudah-mudahan kita kembali fitrah, dimasukkanNya kedalam gulungan mereka-mereka yang berjaya yang mendapat petunjuk dan bimbinganNya, berbahagia dan selamat di dunia dan di akhirat. Amin.
Kepada sekalian muslimin dan muslimat, saya ucapkan, “Selamat menjalankan ibadah puasa, semoga puasanya diterima Allah s.w.t., bersih suci dan kembali fitrah”. Amin.
