Batam, Indonesia: There's more to it than affordable shopping and delicious food... like a Vietnamese refugee camp
Batam has been the go-to place for Singaporeans to go for a short getaway even if it's just for a day. But have you ever thought about how Batam came about? Read on to find out more! Due to the East-West shipping trade routes, early Chinese settlers settled in Batam as early as 231 A.D. The surrounding regions have been ruled by several different leaders until the Dutch and English split the area and ruled it. 0 The island was occupied by the Japanese during the WWII thus the name Nagoya for the island's main city area. The native people of Batam are of Malay origin however due to vast globalisation, many other ethnicities have come and settled in search of jobs and a better life. Did you know down on the south side of Batam in Pulau Galang, there was once a Vietnamese refugee camp that houses nearly 20,000 Vietnamese refugees escaping the war in the early 1980s? They arrived in small wooden boats in hopes of finding a better life and found themselves...