Wild Malayan Porcupine found on Ubin

In 2006, the Malayan Porcupine (Hystrix brachyura) was caught on film by a camera trap on Pulau Tekong, an island just east of Pulau Ubin. Prior to that, Malayan Porcupines were never before reported on Pulau Tekong, and hardly seen since the 1970's. Habitatnews cited a study by Yang, Yong & Lim in 1990 that suggested while the Malayan Porcupine (Hystrix brachyura) was once common in forested areas between 19th century to the 1960's, and was "sometimes found in secondary forests" by 1973, by 1990, it "must be very rare if it still exists in Singapore".

Fast forward to 2012, the Malayan Porcupine was yet again spotted, but this time on Pulau Ubin! Robert Teo from the National Parks Board (NParks) shares a video on youtube of a Malayan Porcupine that had wandered into a ubin resident's compound in late Jan 2012. It was cornered by the resident's dogs, subsequently caught and caged. The NParks Forest Patrol discovered the little guy and helped to release him back into the forest.

It's great to know that the wild Malayan Porcupine population seems to have thrived despite the rapid disappearance of their natural forest habitats in Singapore.

Happy Earth Day everyone!

Update @ 23 April 2012
 Robert shared more on this first official sighting of the Malayan Porcupine on Ubin:

"During our regular Forest Patrol on 30 Mar 2012, my staff and volunteers found a Malayan Porcupine (Hystrix brachyura) caged in a resident’s home. It measured about 60-70 cm from nose to base of tail and appeared to be a female. The porcupine entered the resident’s compound in late Jan 2012 and was cornered by her dogs. It was subsequently netted and a cage was constructed to house it. The resident fed it with apples, carrots & kangkong.

The resident was reluctant to let it go as she thought it would not be able to survive on its own. She even asked that we send it to the zoo. We explained that the porcupine is a wild animal and would be able to fend for itself, and that the right thing to do was to return it to the wild. She requested to keep it over the weekend to show her relatives. On the morning of 2 Apr, we transported the cage to the forest nearby and released the porcupine."

Teochew Opera performance at Ubin

Photos by Marcus Ng (Annotated Budak)

Did you catch the Teochew Opera performance (and getai show!) at Pulau Ubin last week (16-21 May 2011)? If you missed it, you can now relive the moment vicariously through the vivid photos of Marcus Ng, the Annotated Budak. You can also read Marcus' account on his blog.

The performance marked the birthday celebration of Taoist diety, Tua Pek Gong (literally, "grand old man") - the diety worshipped at the temple in Ubin town. The crowd sure looked plentiful and almost reminiscent of yonder years when the island population passes a thousand.


Don't be sad, you can now follow us on facebook too!
Photos by Marcus Ng (Annotated Budak)

Teochew opera in itself is also a rapidly disappearing art form in cosmopolitan Singapore. Just as most Singaporeans takes on the interweb in social media platforms like Facebook, traditional art forms must catch up with times and follow suit! Lo and behold, the teochew opera troupe that performed on Ubin has a Facebook page too! If you missed the performance or loved it so much and want to catch more of it, show your support on Facebook! They also announce their performance dates around Singapore (not just Ubin!) and you can catch them "live" at a venue near you!

In case you're eager to watch a piece of the performance right now, here's a video of the troupe's performance on youtube!



Mind you, Ubin celebrations are not all traditional wayang only, Tua Pek Kong probably does enjoy such modern entertainments as well!


Photos by Marcus Ng (Annotated Budak)

2011 Tua Pek Kong Celebration Dates

Tua Pek Kong is a Chinese Taoist deity popularly worshipped by the Chinese community on our island city. In fact, the temple located in the centre of the Pulau Ubin town is precisely dedicated to the Tua Pek Kong.

Annually, devotees would celebrate the birthday of each deity and Tua Pek Kong is no exception. The Tua Pek Kong temple would organise week long celebrations including traditional teochew opera (affectionately known in Malay as wayang by the locals, referring to performance) and modern getai (meaning song stage in mandarin) performances with bright lights and flamboyant singers in colourful costumes!

This year, the Pulau Ubin Tua Pek Kong Temple will be celebrating Tua Pek Kong Birthday from 16 May to 21 May 2011. There will be nightly wayang show (16-20 May) and finale geitai show (21 May).

Alan Tan, the NParks officer on Ubin, writes that there are usually free boat rides to Ubin from Changi Point Ferry Terminal on these dates from 6.30pm to 10pm. More details will be posted once he receives them.

Do check out the festivities if you have the opportunity as it's a rare island celebration that is hard to come by today.

Last of our Pioneers

Pakcik Ali Bin Montail, deputy headman of Pulau Ubin, and owner of the blue coffee shop by the Ubin main jetty, passed away on the morning of 30 October 2010. He was 76. Pak Ali was battling cancer in the last leg of his life.

I first read of Pak Ali before I even met him, tasted his wife's wonderful cooking and visited his establishment before I had the honor of being introduced to him. Certificates of honor grace the walls of his coffeeshop. You can see his active service to the people of Ubin through the commendations of his glory days.



Pak Ali was one of "The Spirited Pioneers" featured in the special edition "Nature Watch" magazine by NSS on Pulau Ubin in 1995. It wrote this of Pak Ali,

"From the late 1960s to the 1980s, the younger generation in Ubin began to move to the mainland. It became an unstoppable trend. An islander that seems to have reversed the trend is 61-year-old Ali Bin Montail, the Deputy Headman of Ubin.

Ali had been working on the mainland as an engine driver until 1965 when he returned to Ubin to live and work, also as an engine driver, for Gim Huat Quarry until his retirement in 1986.

Ali had been born in swampy Kallang Rokok (Kallang Basin) and he had been brought to Ubin by his parents when he was a baby.

"We were very poor", Ali recalls. There was no opportunity for him to go to school. When he was growing up, he helped his father tap rubber and fished to supplement their income. After the war years, Ali worked as a vehicle mechanic earning about $2 a day. The hardworking Malay mechanic caught the attention of a British Engineer, Reiner, who advised him to take up night classes.

Ali took his advice and was later encouraged to study for the engine driver's certificate. This professional qualification enabled Ali to earn his living, first with the British RAF power station, and later with the Chinese quarry on Ubin.

Ali got married when he was in his early 20s and he has seven adult children. Like Lim Chye Joo (late headman of Ubin), the affable and energetic Ali threw himself into community service. He served in the Ubin Volunteer Special Constabulary in his younger days and since the late 1970s, he has been tirelessly involved in community centres of Changi and Pulau Ubin.

More than this, Ali also took the initiative to supply the villagers clustered around the main Ubin jetty with electricity. He did this voluntarily for 14 years until TAS took over. For his unstinting service to the community, Ali was awarded the Public Service Medal (in 1983). The indefatigable Ali now runs a food shop in Ubin's main village. He serves fantastic mee siam."

Over time as I began to be more familiar with Ubin and its residents, I have come to associate Pak Ali with a kindly smile and the fantastic lontong that his wife whips up every Sunday. The wonderful cookies they offer to visitors at his coffee shop during Hari Raya. The friendliness of his family.

You will be sorely missed.

RIP Pak Ali.

"Native Trees of Pulau Ubin"

If you are interested to know more about the native flora of Ubin, the best person to hear from would be Mr Ali Ibrahim, a NParks Pulau Ubin Conservation Officer. Ali has had over 25 years of experience with plants, and many of those years were spent with Ubin flora.

I had the privilege of going on a plant survey on Ubin with Ali once [photo on right] and can attest to his wealth of experience and knowledge. Not to mention, he also has some amazing tales about Ubin itself but that's another story for another day.



Talk Synopsis
Pulau Ubin is greener today than in the 1960s. The native trees that have survived the ravages of the past, can still be found on the island. Many of these have grown into majestic, landmark trees and serve as signposts of Ubin's natural history. Come for this interesting talk by Ali Ibrahim, Pulau Ubin Conservation Officer, with over 25 years of experiences with plants.

Time: 10-11.30am
Venue: Pulau Ubin, Ubin-HSBC Volunteer Hub. More on how to get to Pulau Ubin.
Website: http://www.nparks.gov.sg/

Related Reads:
10 Apr (Sat): Talk on "Native Trees of Pulau Ubin" on Wild Shores of Singapore