Ever wanted to see where the fish on your dinner table comes from and where supermarkets and fishmongers get their supply of fish? Jurong Fishery Port is where the action is! While most of the world is asleep, this bustling fish market comes to life. We joined Hidden Heritage on their monthly tour to Jurong Fishery Port and learnt all about the port!
Truth be told, I had always wanted to visit the fishery port but was wary of the unearthly opening hours. Hidden Heritage’s tour was perfect to orientate newbies to the port while giving us fascinating insight into Jurong Fishery Port.
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Highlights of Jurong Fishery Port Tour by Hidden Heritage
1. A Multisensory Experience
Before we arrived at Jurong Fishery Port, we could already smell what was waiting. It’s a full-on sensory experience as we queued to enter the port. Foreign workers were holding bags and bags of fish and exiting with their purchases – clearly early birds catch the freshest fish. The smell of the sea, the seafood was wafting through the coolness of the night.
It was bedtime for most of us, but there was no time to be sleepy.
For sleepyheads, there is the option of coffee at the canteen run by Mary’s Catering. It serves much-needed caffeine for the fish merchants and even freshly cooked supper like mixed rice and hor fun. Participants of our tour group clearly knew how to start their evenings by buying some beer.
After donning our audio sets, our guide Yi Xuan gave us an overview of what to expect, our bearings and a general introduction to Jurong Fishery Port.
2 The History behind Jurong Fishery Port
Jurong Fishery Port is central to the fish industry in Singapore – this is where supplies of fresh and frozen fish are gathered and then sold to supermarkets, restaurants and fishmongers in the twilight hours. The fish we enjoy on the table is likely to have come from this port.
About 180 years ago, the market started as Ellenborough Market right next to Singapore River in 1845. The trade was known to be predominantly run by Teochew businesses. Unfortunately, a devastating fire in 1968 forced the market to be relocated to Jurong Fishery Port.
Time seemed to have stood still in the building housing the offices of many of the fish merchants. Apart from vintage metal mailboxes, we could see the age of the storefronts supporting the industry through very old signages, old furnishings or even a bust of Chairman Mao.
From the 5th floor of the building, we could have a lovely bird’s eye view of Jurong Fishery Port bustling in the wee hours of the morning. This was a rare peek at the lesser known side of Singapore.
3 Stories of Crime and Passion
Yi Xuan from Hidden Heritage also regaled us with stories of crime and passion. One famous murder case involved a fish merchant, his employees and a teenager who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Another was about how COVID spread rapidly in the market, this resulted in every Sunday being stipulated as a cleaning day.
Stories told at the time of the night sure gave us the creeps while we explored the dark corridors of the building.
We also learnt how the trade has evolved through the years. Sadly due to the hard manual labour and unearthly hours, fewer of the younger generations want to take over their parents’ fish businesses. This has also led to the shuttering of fish businesses. Would we eventually see this place disappear due to digitalisation of practices?
4 Walking the Gangway
My favourite part of the tour was walking the gangway to check out the wholesale fish market from above. This gangway is also used by inspectors. With the vantage point from above, we could see the liveliness of the market, the different kinds of fish each stall specialises in, the descaling and gutting of fish, the sorting, the weighing and the accountants carefully making the calculations.
Jurong Fishery Port is also located right next to the Straits of Singapore and we could see fishing boats docked right next to it unloading their catch for the day.
We even saw a fish merchant getting ready for livestream auctions. Pity we did not see the bidding in action since it was still too early for fishmongers and buyers to go to the market.
Amidst the noise and amount of activity, Jurong Fishery Port had an orderly liveliness that resembled a well-oiled machine coming to life and preparing our seafood while the rest of the population snoozes.
6 What School Didn’t Teach Us About Fish
After witnessing the inner workings of the port, we walked to Hai Sia Seafood’s building to learn more about fish, more specifically how to tell the freshness of fish! This was definitely useful information not taught in schools. We also learnt why live seafood restaurants may not necessarily sell the best fish, and the common kinds of fish available at wet markets as well as which kind of fish to purchase for specific dishes.
The well-established seafood trader had partnered Hidden Heritage to offer perks to participants, including a showcase of seafood, quiz prizes and special discounts off products.
We ended the tour taking away new knowledge about our country’s seafood trade which is so critical to our nation and life skills on purchasing the freshest fish. What a haul!
It was certainly a meticulously-curated, very interesting and engaging tour that offered good seafood deals as a bonus.
To participate in future tours by Hidden Heritage, visit their site! Hidden Heritage’s tours to Jurong Fishery Port are conducted once a month, from 10.45 pm to 1.45 am.
Also, do note that visitors to Jurong Fishery Port have to pre-register via SFA’s Visitor Management System.
