The houses from this Malay village off Pulau Brani are built on stilts and they belong to the 'Orang Laut', otherwise known as the Sea Gypsies. Pulau Brani was inhabited predominantly by the Orang Laut and also saw the birth of Singapore's first modern industry, a tin smelter that was built on the island in 1890. St James, where this photograph was taken, was a promontory lying between Blangah Bay and Sibert Bay. By 1926 both bays were almost completely reclaimed.
