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The Pulau Sambu Connection
Outreach During the Early Years (1946-1949)
Mr. Wee Hood Seng
(One of several of our members involved in the work on the island. Much of this article itself comes from the pen of Mr. Wee himself.)
Pulau Sambu is an oil installation island which formerly belonged to the Royal Dutch Shell Company. The island itself had been Dutch territory until 1949 when sovereignty was transferred to the Indonesians. The Company was subsequently taken over by Pertamina. It is situated about 12 kilometres to the south of Singapore – about an hour's journey from Clifford Pier and in its size is slightly bigger than Pulau Bukom proper.
Pulau Sambu
During 1946-1950, just after the Occupation, many Singaporeans could be found on Pulau Sambu. Some worked there for Shell. Others retreated there during weekends, away from the cluttered roads and spaces of rubble and reconstruction, the aftermath of the Occupation. Sambu was naturally endowed with a nice, clean and tranquil beach for relaxation and retreat. Shell also had provided holiday bungalows for its Singapore personnel, their relatives and friends.
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The work began in late 1946, when a group of members from Paya Lebar Methodist Church on their retreat to the island began conducting fellowship gatherings in the evenings to which the Sambu residents were also invited. The meeting consequently became opportunities for preaching the gospel. Initially, those attending were only passive adherents. However, subsequently a good number believed and were baptised at Paya Lebar.
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Gradually more members from Paya Lebar came to assist in the work - both laymen and clergy - headed by the Rev. Chew Hock Hin. The work was later bolstered upon its discovery by the Shell Installation Manager, a Mr. Van Neutegem. Through his assistance, a former school building was renovated and furnished with pulpit, altar cross and benches - all for free.
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The church with its new chapel functioned satisfactorily for a year or so, with a membership of about 20 and moral support from about 5 members from the Bethesda Church in Singapore. However, several reasons gradually led to the cessation of the Pulau Sambu mission.
Firstly, the bulk of members and worshippers at the church were transitory. Weekday prayer meetings were well attended because members, their wives and families were on the island. Sunday services therefore meant that members had to remain on the island during the weekends just to attend them. If they did remain for one Sunday, it was unlikely they would remain the following weekend. Hence, the Sunday congregation was made up of Singaporeans who accompanied preachers and pastors to Sambu, usually on Saturday afternoon, stayed overnight, and helped make up the congregation the following day. For some time there was no lack of such people.
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Secondly, attendance was eroded by transfers and resignations of Shell employees. As children of school going age were sent to school in Singapore, wives had to stay away from Sambu to look after them. Some found this situation unsatisfactory.
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Then in 1949, Indonesia gained independence. Entry into Sambu became difficult with changes in travel regulations. Although the pastors working there (Rev. Wee Chin Kam and Rev. Khoo Chiang Bee) were allowed entrance, they could not bring the same entourage as before. The holiday bungalows were later taken back by the Company since there were hardly any visitors to the island. The church premises were finally reacquired by the Company, then under a different manager, for use by kindergarten children of its Indonesian employees.
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Although attempts were made to continue the work in spite of the reacquisition of the premises by the Company, the work finally had to be closed down.
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Mr. Wee Hood Seng, however, has happy thoughts in spite of the closure of the work. Mr. Wee and his own family, his in-laws, his former washer-woman's entire family - altogether about 25 persons - were influenced to the faith while they were on Sambu, and in his own words "... this all started from a very small beginning in the once Pulau Sambu Methodist Church."