Drying Shrimps For A Living In Sungai Lima

Just off the trunk road to Pulau Ketam, around 20+ km from Kuala Lumpur, is a quaint and quiet place called Sungai Lima, or literally five rivers. Actually, Sungai Lima is an island, with a small population of less than  750 and most houses are built on stilts along the shore line. Most of the residents here are surviving on the small cottage fishing industry .Sungai Lima has a long history and interesting cultural remnants and has attracted the web savvy  young travelers to discover the uniqueness of the place. There are now homestay places too for those who want to see the sun rise over the Straits of Malacca.One remaining  cottage industry  here is that of the production  dried shrimps. The shrimps are endlessly placed on the wooden floor of the village and sun-dried before being sorted and processed. It is an old trade that is disappearing fast too. Big shrimps, small shrimps, shrimp paste are all produced here for the city folks. Most of our cooking have some ingredients involving these produce. Because it is a shrinking cottage industry the price of dried shrimps goes up regularly as supply is limited .Amazingly, 80% of the dried shrimps consumed locally is produced here..
 ..This  video documents the process and skill required to do the job that most of us do not know existed in this cottage industry. Viewers should visit the village and get a first hand experience on  the colourful and serene livelihood of Sungai Lima.