Singapore's rustic hideaway prepares for development
Singapore's rustic hideaway prepares for development
By Jacqueline Wong
SINGAPORE (Reuter): Pulau Ubin, an island off the northern
coast of Singapore with just 600 inhabitants, is something of an
alter ego to the modern, bustling city state.
A short ride on one of the low-riding, sputtering diesel boats
that ply between the island and the mainland transports visitors
to one of the few remaining oases of peace in Singapore.
Fruit orchards, Chinese clan and Malay kampong villages, are a
siren call for those who yearn for a slower pace.
There are charming kelongs, or fishing traps, plantations and
mangrove swamps, all vestiges of a bygone era.
People live simply here. They ride on rusty bicycles and in
old cars, fish and grow their own vegetables and fruit.
It is a way of life that has survived on this boomerang-shaped
island, about eight km long and 1.5 km wide, in spite of
Singapore's relentless drive to modernize.
Nature lovers come here to bird-watch and hike, while sports
enthusiasts thrash around in the bush on mountain bikes. Others
simply come to relax and dine in one of Ubin's modest outdoor
restaurants which serve a mix of local fare and seafood.
One attraction of Pulau Ubin for the city-weary Singaporean is
the relatively wide variety of flora and fauna the island still
supports.
Rumors of wild beasts on the loose in Ubin occasionally sweep
Singapore, lending the island a wild edge that skyscrapers and
sprawling public housing estates have long since robbed from the
rest of the country.
A few months ago, police advised the public to keep away from
Ubin after residents reporting spotting a tiger.
After extensive searches across the island, none was ever
found, but Ubin's wilderness still provides shelter for wild boar
and the Leopard Cat, larger than the domestic version.
In 1991, an elephant was reported to have swum across the
Straits of Johor from Malaysia and landed on Pulau Ubin. It was
later captured and returned.
Fringing the mudflats on the coast and along the rivers are
mangroves, habitat for wildlife such as the Mangrove Pitta bird.
"It's the only part of Singapore that resembles Singapore 40 to
50 years ago, rustic kampongs and traditional agriculture that
have long disappeared," said Subaraj Rajathurai, one of
Singapore's few licensed nature guides.
"There are not many places left in Singapore where one would
believe a tiger could hide," Rajathurai said.
Many of the trees in the swamps have been cut for firewood or
removed for prawn and fish farming by the villagers, he said.
Early settlers escaped the slums of Singapore to find land to
farm on deserted and pristine Ubin. Others were brought to the
island to work in commercial quarrying.
"There is only one percent of mangrove left in Singapore. The
biggest patches are in Pulau Ubin and Pulau Tekong (a nearby
island used by the military)," Rajathurai said.
The mangroves, second only to rainforests in bio-diversity,
are necessary to the survival of the indigenous animals, he said.
During the early part of the century, there were as many as five
quarries on the island called Pulau Batu Ubin (Granite Stone
Island). Today, two quarries remain active.
Ubin's original Malay settlers were mostly fishermen, living
along the coast, while the Chinese were quarry workers and
shopkeepers.
Inhabitants who have chosen to stay behind work in the town
center near the jetty fitted out with a grocery store, bicycle
rentals and several coffee shops. Others work on the mainland in
regular jobs but return to the quiet of their island homes.
Retired policeman Ong Hean Teik is one enthusiast who journeys
to Ubin on weekends to enjoy his waterfront beach hut built on a
small plot of land leased from the government.
He windsurfs, swims and does a lot of fishing.
"My friends and I have been going there for years, to enjoy
the outdoors. We sleep in the open," he said.
His beloved outdoor paradise, however, will soon be a thing of
the past when it makes way for a spanking new beach resort.
Tourism
Changes are slowly but surely seeping into Pulau Ubin, an
inevitable outcome in this cluttered country with scarce
resources and a rapidly expanding population of three million.
Environmentalists and nature lovers fear its landscape will be
razed to make way for roads, flats and the other trappings of
Singapore's economic success story.
Ho Hua Chew of the Nature Society's conservation committee
feels that redevelopment is only a matter of time.
"It's part of the government's plan to build public housing
and transportation there when the population reaches four
million. That year X, could be very soon," Ho said.
The beach resort equipped with marine facilities and other
amenities will be a startling contrast to Ubin's pastoral face.
Efforts not to dramatically alter the landscape have been
initiated.
Project director Peyton Coffin said the restrictive nature of
the tender for the S$50 million resort eliminated big investors.
"They (the Singapore authorities) have created a challenge to
do as much as you can, in as eco-friendly a manner as possible
within a scope of a very limited lease period," he said,
referring to the relatively short 15-year lease.
The impact will be minimized by saving and relocating trees,
using indigenous flora and creating gravel roads.
But many are still left wondering how the new and old will be
reconciled as the pressure on Pulau Ubin to join the rat race
mounts in the coming years.