SHS: Residents of Ubin critical in maintaining island's heritage

Hi All!

It seems like there has been a wave of news coming in from Pulau Ubin and that just seems pretty awesome, because it goes to show that there are plenty of people who still show that they have never forgotten about our beautiful island!

Picture taken together back on Ubin Day 2018 with the wonderful people of SHS and the amazing people who have taken their time to join me as I brought them down to 818K and shared with them the stories of my family's Ubin heritage. Picture courtesy of Singapore Heritage Society.

For today's post, I would like to share my thoughts on the article dated 14th August, 2018 shared by Dr Chua Ai Lin, the Executive Director of Singapore Heritage Society (SHS), whom I have also had the pleasure in meeting and befriending in the recent months, in her response to an article posted by Miss Ye Kexin on The Straits Time for her expressions on Ubin's future. 

The following excerpts are taken from Ai Lin's full article on The Straits Times:

"We thank Ms Yu Kexin  (“Don't let Ubin become an industrial or military  island”, Straits Times, 2 Aug 2018) for expressing her appreciation of  Pulau Ubin as a repository of history and heritage.

As part of  the Friends of Ubin (FUN) organised by NParks, the Singapore Heritage  Society (SHS) has been working over the last four years not only to  conserve Ubin’s heritage but to revitalise it as living heritage. 

It is Pulau Ubin’s living community which renders the island meaningful.  Ubin residents, past and present, and their families are living  custodians of the island’s cultural heritage. Ideally, they should  remain on Ubin or even return to the island if they have moved away. At  the same time, ways of life on Ubin cannot be frozen as exotica just for  mainlanders and tourists to enjoy a few hours’ nostalgic recreation in a  rustic environment. A living heritage adapts to changing times, even as  it maintains strong continuity with the past. 

SHS spearheads  Kawan Ubin, formed as a project of FUN to promote and support the Ubin  villagers as active drivers in revitalising Ubin’s heritage. Notably,  Kawan Ubin volunteers organised a Balik Kampung Party on 24 February  this year, bringing together over 150 Ubin villagers, past and present,  including different age groups and a mix of Chinese and Malay families.  As the first large-scale reunion, this party was a milestone,  galvanising present and former villagers to reconnect with each other  and with their island home. These community relationships and shared  memories are the heart of what a kampung is, not merely collection of  empty wooden buildings. 

To promote the involvement of Ubin villagers in revitalising their kampung, SHS is also developing tours,  guided by the villagers themselves. For example, with the family behind  Ah Ma Drink Stall, comprising three generations who previously nurtured  prawn fingerlings in the mangrove swamp, grew fruit and vegetables and  reared poultry. They are the most knowledgeable and authentic guides of  Ubin’s kampong heritage.

We believe that a human-centred approach  to heritage conservation is necessary if it is to be meaningful to  future generations. In this way, the Pulau Ubin kampung will be a place  where the much touted kampung spirit is a lived reality, not mere  rhetoric. 

Chua Ai Lin (Dr)

Executive Director

Singapore Heritage Society"

I have to say that the views expressed by Ai Lin mirrored completely of mine. I myself agree that Ubin's residents are critical in maintaining the island's heritage. No one else knows Ubin more than the people who have called the island as their home, and it is only right for these wonderful individuals to be given a right to preserve and protect what they love most - Pulau Ubin.

As much as it is true that I am not a resident of Pulau Ubin, having been born in the city landscape and never once experiencing the simplicity and extravagance of  kampong life, it does not deny the fact that I have a huge part to play in maintaining the island's heritage as well. As you all are well-aware, Wan's Ubin Journal has been a dedication and documentation of my efforts in retracing my family heritage and as each day passes, more and more treasures get to become uncovered, more memories are being resurfaced and more urgency is placed for people to take action in preserving Ubin's heritage.

Pulau Ubin's heritage is no different than the heritage of our nation. We all began as individuals from distant lands, who have come to the island, seeking for a better life. For example, Pak Ahmad fled from the Japanese during World War II when he was just a small boy and found sanctuary on Pulau Ubin, to which till this very day he continues to dedicate his life and love for the island, vowing to never move away till his final breath. Another example is also that of my grandfather, who came to Ubin in the hopes of starting a new life together with his family. Tirelessly, he cleared lands and transformed them into an agricultural wonder; growing and harvesting countless sirehs in his plantation, along with other vegetables and fruits to be sold back in the mainland to make a decent living so that there are enough food on the plates of his wife and eleven children - and of course a roof over their heads, thus the creation of 818K Kampong Surau. I knew that there was more to the kampong house than just it being made out of wood, but a home where families bloom and grow to become cherishable people of a much larger community.

The residents that are still around are Pulau Ubin's living heritage and they do have a huge role to play in preserving Ubin's heritage, but they themselves can't do it alone. We plea for every Singaporean including our former residents of Pulau Ubin to come and join us in our efforts to preserve what we love most, our home.

I have pledged that I would not let my grandparents' contributions to Ubin and its people to go away in vain, undocumented and unrecognised. I have answered this call to preserve Ubin's heritage for quite some time, and I am prepared to do so till my last breath. The more I learn about my grandparents, the more I've come to miss them and I wish I was able to see them in front of my very eyes to show them how much I love them, for all that they have done for my family and for the people of Pulau Ubin.

God Willing, 818K shall be rebuilt and Pulau Ubin's heritage shall be protected, preserved and celebrated.