Oldest man on Pulau Ubin

Looking at a letter of commendation from President Yusof Ishak to Mr Tan

Mr Tan Hai Liang, 102 101 years old, is probably the oldest man on Ubin today. His long-time friend and colleague, Mr Lim Chye Joo, the former headman was 101 years old when he passed away 2 years ago in 2006. Mr Tan and Mr Lim both worked together on the Ubin resident committee and were men who contributed much of their time to the welfare of the island.

In the 1960s, when my mother was a young girl, she remembers buying drink from Hai Liang's provision shop every day from the way home from school. Dennis writes that Hai Liang was the drinking buddy of his grandfather as they lived just down the street from each other.


These days, Grandpa drinks alone, having survived most of his friends.

Today, Hai Liang is known affectionately as Ah Gong (or Grandpa) by everyone. He lives on the island with his second son and daughter-in-law. The Teochew family has been running the same provision shop on the island since my mother was a young girl. Hai Liang was not born on the island but came to Southeast Asia from China. He worked in Malaysia and Indonesia before finally settling down on Ubin. Although he could no longer hear very well, the amazing centurion can still write us messages in beautiful chinese characters. He communicates mainly in the chinese dialect of Teochew as Mandarin was a relatively recent standardization which many of the Southern Chinese did not learn when they left their homeland to seek jobs in the Southern Seas (Nanyang).



Today the provision shop is still there and on top of that, the former storeroom of the family has now been converted into the restaurant that we all frequent regularly! Ah Lian, the lady boss of the restaurant is Grandpa's daughter-in-law!


The restaurant used to be the storeroom of the family!

When we visited on 16 March 2008, this centurion just finished his shower and was about to settle down into his routine tsingdao beer and biscuits. Perhaps those are his secrets to longevity!



I found this amazing photo of Hai Liang from Dennis' photo collection from almost half a century ago (left). Still looking young as ever!

In fact, his youngest son divulged to me that back in the days when Bin Kiang School did not have enough classrooms, not only did they use the wayang stage as classroom but Grandpa Hai Liang also lent out the use of his home as classrooms for the school!


These rooms in Mr Tan's house were once temporary classrooms of Bin Kiang school.

Increase in Ferry Prices

On the ferry back from Ubin last Sunday with the bicycle shop auntie and her family, I was alerted to the fact that ferry prices will soon be increased. My attention was brought to the notice on the boat (pictured below).


Photo by November. 16 March 2008.

With effect from 15 April 2008, boat fare to and fro Pulau Ubin will be increased from the current price of $2 per person to $2.50 per person. However, the current practice of charging $2 per bicycle remains unchanged.

Ah to think of the days when tickets were but 50cents and police wore shorts. What with fuel prices rising all over the world, this increase is timely. Hopefully, it would help the boatmen to continue providing these much appreciated ferry services to and fro Ubin. Meanwhile, this Monkey dreads hearing renewed complaints from Singaporeans who have already been bemoaning the "expensive ferry service" to Ubin at the previously lower rate of $2/person. Perhaps it's time we put ourselves in the shoes of the boatmen. I haven't seen any of the boatmen wearing rolexes or driving mercedes yet.

During my chat with the auntie on the ferry home, we also talked about how not every bumboat has this notice but the increase, if I am not wrong, is standardized across the board with all the boatmen. Perhaps they have since increased the distribution of this news but I did not see it on my trip to Ubin, only on the way back. However, I just received a SMS from the annotated budak, informing of the same information which reminded me to share this piece of news with everybody. Spread the word!

Upcoming features on Ubin

Was contacted today by a member of the press and of the community. She is interested in doing a series of feature on Ubin, talking to villagers who have remained behind. Hopefully the series will highlight how Ubin is really a treasure and asset of Singapore and not quite the redundant liability that has no better use unless developed.


Talking to the late headman's daughter-in-law on 1 March 2008. Photo by Kenneth Pinto

I will be going down on Sunday and introduce the few families that I have been talking to, getting to know. I meant to write about their stories on the blog but work got the better of me. It'd be lontong in the morning again and a nice sunday of chit chat. That, is the perfect way to spend Sunday for me. And perhaps, for the urbanite Singaporean like me, that is the value of Ubin. A getaway, the last wild frontier, the last island refuge for our rural heritage. On a more personal level, a piece of family history.

What is your value for Ubin? Any thoughts?

Coastal Erosion Management - Ubin Style

Waterfront living is no easy task. The above picture depicts the edge of a slope that has been eroded away, looking like a 2m tall cliff, with the beach just below.

According to the reddotbeachbum, a year back during a coastal cleanup on Pulau Ubin, the team had to remove an abandoned motorbike from this spot. You might be thinking, who would want to abandon a motorbike on a beach? How bizarre is that!



Well apparently the story goes that this site used to be the home of Pak Ali (malay headman and owner of the coffeeshop by the jetty). His son explained that their home was in danger of being slowly eroded away and in order to slow down erosion, they dumped the motorbike there ala a impromptu seawall! Well I guess the seawall mentality of coastal erosion prevention goes even as far as Ubin - cept definitely more creative!

Now you know how to make your own ad hoc seawall - Ubin Style!

Former Civil Service College Chalet

In 2006, SLA offered up for tender the site of the former civil service college chalet. Located conveniently right in "downtown" Ubin, it is mere minutes walk away from the main jetty. However, it has been abandoned since 2001 when the area was supposed to be reclaimed. However, since the deferment of reclamation along the east coast of Pulau Ubin, the chalet has been neglected.



According to the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) press release in 2006:

"The property has a site area of about 6,505 square metres and gross floor area of about 783 square metres, equivalent to about three tennis courts. It comprises three blocks of single-storey buildings with a camp, a pump house, three shelters and some ancillary facilities. Capitalizing on the rustic charm of the island, the approved uses adapted some of the former recreational uses, including that of a Bed & Breakfast, or a chalet or resort for short term lodging. It can also be used as a campsite or for group and corporate retreats for the conduct of team building, leadership or motivational activities. This is to cater to the traveller and tourist who are looking for a unique experience in rustic Singapore, away from the hustle and bustle of city life."

Last Saturday (16 Feb 2008), a visit to the site saw that the chalets have been recently cleaned and renovated. Having never been there, I was surprised at its pristine state. However, we soon realized that there was an ongoing party at the chalet to view the air show across the straits at Changi.


OUT OF BOUNDS!

We were then kindly informed by the new caretaker that the chalet is now owned by a Yes Group who intend to rent it out long-term to companies. The company appears to have been awarded the tender for more than 3 months as the caretaker seems to indicate that they have completed renovations over the past months. There will be 2 additional chalets which will be set aside for short term rental. Corporate retreats, bonding sessions and other adventure type events can also be hosted there. Since we rather surprised them by taking advantage of the low tide coastal access, we were informed that the area is now private property. Alas, we have a feeling that the site will be yet another out of bounds area. The caretaker informed us that public rental are not in the plans.

Andy Dinesh, a past visitor at the chalet informed us that there used to be a dormitory behind the main chalets. However, a brief exploration of the area and questioning the caretaker informed us that it has now been totally erased from the landscape. What remained is a lamp that reminds us of Narnia.




Perhaps what is most charismatic about the chalet is the jetty / pier / bridge that extends out to see, connecting 2 huts sitting on trademark ubin granite boulders to the beach. That too appears to have been refurbished. There are also balinese-thai looking pavilions and lots of bbq pits.

While we were told to look for their head company, "Yes group", I was hard-pressed to find contact information online for this company. Could it be the "YES F & B Group Pte Ltd" that I've found on yellowpages? I tipped off recently that there was news of the successful bid of the CSC chalet but again, I was unable to find anything in the archives. Does anybody know more about this?

For more photos, see my flickr set.

More related reads
News about SLA tender of Civil Service College Chalet
WildSingapore's write up on Civil Service College Chalet
SLA Press Release on CSC Chalet tender