Bumboat 驳船
Singapore's Boat Quay has a 200-year old history. It has great historical significance because it was the first stop of many early immigrants when they arrived in Singapore. Chinese merchants built their homes and private jetties by the river as it was more convenient to carry out business activities. As the mouth of the Singapore River was too narrow to allow large ships to enter the pier, smaller ships, also known as bumboats, helped facilitate the transportation of goods between the Singapore River and the pier. After the campaign to clean up the Singapore River in the 1980s, the original responsibilities of the bumboats ceased, and now they have become a tourist attraction in Singapore.
The bright colours that Lim Tze Peng uses for the bumboat in the painting imbue the energy of lively activities along the Singapore River in the 1970s: the hustle and bustle of the busy docks, the efforts of the laborious dock workers, and the laughter of children playing in the water. These are all a distant memory, and now we can only rely on artistic impressions created from the memories of the artist, and old photos, to relive the nostalgia of the past.
200年历史的新加坡驳船码头作为许多早期先辈抵达新加坡的第一个地点，那是非常具有历史意义的。华族商人为了商业往来方便在河边建立了洋房和私人码头。但新加坡河口太狭窄导致大型船只无法进入，为了方便运送货物，小型船只-驳船(Bumboat)开始运载着货物穿梭于新加坡河与码头一直到80年代。清理新加坡河运动后，驳船也卸下重任，如今成为主要的观光景点之一。
林子平先生利用鲜艳的色彩，把驳船记录在画纸上，作为新加坡经济发展重要运输工具之一，承载着70年代的生活样貌，喧嚣的码头，码头工人的汗水，孩子们戏水的笑声。而我们如今只能依靠老画家回忆创造的画作，老旧的相片来想象。
Script-Jerry Mok
文-Crystal Lee
