page_title: Tongkang
section_title: Tongkangs in Singapore
hierarchical_section_title: Tongkang / Tongkangs in Singapore
caption_attribution_description: English: Twakow loading lubricant oil in Singapore
context_page_description: Tongkang or "Tong'kang" refers to several type of boats used to carry goods along rivers and shoreline in Maritime Southeast Asia. One of the earliest record of tongkang comes from 15th century Malay Annals. One passage mentioned it as being used by Majapahit empire during the 1350 attack on Singapura.
context_section_description: There are references to the activity of these boats in Singapore, where a Chinese document, refers to the Southern bank around Read Bridge area, as cha chun tau (柴船头), meaning "jetty for boats carrying firewood". Small tongkangs carrying firewood from the Indonesian archipelago berthed at this jetty. The firewood trade was primarily a Teochew enterprise.
  A tongkang in full sail appeared on the reverse of the 1990 and 1992 Singapore dollar 2 $ currency notes. Tongkang LRT station was named after this boat.
  Another boat used on the Singapore River along with the tongkang was the twakow. These traditional vessels began to disappear around the 1930s, following the introduction of motor-powered boats and contemporary-type lighters.
caption: Twakow loading lubricant oil in Singapore
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