I have a
few friends living in Sepatang, Taiping. Sepatang is a fishing village in the state
of Perak which is also famous of its seafood restraints.
There are
some taboos that old Chinese fishermen would not break in the past, may be
these taboos are a thing of the past, but it is fun just to run over some of
them before they are forgotten in time.
Once I was
having lunch with a friend in his kelong (fish farm) when he served me fresh
Barramundi (siakap) fish. You know that having fresh steamed fish harvested and
cook there and then is an unforgettable experience as the fish meat is so
tender with a little hardness; which is unlike the texture of fish in the
market…
Okay, let’s
go back to the story proper. Just as we were finishing one side of the siakap
fish, I tried to flip the fish sideway. But I was stopped by my friend as he
said that it would be a very bad omen to a fisherman as this may indicate the
turning of a ship sideways. So, the correct way is to flip the fish from head
to tail lengthwise. According to my pal, it is quite unlikely to have a ship
taking a somersault at sea.
Fishing at
sea at night is adventurous business as not only the weather condition can at
times be unpredictable, hazards such as accidents, ship collisions and pirates
are also frequently taking place at high sea. Also at times one may also met
with ghosts at sea. My pal said that he had several times that when he was
fishing at the aft of the boat; he saw a black shadow sitting at the bow of his
ship. He told me that that was the ghost of someone who has drowned in the
region and that the only resting place for these lost souls of the sea are
fishing boats. So, it is best just to leave these spirits alone as they shall
be gone when the day breaks. Some of his friends even sworn that they have seen
flying head hovering on their boats and even fish farms.
Many times
when my pal sees a black shadow on his fishing boat, he knows that there may be
someone drowning in the vicinity. Because normally a day after the sighting, my
pal would pick up a floating body. When a dead body is found, no fisherman
should ignore this poor body as this is the request of the deceased to the
living that he wanted to go home. So, this fisherman should stop all his
fishing activity and bring the body home. If it is not for humanitarian,
ignoring the dead body would also cause no fish to be harvested for that day.
I have also
learnt that fishermen at certain place would not consume some type of fish. For
example some Hong Kong fishermen do not eat carps due to their religious
belief. Also some fishermen in Vietnam don’t eat fish caught in their area
because they believe that those fishes are the reincarnation of their
ancestors. I have not ventured to find out if the above are true or otherwise,
or perhaps the stories are true in old days; not now.
No comments:
Post a Comment