The Singapore mermaid or dugong interpretation tradition

Record summary

Nineteenth-century maritime and colonial literature around Singapore and the Strait of Malacca contains mermaid language that may refer to dugongs, manatees, fabricated displays or inherited European “mermaid” motifs. This is a useful lead for studying how a real marine mammal, unfamiliar observers and commercial spectacle can produce an unknown-creature narrative. It should be handled as a source cluster, not as one confirmed sighting. Researchers should locate the named newspaper, travel account, museum notice or shipboard report and assess whether the original author described an animal, an object or folklore.