Having grown up in a fishing village, most of the children are used to riding the boat to school.
Village head Lim Hock Tiong said students had been taking the boat to and from school every day since the 1970s. Lim said driving to school would have taken about half an hour since the main road that cuts across the river is at least an eight-minute car ride away. There are also villagers who do not own a vehicle.
“There used to be more than 60 students who would take the boat to school. Presently, we only have 26 students riding the boat. Another small group of students go to school by car because they don’t know how to swim,” Lim said. “There’s no time to rest. I have to make three or four trips to bring back from school. Sometimes they leave at noon, 1pm and 2pm. They all want to go home at different times,” he said.