U bin and Me

Has anyone been to Pulau Ubin lately? In case you didn’t already know, Pulau Ubin is an island 2km Northeast of Singapore. In the 80s and 90s, it was inhabited by hundreds of people. Alas, the island’s population now numbers barely 100. According to the inhabitants, many left when their children bought flats and moved to the mainland, leaving the island with just some old-timers. The island was once touted to be a freeze frame of Singapore in the 50s; but this picture is slowly fading.

Due to schoolwork commitments, I visited the island quite often in the months to take photographs and chronicle the lives of its inhabitants. I got to know Mr, Tan Chee Kiang, a provision store owner on Pulau Ubin. He seemed extremely happy to have made a new friend and invited me over for drinks at his store.

He asked in Mandarin, “So you’re here to take photographs huh? I have got some for you in this book.” I suspect he didn’t quite understand what I was trying to do (take photos, not view them), but I played along anyway, nodding and smiling politely. He disappeared into his cluttered store and returned with a dusty, green book. A quick look revealed that it was a coffee table book about Pulau Ubin published a few years ago.

He carefully laid the book on a shabby wooden table and invited me to study it. I took up his offer and sat beside his 98-year-old father (who happens to be one of the oldest men on the island) at the table to flip through the book. There were some very beautiful photos, illustrating life on the island and the local wildlife. The problem was, whenever I pointed out an interesting photo and asked who or where it was, he just said “No, no. He isn’t here anymore,” or “We stopped doing that years ago.” I quickly asked him why. According to Mr Lin, “The government has been quietly encouraging people to move. They want to develop this island.” At that point, I felt saddened as I would never get see these lovely sights in the flesh. Singapore had permanently lost a part of its history and heritage.

As much as progress is inevitable, I think Pulau Ubin deserves to be preserved. It is not simply the physical structures on the island, but the communal, carefree lifestyle the inhabitants enjoy. As life on the Singaporean mainland gets more and more fast paced, this lifestyle may soon become extinct. Singaporeans spend too much time making a living but not actually living.

By allowing Pulau Ubin to remain the way it was we will afford both the present and future generations of Singaporeans the chance to experience a different kind of life. A life that is not a rat race but one that slows down to a pleasurable stroll instead. This chance is an invaluable one. Surely, I feel, it is worth more than the chance to build just another golf course or holiday resort on this unique island.

::Han::
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