ST: Leaving Ubin for life on mainland

"Leaving Ubin for life on mainland," by Thomas White. The Straits Times, Feb 12, 2001. Residents are being relocated as part of the 1991 Concept Plan, which foresees residential and industrial developments.


MISS FADILAH NOOR walks through the creaking shell of her house for the last time, cats at her feet and some sadness in her eyes.

The cats will stay, as will the accumulated detritus of the many years of living on Pulau Ubin.

She and her friend, Mr Othman Mohamed, must leave the island.

Mr Othman, a 55-year-old retired firefighter, hauls a washing machine onto his muscular back and heads through palm trees to the road, where a friend awaits with a truck.

Miss Fadilah, 39, watches him nervously, sipping on a can of tepid coffee as Mr Othman loads her manual sewing machine onto the truck carefully.

A few more boxes, and the truck heads for the jetty.

Under a blackening sky, a shirtless, tattooed man, with a cigarette hanging from his sweaty lips, helps lower the boxes on to the deck of a rolling bumboat.

As the boat pulls away from the Pulau Ubin jetty, Miss Fadilah studies her former home with resignation.

Ahead, a looming cityscape awaits and, somewhere in that skyline, on the fifth floor of a tall building, is a one-room flat.

Barely larger than the kitchen in her house on the island, this flat will be her new home.

Mr Othman is waiting for the Housing Board to assign him his own flat.

He was born on Pulau Ubin.

And he has always been happy there, driving a taxi and selling cold drinks to adventure-seekers.

After more than 30 years as a firefighter in Singapore, he is quietly content with his simple life.

Now, he is faced with life on the mainland - his kampung life over.

Perhaps.

For as the bumboat nudges its way between tens of other boats to dock at Changi Point, he says, with a glint in his eye: 'I will go back to Ubin and live with my relatives.'

Suddenly, rain pounds down on Changi, and Mr Othman moves Miss Fadilah's boxes under the limited shelter of a temporary police post.

At her new flat in Bedok, Miss Fadilah says she is happy to move to the mainland.

'I like the new flat. I am happy in Singapore,' she says, while unlocking her new front door.

Mr Othman says he will keep his taxi on Pulau Ubin and stay with his grandparents, only metres from his old house while he waits for HDB to assign him a flat.

He will spend a few days a week with Miss Fadilah, and has already planned what will be a weekly itinerary involving buses, trains and bumboats.

'I am being forced to move. I love Pulau Ubin,' he said.

The HDB is resettling the occupants of Pulau Ubin on behalf of the Government.

Under the resettlement policy, each eligible family is given priority to rent or buy an HDB flat and an allowance of $3,000 for 'disturbance and transport'.

An eligible single person is given priority for joint allocation of a one-room rental flat with another single person and a transport allowance of $750.

They are also given ex gratia compensation for their houses and improvements made by them, such as the planting of fruit trees or building fish ponds and chicken coops.

According to the Master Plan 1998, the Urban Redevelopment Authority is keeping about half of the island for open space, while the rest is held in reserve.

This was in accordance with the 1991 Concept Plan, where parts of Pulau Ubin were designated for residential and industrial developments in the long run.

However, the Concept Plan is currently being reviewed.

A revised plan will be completed at the end of the year.

Copyright © 2001 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thanks to the Singapore Heritage Mailing List.

The Phenol spill of 04 August 2000

ENV NEWS RELEASE NO: 068/2000
See Hikari II salvage report.
DATE OF ISSUE: 04/08/2000

CHEMICAL SPILL DUE TO TANKER COLLISION NEAR PULAU UBIN: ENV ADVISES PUBLIC TO STAY OFF WATERS AVA SUSPENDS FISH HARVEST FROM FARMS IN THE AREA

Following the chemical spill at the sea channel near Pulau Ubin early this morning, the Ministry of the Environment officials have taken samples of the waters around the incident site for analysis. So far no dead fish has been found in the sea around the incident site.

As the waters are likely to be contaminated, ENV would like to advise members of the public not to fish or swim in the waters near Pulau Ubin, Changi, Pasir Ris, Loyang, and Punggol, until further notice.

As a further precautionary measure, Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has immediately suspended the harvesting and sale of all fish from the 25 fish farms located in the areas affected by the chemical spill. These 25 farms supply less than 1% of our total fish supply of 100,000 tonnes a year.

AVA and ENV will monitor the situation closely. AVA will only lift the suspension on the harvesting and sale of the fish from these farms when we are confident that the fish are safe for consumption.

Issued by : Ministry of the Environment and Agri-food and Veterinary Authority

News R/No. 68/2000
4 Aug 2000


---
ENV NEWS RELEASE NO: 69/2000
DATE OF ISSUE: 04/08/2000

MARINE INCIDENT OFF PULAU UBIN: RESULTS OF SEA WATER ANALYSIS

The analysis of the first batch of seawater samples taken from in and around the collision site of the tanker, Hikari 2, and the dredger, Volvax Delta off Pulau Ubin indicates that the phenol spilt from the tanker has been diluted and dispersed by seawater. The phenol level at the incident site was 9.4 mg/l at 11.25 am and was reduced to "Not Detected" at 1.40 pm today.

A reading of 0.3 mg/l and below is considered safe. The phenol levels at Pasir Ris, Punggol and Changi Point are within the safe limits. ENV will continue to test the seawater samples and update the public. As a precaution, the public are advised not to fish or swim in these areas until further notice.

We will continue to monitor the situation.

Issued by: Ministry of the Environment


---
ENV NEWS RELEASE NO: 73/2000
DATE OF ISSUE: 08/08/2000

MARINE INCIDENT OFF PULAU UBIN: UPDATE OF SEAWATER SAMPLING AS AT 8 AUG 00

ENV has been monitoring the seawater quality following the marine incident off Pulau Ubin. No phenol has been detected in the samples of seawaters taken at Punggol, Pasir Ris, Pulau Ubin and Changi Point between 8.45 am and 11.15 am today.

Issued by: Ministry of the Environment

Pulau Ubin has Oldest CC with Oldest Chairman

By Jimmy Yap of Political Desk.
15 February 1995, Straits Times

PULAU UBIN COMMUNITY CENTRE can boast of many things.

It is the oldest community centre in Singapore and is the only island community centre left.

Mr Lim Chye Joo, 89, the chairman of the Community Centre Management Committee (CCMC), is Singapore's oldest serving chairman, having been in the position for the past 28 years.

The CC was renovated two years ago at a cost of more than S$20,000.

The old plank walls were replaced with brick, a new roof was put on, and the flooring was done up. It now looks brand new.

But the one thing that the CC cannot boast of is that it is a hive of activities.

No courses are conducted at this CC, and the kindergarten serves just five pupils.

The facilities here are limited.

A basketball court, a room to play ping pong, a room for the kindergarten and a karaoke room that is used more by overnight campers than by the island's inhabitants.

The CC opens at 2 pm. In the afternoon, it is home mainly to sweaty day-trippers seeking shelter from the burning Ubin sun.

But it was not always like this.

Said Mr Lim in Teochew: "The CC used to teach music lessons and wushu. There used to be regular get-togethers on special occasions.

"Sporting competitions such as football and dragon-boat racing were also popular.

"Now there is no one to take part in these activities."

The story of the decline of Pulau Ubin CC is interwoven closely with the history of the island itself.

The island was once home to about 3,000 people. Today, the resident population is estimated to be about 400 people, mostly people in their 60s. Their children have grown up and now live on the mainland.

The island's economy was based on granite, and according to Mr Lim, there were eight quarries in the mid-'70s. Today there are only two.

The CC was first built in 1961 with contributions from residents, and it was originally a community hall.

In 1966, it was converted into a CC, and the first management committee was formed, with Mr Lim in the chair.

Other residents on the island remember how the CC used to be a focal point of activity, and how there would be no problems getting people to join in the activities.

"Even if you didn't organise something, the residents would prod you to do so," recalled the vice-chairman of the CCMC, Mr Ali Montain, in Malay.

"And when we organised activities, we did not have to worry about getting people because there were so many people around. If some couldn't make it, others could.

"Today, it is different. No people."

Like other CCs in Singapore, the Pulau Ubin CC organises trips for residents. Previous destinations include Haadyai and Genting. The last trip that the CC organised was to Bali two year ago for about 30 people. This year, they hope to go to Indonesia again, but that has not been confirmed.

It depends on whether enough people sign up.