The Day I Shed Blood on Pulau Ubin

Hi All!

This post is a follow up on the previous one where I will be sharing about the "Jejak Warisan Pulau Ubin" or "Pulau Ubin Heritage Trail" organised by the Woodlands Malay Activities Executive Committee (MAEC) on Saturday, August 18th, 2018.

You may read the previous post here in case you've missed it!

August 18th, 2018 would be among one of the most momentous days in my young adult life. Two historical things took place on this day, one was my first full feature on BERITAmediacorp and the other, well... being in an accident.

I joined roughly 80 Woodlands residents on a heritage trail organised by the Woodlands MAEC and met up with the participants at Changi Point Ferry Terminal at approximately 9 a.m. The participants spent a good 45 minutes in the buses as they travelled from the north down to the east. Shortly after, MP Sembawang GRC, Mr Amrin reached and took a photo together with everyone.

They were a spontaneous bunch, mostly because the group consisted mostly of youths and young children, and enthusiastic makciks and aunties and it was great seeing that kind of energy. It was apparent that most of them had never even stepped foot on the island and are very excited to dwell into Singapore's last remaining offshore island kampongs.

They even had their own banner for this event; and my missing 818K sign is also featured in there, too!
Photo courtesy of Hidayat

Uncle Lim, the custodian and guardian of Teck Seng's Place on Pulau Ubin had worked closely with the Woodlands MAEC team to charter the boats and bicycles, thus when we were boarding the bumboats, it was hassle free and smooth as the wristbands provided by him served as an indicator that no payment was required by the participants for their boats and bikes.

Upon reaching the island, Mr Amrin delivered an opening address and I was actually surprised that he would introduce me to the rest of the group and state that this heritage trip by the MAEC was heavily inspired by what I have done in my quest in finding out my family's heritage on Pulau Ubin. I was not expecting any applause but it came right after and me being my awkward self just nodded in gratitude and appreciation. After being mentioned by Mr Amrin, a young gentleman tapped me from the back and introduced himself.

His name was Said Mahadi Said Iziddin, and he was the reporter from BERITAmediacorp who was attached to this event. He highlighted to me that he would like to interview me about my plight in finding out my family heritage and would also love for me to bring them down to my late grandparents' house. I knew that the news team would be covering the event given the presence of an MP, but I never knew that they would like to have a story on me. I was nervous thinking about the impending interview but at the same time equally excited.

Zaidi giving the participants a briefing before they moved out to get their day started.
Photo courtesy of Hidayat

The participants were divided into three groups, Apple, Banana and Cherry which by the way, were pretty cute names. They were identifiable by the colour of the wristbands given to them. They would then be rotating in their three different stations, Teck Seng's Place, Cik Kamariah's house and Kelichap Hut where they would be carrying out the different activities.

Mr Amrin Amin thanking Uncle Lim (in blue) at the entrance of Teck Seng's Place for his contributions and assistance in coordinating the Pulau Ubin Heritage Trail by Woodlands MAEC. 
Photo courtesy of Mr Amrin Amin's Facebook page

Chew Teck Seng's Place, as previously mentioned, was under the custody and care of Uncle Lim. Teck Seng's Place also known as 363B is a kampong house located along Jalan Ubin which had been returned to the State and restored to become a demonstration house of a typical Chinese family growing up on Ubin. Participants were introduced and taught on the way of life of the Chinese family, along with interesting historical events that took place on the island back in the 1960s till 1980s and kampong items and memorabilia.

The MAEC team together with Mr Amrin Amin taking a picture together with Cik Kamariah (in white tudung) and her sister (in pink tudung) inside their lovely home.
Photo courtesy of Mr Amrin Amin's Facebook page

Cik Kamariah's House, situated in Kampong Sungei Durian and right behind Pak Ahmad's house was also visited upon in this trip to showcase how a real Malay kampong house looked like and also a typical way of life by the Malay residents living on Pulau Ubin. Participants got to enjoy savoury food from Cik Kamariah and her sister and also got to engage with them to know more about their stories being on Pulau Ubin. They were also treated to an exclusive tour beneath the house, where participants get to marvel on the house's 100 year old history. Aside from the meal and house tour, they too got to enjoy traditional games and activities such as sepak takraw and performing the dikir barat.

Kelichap Hut was the start and end point of the third activity where the Kampong Surau Heritage Trail took place. In the tour, participants would cycle to places of interests with me such as the surau (small prayer house and namesake of the village) and the "Sekolah Melayu Pulau Ubin" or "Pulau Ubin Malay School" which was once built out to sea before relocating on land some time later.

I wanted Mr Azman to join me as he would have a wealth of knowledge around the area given that he was a former resident of Kampong Surau before he moved to Kampong Sungei Durian following news of eviction, but he was unable to join us as he would have to ferry passengers around the island in his taxi given that his livelihood depended heavily on the bustling weekend crowd.

As the participants were brought to collect their bicycles from one designated bicycle rental store in Pekan Ubin, the news team together with Mr Amrin and his friends had rented a van so that we could head down to my grandparents' house first. I could see the genuine interest and excitement that Mr Amrin had as we engaged in conversation and sightseeing of the island as we rode in the van. It took us a good five to ten minutes before we finally arrived at Kelichap Hut.

I brought the team down to my late grandparents' house via the back of Aseah's house as it was still the most convenient and accessible way in.

I was showing Mr Amrin the original path which my late grandfather created. 
Photo courtesy of Mr Amrin Amin's Facebook page

After the group of enthusiastic people from Ubin Day that followed me to the site, this team ended up becoming the second largest crowd that I have brought into the forests with me to see where my late grandparents once called home. Nonetheless, everyone who trekked into the woods with me displayed excitement, curiosity and enthusiasm that really made my tiresome and bloodsucking journey worthwhile.

Leading the way for an MP and a news team to enter the forests of Pulau Ubin. Yup, it really happened. 
Photo courtesy of Mr Amrin

I brought Mr Amrin around the area, showing him and the news crew the well and the kitchen cement walls, the only reminder of what once stood in the forested regions of Kampong Surau. They were awestruck looking at the remnants and I too am never bored looking at what used to be my grandparents' kampong house. That sense of connection between me and 818K just kept on growing stronger after each visit.

Said then proceeded in interviewing Mr Amrin, just metres away from where my grandparent's house was and I found it pretty cool that never would any of my relatives ever imagine that the site in which they used to grow up in many years ago would be shown on TV screens in 2018. Towards the end of the interview, the news crew took a few establishing and cut-away shots of the remnants of 818K before leaving the site via the original path. I got to show and share with Mr Amrin and team the remnants of my late grandparents' neighbours' houses too as we walked down the forested path back to Kelichap Hut.

We were greeted with groups Banana and Cherry back at Kelichap Hut as I knew we could have overshot our time trekking in the forests. As they were seated and gathered in the hut, I took the opportunity to thank them for their patience and also to share with them the history of what laid in the forests behind them. The group was sincerely interested in my grandparents' stories - from the opening of the land, to the naming of the stream and to the livelihoods of my grandparents. Mr Amrin then proceeded to the other stations together with the news crew.

Participants from Banana and Cherry groups assembling at Kelichap Hut before starting on our Kampong Surau Heritage Trail. 
Photo courtesy of Mr Amrin Amin's Facebook page

I then borrowed one of the group's leader, Zaidi's bicycle and began bringing the group uphill and around Kampong Surau. We cycled downwards to where the surau once stood and I shared with the participants the significance the surau had on Pulau Ubin and its Malay/Muslim community. Further down we reached the site of where the old Malay schools were, sharing with them that the Malay school was once built out to sea, before it was disassembled and later on reassembled inland on a hill not too far from its original location.

To sum things up, I invited the participants to visualise and imagine that the forests that they cycled past just now were once filled with more than twenty different houses or even more - but not a single trace of the houses remained following the eviction of the Kampong Surau residents in the 1990s. The tour concluded by completing the loop back at Kelichap Hut and I thanked them for their time, patience and interest.

To get back on track with the initial timeline, the final group was scheduled to reach Kelichap Hut at 12 noon. I waited for Group Apple before starting again one more time as what I have done with Banana and Cherry combined. I decided to change the way to do the tour for this group, where instead of cycling together with the team and having a handful of them cycle past the place where I need them to stop, I instead would travel ahead of the group and have the team stop at where I'll be at so that no one had to cycle backwards. All was good, until I reached the surau.

Participants enjoyed cycling around Pulau Ubin for the trails.
Photo courtesy of Mr Amrin Amin's Facebook page

All of a sudden, the brakes were not working when I was about to make my turn to the right and my bike eventually skidded downhill at quite a considerable speed. Given the fact that the path that we had been cycling on throughout Kampong Surau were gravel and sharp rocks, I believed the tires of the bikes might have bumped into one considerably large pebble, causing me to be slightly airborne before crashing into the sharp path on my right side.

It all happened in a flash and I was aware that I had gotten myself into an accident and that my whole body was sore. But it wasn't until I got myself up and dusted myself off that I felt a sharp stinging pain on my right elbow and right knee. In my mind, I warned myself that it might be some minor cuts but when I finally had the guts to look at it, those cuts were deeper than I imagined and a considerable amount of blood started flowing out. It was not until about half a minute later before the first few participants came to where I was.

They were shocked to find me limping around in pain, and some quickly rushed to help clean my wound by washing it down with their mineral water. In my mind, I really did not want to trouble them and I really thought that this was something that did not need that severe a medical attention; but I was wrong. The pain started to become unbearable and I eventually had to sit down on the path to get medical treatment. Fortunately, the group's MAEC team leader, Hidayat was there and equipped with a first aid kit, and provider treatment on my wounds together with a handful of participants who rushed to my aid.

As a means of comforting myself, I recited my prayers when the stinging got unbearable as Hidayat and the others washed my wounds with mineral water and applied antiseptic cream. Tears literally flowed out of my cheeks at the sheer pain I was experiencing. However, I was extremely touched when a young Chinese boy stood by my left and consoled me by saying, "It's OK".

If that boy and the people who helped alongside Hidayat ever chanced across this blog post, please know that I am eternally grateful for your medical assistance. I never had the chance to thank you properly and I hoped that my message of gratitude would reach you one way or another.

I had to cut the tour short but I didn't give in to my injuries. I continued telling the participants on the significance of the surau, just like how I did it for the previous two groups. I did not want their experience of kampong heritage to be affected by my accident. I did however not continue to cycle with the team to the location of the schools, but I shared with them about the stories of the schools at the surau as well. I bade farewell to the group as they continued cycling their way back to Kelichap Hut while I awaited for the evacuation vehicle with Hidayat.

Little did I know that news of my accident reached Mr Amrin and he was there in the van as well. He helped me onto the van and instructed the driver to bring us straight to the Public Jetty. Fortunately enough, the Pulau Ubin Heritage Trail had just ended and it was time for the participants to go back home. I really felt apologetic for the MAEC and to Mr Amrin for the inconvenience I caused but they violently refused to accept my apology as I have been no inconvenience to them. In fact in reverse, they were extremely grateful for my contributions and sharing with the fellow Woodlands residents.

It's a pretty unglam picture, but when you're in pain, it's the most photogenic you'll ever get hehe! 
Photo courtesy of Woodlands MAEC

After my transport back to Changi, Mr Amrin offered to give me a lift to the nearest clinic to my house, but decided to change his mind and send me home immediately along the way. He had informed his wife, Dr Nadia to head down to my address to assist me in treating my wounds. I was a tad bit emotional at the time, for having an MP and his wife to tend to me in my own home. I seriously felt like a burden to them, but they kept assuring me that I never was.

The following images contain pictures of my wound, so I'd like to warn you first that it might get a little graphic and disturbing to some of you!

 I got a considerably deep cut near my right elbow...

... and two deep ones on my right knee

For their kindness, I too am extremely thankful for the hospitality of Mr Amrin Amin and Dr Nadia and I asked in what ways can I ever repay them to which Mr Amrin replied telling me to further my education into university and to make my parents prouder than how much they already are for what I am doing for Pulau Ubin and for Singapore.

I awaited for the news report that following night and there it was, a full 3-minute feature on the Pulau Ubin Heritage Trail that took place just hours before in the morning. I found it funny that just minutes after the interview with me was done, I would have been caught in an accident where my blood was literally shed on Ubin soil. It was quite an ironic twist to the term, but nonetheless I was just doing my part in preserving and celebrating our Ubin heritage.

Photo with Mr Amrin at the Public Jetty before heading back to Singapore for further treatment.

Photo courtesy of Mr Amrin Amin's Facebook page

What a day it was and what a journey it has been, but I believe this is still only just the beginning of a more interesting Ubin journey and be rest assured that I will continue to keep you updated right here on Wan's Ubin Journal!

Read more about my news feature in the previous post here!
"BERITAmediacorp: Heritage trail to Pulau Ubin brings Nor Syazwan closer to his family roots"

Fancy looking up on MP Amrin's Facebook post on the event? Read it here!

Read the next chapter in "My Ubin Journey" series!
"Now, That Was FUN (Friends of Ubin Network)!"