Wooden Wonders: Traditional Malaysian Fishing Boats

Author: Thomas Ask
Publisher: UTM Press
ISBN: 9789835217258
Weight: 0.354kg
Pages: 144pp
Year: 2021
Price: RM75

Many people huddle in the eddy of tradition when technology surges around them. These traditions are anchored in proven technology from a different era. The persistence of tradition is dramatically evident in Malaysia’s wooden fishing boat building industry where ancient boatbuilding techniques maintain a foothold. This traditional boat building is connected with fishing communities and serves their interests even as a giant shadow of modernization in Malaysia casts both the boatbuilders and fishermen into their twilight years. This book considers boatbuilding from an anthropological perspective and considers both the technical and social factors associated with the design and building of fishing boats. It provides a blend of ethnographic study and technical evaluations. It offers an overview of construction techniques and considers design influences and unique features. The book also describes interconnections between designs as well as presenting unique boat designs. There is also a chapter presenting results of an onsite hull measurement of an 18-meter fishing boat. These measurements, along with detailed photography, are intended to archive the state of wooden boatbuilding. The book documents the rich heritage of Malaysian boat building culture, captured through the eyes of an international research on industrial design.